You can say many things about Jesus, but you can never say he tried to hide the cost of following him. Much to the disciples’ displeasure at times Jesus is very forward about what it costs to follow him. Jesus is saying if you want to follow me look at the life I live. That the eternal Son of God left heaven and came to earth. That the God who all things were created for and to had no place to lay his head. Jesus gave up the comfort of heaven and his people will be asked to give up the comforts of this life. Then the next person comes along and he wants to bury his father. Jesus seems harsh here. We have to look at the nature of the request. On first reading, it seems like this man’s father is dead and all he wants to do is bury him. That seems like a normal request, so why does Jesus respond the way he does? In Jewish tradition, they would have buried the body of a loved one within 24 hours. The time in between the death and the burial all of the family would have stayed together and mourned. So it seems that was not the case with this man. It seems that his father was still alive and what he was saying is that once my father dies at some time in the future then I will follow you. He was delaying his discipleship to Jesus. Jesus says let the dead bury the dead. Let the spiritually dead do what they can do because only those who have already come to faith in Jesus can proclaim the kingdom of God. There is an urgency to follow Jesus in this life. It is not something to be put off till later.