“And Jesus seeing great multitudes about him, gave orders to pass over the water. And a certain scribe came and said to him: ‘Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou shalt go.’ And Jesus saith to him: ‘The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.’ And another of his disciples said to him: ‘Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him: ‘Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.’”
Jesus then goes out on the water, one of His many places of retreat, as the multitude comes to Him. How eager must you be, o Theophila, in seeking this same Beloved, for “My beloved is white and ruddy,” indicating His utter, beautiful purity, as well as the relatability of His humanity, “chosen out of thousands” (Song 5:10). Do you go to Him as one of this crowd, clinging to His every word, “His throat most sweet, and he is all lovely” (Song 5:16), enjoying every reminder of Him: “His form as of Libanus, excellent as the cedars” (Song 5:15), and rejoicing in all His good graces, gifts, and actions towards you: “His hands are turned and as of gold, full of hyacinths” (Song 5:14)? Now, why does Jesus leave the people behind? He does not wish to offend those that seek Him: “But that we may not scandalize them” (Matthew 17:26), but rather wants to draw them out of themselves and their familiar surroundings, for love breaks one’s comfort zone and pushes into territory untread: “I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth” (Song 3:2). Before they can cross, two would-be disciples come forward to Love Incarnate. The first is a scribe, a man of the letter rather than the spirit: “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you make clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but within you are full of rapine and uncleanness” (Matthew 23:25); “But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men, and because he needed not that any should give testimony of man: for he knew what was in man” (John 2:24-25). He came to Jesus seeking gain and not offering a place of rest on his heart for His Savior’s head, which is what He truly seeks: “A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts” (Song 1:12). What Jesus desires is really quite simple, it’s to love Him and be loved by Him, but the call of love is a lofty one: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24), something this scribe did not understand in approaching Jesus. Therefore, the Master shows the poverty that He practices, but this can be taken also in the sense of love. Just as Jesus longs for a heart on which He can rest His head, so too will you find yourself despised for the love of God, for “the servant is not greater than his master” (John 15:20), and yours is “despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity” (Isaias 53:3). Foxes, those that are deceitful, can find themselves being loved by the world by weaving webs and orchestrating things as they see fit, and the birds of the air, that is the proud, can by talents or resources cultivate a false love, but the Son of Man and those that would imitate Him will find themselves rejected by those of this world: “If the world hate you, know ye, that it hath hated me before you” (John 15:18). It is important then, Theophila, to let your heart be gentle, humble, and honest, that it may be a peaceful place on which Jesus can come and rest: “And he was in the hinder part of the ship,” which is you, “sleeping upon a pillow, (Mark 4:38) which represents your heart. “While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof” (Song 1:11). The second would-be disciple then comes to Jesus, knowing that he ought to follow Him, but out of filial piety asks to bury his father. What follows shows just how jealous of a lover Jesus is: “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.” The Gospel is of the utmost priority, even surpassing familial ties and other matters. While this is not a condemnation of natural affection, service to one’s family, and good deeds, the simplicity of divine love frees one from temporal cares while simultaneously demanding that the love of God be not hindered by any attachment whatsoever. St. John Chrysostom also mentions that drawing one aside from spiritual discourse, “our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20); “For you may all prophesy one by one; that all may learn, and all may be exhorted” (1 Corinthians 14:31) for the sake of temporal matters is a greater cruelty than leaving one’s father unburied, especially when there are already those that can do the work. The greatest dignity of man is the love and knowledge of God, therefore to know His ways, to talk about the Trinity, to discourse on Jesus, to let one’s mouth flow with the love of divine wisdom and the wisdom of divine love: “Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth: but thou shalt meditate on it day and night” (Josue 1:8); “Thy lips are as a scarlet lace: and thy speech sweet” (Song 4:3) is the activity most conducive to your own goodness: “For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it” (Proverbs 8:11). The phrase “let the dead bury their dead” can be interpreted in many ways, but there is one that will be brought up here: There are many spiritually dead that bury each other in consoling words, but this is to heap dirt upon the grave: “If any man come to you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into the house nor say to him, God speed you. For he that saith unto him, God speed you, communicateth with his wicked works” (2 John 1:10-11). However, the administration of truth is to be done with the utmost love, that the medicine of the gospel may not be spat back in your face: “He that teacheth a scorner, doth an injury to himself: and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himself a blot” (Proverbs 9:7). If you are not capable of this, then simply leave the dead to bury their dead, doing by prayer what you cannot do by deed or word.