In Matthew 8 Jesus said, “Let the dead bury their own dead”.

Mat 8:19  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him [Jesus], “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.”
Mat 8:20  And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Mat 8:21  Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
Mat 8:22  But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

How can the dead bury their own dead?  How can this be?  What did Jesus mean, “Let the dead bury their own dead”?

Let’s consider some other Scriptures which talk about the same thing.  First, Colossians 2.

Col 2:12  [You were] buried with Him [Christ] in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him [Christ] from the dead.
Col 2:13  And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him [Christ], having forgiven you all trespasses,

We were dead in sins but now He has made us alive with Christ.  Let’s consider Ephesians 2 now.

Eph 2:1  And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,
Eph 2:2  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,
Eph 2:3  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
Eph 2:5  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ …,

This says the same thing as Colossians 2:13.  We used to walk in sin, following the way of the flesh.  That is we were dead in sins but now God has made us alive with Christ.

The Bible describes two conditions that people can be in, either dead in sins or made alive with Christ.  There are two groups of people in this world:  those who are dead in sins; and those who are made alive with Christ.  The vast majority of mankind is dead in sins. 

When Christ said, “Let the dead bury their own dead”, He meant let those who are dead in their sins bury those who are no longer breathing.

Why are those who are dead in sins described as being dead?  We all sin. 

Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

The wages of sin is death.  That is what we earn from sinning is death.

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Since we all sin then the death penalty applies to all of us.  But how can we pass from death to life?  How can we change from being dead in sin to being made alive in Christ?  We need to receive a vital gift from God.

Rom 8:11  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

We need the Holy Spirit to dwell in us.  If we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, then God will raise us up to eternal life.  If we don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, then God will not give us eternal life. 

As mentioned before, there are two groups of people in this world:  those who are dead in sins; and those who are made alive with Christ.  Those who are dead in sins do not have the Holy Spirit.  Those who are alive with Christ do have the Holy Spirit.

As we’ve seen in Romans 8:11, to change from being dead in sin to being made alive with Christ we need to receive the Holy Spirit.  But how can we receive the Holy Spirit?

The people listening to the apostle Peter, when they realised their sinful state asked the same question.

Act 2:36  “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Act 2:37  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

They realised their condition.  They realised that they were dead in sins.  They wanted to know how they could be made alive with Christ. 

Act 2:38  Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

This is the answer.  This is how we can receive the Holy Spirit which makes us alive with Christ.  We must repent and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, and then we will receive the Holy Spirit.

Act 2:39  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

And this promise of the Holy Spirit is for us today, for those whom God calls.

If you are dead in sins, you need the Holy Spirit.  If you are dead in sins, are an adult and are repentant, you need to be baptised so you can receive the Holy Spirit and be made alive with Christ.  How long should wait?  What’s the example in the Bible?  Verse 40. 

Act 2:40  And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
Act 2:41  Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.

Three thousand were baptised that day.  They didn’t wait; they didn’t procrastinate.  That is the Biblical example.