Another of the disciples said to him, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. The second would-be disciple's request — to bury his father — seems entirely reasonable and was in fact a paramount duty in Jewish culture: a son's obligation to bury his father superseded almost all other obligations. The request may mean that the father has just died, or it may mean that the disciple wants to wait until his father dies (possibly years away) before committing to follow Jesus. The first interpretation makes the response of verse 22 harsh; the second makes it more comprehensible: some things, even culturally mandated things, cannot take priority over the call to follow.

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