Reflection for Chayei Sarah
“Burial Fitness”
Matthew 8:19-22
Luke 9:57-62
Hebrews 11:8-16
excerpted from TorahScope Apostolic Scriptures Reflections
Turning to Chayei Sarah (Genesis 23:1-25:18) this week, gives the Torah student a wonderful peek at what I might describe as the “infectious” nature of faith, as it is seemingly transferred from Abraham to his main servant Eliezar. Evidently, despite the detailed descriptions of the death and burial of Sarah, and ending with the death of Abraham, the focus of our parashah is actually Abraham’s insistence that Eliezar secure a suitable wife for Isaac, the child of the promise, from his relative’s offspring. For those following in the footsteps of this father of faith, it is critical for every generation to consider the ongoing human juxtaposition of sustaining a life centered on faith in the Creator, in spite of the inevitability of death. We learn how it is important to bury the dead properly. But even though he experienced grief in the loss of his beloved Sarah, faithful Abraham was extremely concerned that his son obtain a proper lifelong companion, in order to prolong and sustain an ongoing intimacy with God.
Abraham’s example left for the faithful, was followed by Isaac regarding Jacob, and to a certain extent, those whom Jacob would father. However, when we survey some passages in the Apostolic Scriptures, we find how Yeshua expanded the requirements to be faithful, from not only the need to physically bury the dead, but most critically, the spiritual need to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. In two parallel Gospel accounts from Luke 9 and Matthew 8, we find Yeshua responding to a scribe, who proclaimed that he would follow Him wherever He went. Naturally, Yeshua used the moment to remind His followers that He did not even have a permanent place to rest His head, because His duty was to demonstrate to them what it meant to be totally committed to the Heavenly Father:
“As they went on the way, a certain man said to him, ‘I want to follow you wherever you go, Lord.’ Yeshua said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ He said to another, ‘Follow me!’ But he said, ‘Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.’ But Yeshua said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce God’s Kingdom.’ Another also said, ‘I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say good-bye to those who are at my house.’ But Yeshua said to him, ‘No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for God’s Kingdom’” (Luke 9:57-62, WMB).
“A scribe came and said to him, ‘Rabbi, I will follow you wherever you go.’ Yeshua said to him, ‘The foxes have holes and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, allow me first to go and bury my father.’ But Yeshua said to him, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead’” (Matthew 8:19-22, WMB).
When you read these passages, we see someone who asked if he could bury his father, before making a total commitment to a life of following the Messiah. What would this mean in a Jewish society which normally buried people within a day of their deaths? Surely, the Lord would have had enough compassion on a person who has recently lost a loved one, to bury the corpse in a cemetery or family tomb. Yet, anyone of us who has had to be involved in a funeral, knows that burying a loved one is only a small part of the process. Executing a will, dividing up the deceased’s estate, and seeing that any previous debts the deceased had are paid, can take well over a year. What about selling the deceased’s home or going through family heirlooms? This can be a very grueling process which can occupy a great deal of one’s time and energy—so much so that if a spouse has died and experienced great grief and anguish, it is not uncommon at times for the surviving spouse (often if elderly) to die once the will has been finally executed.
Those who commit themselves fully to following Yeshua and His ministry, can let another family member handle such matters. Yeshua’s response was simply, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and announce God’s Kingdom” (Luke 9:60, WMB). This is because dedicating your life to following Him, proclaiming the gospel, and focusing one’s energies completely on the work of seeing people transformed—is easier said than done. Too often, people will allow the cares of the world, even funerals and wills, to consume them, to the point of neglecting the bigger call. No one should allow the inevitability of death to be so overwhelming, that all focus on the work of God’s Kingdom is lost.
In Luke 9:61-62, we see someone who was concerned about saying good bye to some of his relatives at home, before joining Yeshua’s entourage and living a life of serving Him exclusively. It is here that Yeshua responded with a statement which personally has had quite an impact on my life, and continues to affect how I view ministry.
Back in 1998, our family was living in McKinney, Texas, and we were preparing to participate in a missionary shortwave radio outreach in Central Honduras. The great test was to sell our assets, place our belongings into two containers, and then move to Central America, where we would help establish a transmission base. I vividly remember struggling over this decision for a number of weeks, as I prayed and consulted with many about this life-changing decision for the family. There was no doubt in my mind that the Lord was giving us an opportunity to step out in faith, and begin serving Him in a full-time capacity. The challenge was mustering enough faith to follow His lead, and disconnect from all of my business and family entanglements in North Texas.
One night as I was debating with the Lord, I received a call from a Messianic Jewish friend who was from Hawaii. Upon sharing my dilemma with him, he simply responded to my comments by quoting Luke 9:62: “No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for God’s Kingdom” (WMB). If you have ever had the Word of God cut to the very marrow of your soul (Hebrews 4:12), then you know what it is like when I heard those words.
What I was wrestling over, was not a matter of going somewhere to bury my father or a relative. It was not even the need to go home and make sure that everything was in order before venturing out in following the Messiah. Instead, it was and remains a test of faith to realize that when called, are you sincerely going to drop all personal ambitions and follow Him? The mental image of placing your hand to a plow, and focusing on Yeshua at the end of the field, came immediately to mind.
As I hung up the phone, the concept of “looking back,” resulting in unfitness for the Kingdom of God, began to haunt me. For the next few days as my final decision was being made, this verse scrolled up in my thoughts over and over again. Needless to say, I ultimately made the decision to place my hand on the plow, and by God’s grace, despite some challenges along the way, I have never looked back. This was all the way back in 1998, and thankfully, the Holy One has sustained me to this day!
So as I think about the example set forth by Abraham, and his unflinching willingness to keep his eyes focused on God, I am encouraged that he looked beyond the temporal concerns of burying his beloved wife, and saw something much further in the future. As the author of Hebrews put it, Abraham like many others, was looking for a lasting city and country whose foundations have been laid by God:
“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed to go out to the place which he was to receive for an inheritance. He went out, not knowing where he went. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a land not his own, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. By faith even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had promised. Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore [Genesis 5:24], were fathered by one man, and him as good as dead. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:8-16, WMB).
Obviously, as followers of Yeshua, we do need to take care of the necessary business of burying the dead properly. But what should occupy our minds, more than the process of life to death, is possessing faith in the One who has overcome death. Abraham himself believed that God could and would raise people from the dead, recognizing how He was the One who ultimately had power over something which mortals frequently wrestle with (cf. Hebrews 11:17-19). So if God has the power over what lies beyond, is there any better occupation or vocation available, to all who believe in sharing the great news of the resurrection power of Yeshua? Consider how such resurrection power is accessible right now (Colossians 2:12), long before the future resurrection. Too many people think that death is the end of everything, but for those of us who believe, burial is not the end. Born again Believers have already partaken of the power of the resurrection, by possessing faith in Yeshua.
Each one of us, short of the Messiah’s return, will one day die and be buried. But figures of faith like the Apostle Paul considered death to be a gain, as it meant being immediately welcomed into the presence of his Savior (2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:20-23). Paul was a citizen of Heaven, who recognized not only that the Believer’s hope rested with seeing the Lord in glory, but that his own frail body would ultimately experience a transformation and be restored (Philippians 3:20-21). Looking beyond the grave, we should be able to picture a day, when we will all be united with the host of faithful in the presence of Yeshua. We should be thinking about what it will mean to meet people like Abraham, Sarah, Eliezar, Isaac, and countless others, who down through the ages have believed in God’s promises. What a glorious reunion it will be, when we are united with all of those who have preceded us in faith!
There is one final description which more fully articulates what Abraham and others hoped for as they buried their dead, and looked forward to the future age. Paul described the resurrection in 1 Corinthians:
“Wake up righteously and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame. But someone will say, ‘How are the dead raised?’ and, ‘With what kind of body do they come?’ You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies. That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind. But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living soul’ [Genesis 2:7]. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last shofar. For the shofar will sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting [Hosea 13:14]? Sheol, where is your victory?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:34-58, WMB).
Upon reading and meditating on this passage, one’s readiness for burial should recognize how our Messiah Yeshua has the final victory over the power of death. His resurrection assures us that not only will we be resurrected, but that we can have a restored relationship with the Father. Yeshua has assured us the final victory. Now this is something worth shouting about!
