Luke 9:59-62
59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
The Grace New Testament Commentary - Luke 9:59-62
9:59 In the previous example someone on the road initiated the exchange with Jesus. This time Jesus invites another saying, "Follow Me." This person answered with a request to "first go and bury my father." The enigmatic request refers either to lingering until his father passed on (so he could collect his inheritance - potentially the double portion of the firstborn; cf. Gen 25:27-34; Deut 21:17); or to allow him to transfer the bones of his father from a tomb to an ossuary after about a one-year period of decomposition - a known custom of the day. In either case, it represents a culturally advantageous activity - gaining him either admiration on account of his social propriety and/or actual financial gain. And in both cases, it involved a delay - either indefinite or within the constraints of about a year (under the second option). (Under the inheritance interpretation the person may have implied that he would finance himself with at least a portion of the inheritance.)
9:60 This puzzling statement, "let the dead bury their own dead," can mean that the spiritually dead should bury other unbelievers who die. This man receives a superlative commission: "preach the kingdom of God." The practical timeliness of the task at hand takes priority over an event, which although highly significant, entails a contingency that could not compete with the urgency of their work (especially in the context of the road to Jerusalem where Messiah would die).
9:61-62 Another potential disciple wants to follow on the condition that he "first go and bid…farewell" to those at his house. This man sincerely wanted to follow Jesus on the road of discipleship. His request, however, led Jesus to respond, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God." Continuing in the task at hand entailed usefulness in rather than entrance into God's kingdom (which comes by faith alone in Jesus, the Messiah). This man apparently wanted to move forward with Jesus (by putting his hand to the plow) and at the same time wanted to look back (at those he would leave behind at home). But usability demands forward-looking plowing in which the worker keeps his mind on the work at hand, and thus plows a straight furrow.