"To another (disciple) He said, "Follow me."
But he (that disciple) said,
"Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
But He said to him,
"Leave the dead to bury their own dead;
but as for you,
go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Luke 9:60
We all know that the way of the world leads to death, but we may not have considered that throughout our lives we are sleep walking, not really living our lives, not really alive. While that may sound like a heady statement, for just a moment let the thought drift into your heart. Consider for only a moment what your heart feels as you consider that statement.
We all know that the way of the world leads to death, but we may not have considered that throughout our lives we are sleep walking, not really living our lives, not really alive. While that may sound like a heady statement, for just a moment let the thought drift into your heart. Consider for only a moment what your heart feels as you consider that statement.
There is more to life than most of us know. Our real lives are waiting for us. For too many of us we are living a spiritually lifeless existence. Jesus calls us to awaken from our deep spiritual sleep; he calls us to this real life.
When he says, "leave the dead to bury their own dead," to a new disciple who has been made alive because he has discovered the kingdom of God within him, he is defining the whole essence of His mystical teaching.
This new consciousness is “the kingdom of God.” Jesus first awakens him and then recruits him to awaken others from their spiritual sleep or living death. He is now to teach that the inner kingdom is spiritual life both now and beyond this mortal life. His teaching is radically new to Judaism and life-giving to everyone. I suspect it still is. Since it is antithetical to dogmatic religion, it was hard for some to understand – then and now. Where before he was dead, as are so many of us who think we’re living but we’re just going through the motions, he is alive with new vitality, liberated from all those things in life that hold us prisoners. So many of up are blindly on a daily treadmill, repeating empty routines day after day, immersed in and captivated by the ways of the world, really thinking we’re here to make money and succeed at the game of who-can-get-the-most-stuff, never knowing that our real life is quietly waiting for us.
Jesus’ calls this state of spiritual sleep “death.” In Jesus’ language, spiritual death is death. Now that this new disciple has awakened, he can see through the world’s illusion, dispelling its power over him. With that that new consciousness, he is set free of the world’s constraints and the burden of worry and anxiety. While this is only the first step toward enlightenment, it is an all important birth. It is that “born again” experience that is too often misinterpreted and misunderstood. This is a strong focal theme in the Gospel of John, in Gnostic scriptures and the Vedas.
Since our real life sleeps within us, when we awake and tap into it and live into it, we are freed from the limitations and opinions of others and revitalized as autonomous human beings, authentic and alive. We are no longer controlled by those who hold our strings. Rather, we claim our power, activate our divine autonomy and become aware of our ability to direct our life force within us. It feels like pure joy, a rich and palatable peace and buoyant with an equally indescribable joy. Mystics described this state as nothing less than ecstasy or bliss.
Within this new disciple is now the personal autonomy and freedom which has put him on the highway to real life. He will now drink from the river that springs up to eternal life.
As he seeks first the kingdom of God, he will discover that presence of peace and joy within him.
If we listen quietly and remain unmoved by the cacophony around us, we will also sense that presence.
When he says, "leave the dead to bury their own dead," to a new disciple who has been made alive because he has discovered the kingdom of God within him, he is defining the whole essence of His mystical teaching.
This new consciousness is “the kingdom of God.” Jesus first awakens him and then recruits him to awaken others from their spiritual sleep or living death. He is now to teach that the inner kingdom is spiritual life both now and beyond this mortal life. His teaching is radically new to Judaism and life-giving to everyone. I suspect it still is. Since it is antithetical to dogmatic religion, it was hard for some to understand – then and now. Where before he was dead, as are so many of us who think we’re living but we’re just going through the motions, he is alive with new vitality, liberated from all those things in life that hold us prisoners. So many of up are blindly on a daily treadmill, repeating empty routines day after day, immersed in and captivated by the ways of the world, really thinking we’re here to make money and succeed at the game of who-can-get-the-most-stuff, never knowing that our real life is quietly waiting for us.
Jesus’ calls this state of spiritual sleep “death.” In Jesus’ language, spiritual death is death. Now that this new disciple has awakened, he can see through the world’s illusion, dispelling its power over him. With that that new consciousness, he is set free of the world’s constraints and the burden of worry and anxiety. While this is only the first step toward enlightenment, it is an all important birth. It is that “born again” experience that is too often misinterpreted and misunderstood. This is a strong focal theme in the Gospel of John, in Gnostic scriptures and the Vedas.
Since our real life sleeps within us, when we awake and tap into it and live into it, we are freed from the limitations and opinions of others and revitalized as autonomous human beings, authentic and alive. We are no longer controlled by those who hold our strings. Rather, we claim our power, activate our divine autonomy and become aware of our ability to direct our life force within us. It feels like pure joy, a rich and palatable peace and buoyant with an equally indescribable joy. Mystics described this state as nothing less than ecstasy or bliss.
Within this new disciple is now the personal autonomy and freedom which has put him on the highway to real life. He will now drink from the river that springs up to eternal life.
As he seeks first the kingdom of God, he will discover that presence of peace and joy within him.
If we listen quietly and remain unmoved by the cacophony around us, we will also sense that presence.
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