<p>9:60 <i>But he said to him: Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and publish the kingdom of God</i>- This would have been more shocking to first century ears than it is even to ours. For to bury his father was the most elemental duty of a Jewish son- &ldquo;in Jewish custom it came before other fundamental religious responsibilities like reciting the Shema&rdquo;. And the urgency about the preacher was to elicit a like urgency in the response of their hearers.</p><p>The principle of Nazariteship (explained in Num. 6) encouraged the average Israelite, regardless of his tribe, to in some way aspire to the High Priesthood. He could grow his hair long to imitate the High Priestly mitre, and he could chose to have the same commands concerning defilement by the dead and eating vine-products apply to him, as applied to the High Priest. The Lord applied this to all His followers, when He told the man who wished to bury his father to <i>not</i> do so, but engage instead in His work (Lk. 9:59,60). This would have sent the Jewish mind back to Lev. 21:1-11, where the High Priest could not be distracted from his service even by the death of his father.</p>