Verse 8:17-18

Verse 8:17: “That so might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, who said: ‘He will bear our sorrows and our infirmities he will take upon him’”. 

Refer Isaiah 53:4: “The prophet speaks of the Lord who suffers vicariously for the sin or infirmities of others.” 

Four kinds of people were healed:
1. A leper who approached with his faith and Lord healed him by touch which was forbidden 
2. The centurion was a Gentile and he approached for his servant through a messenger. Jesus used words to heal him from far away. 
3. Simons’s mother-in-law did not make any request, but Lord reached her and healed her with a touch.
4. The multitudes; they too were healed. 

Verse 8:18: “He gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake” That is other side of the Sea if Galilee.

Verse 8:18: “And a Scribe came and said to him: Rabbi, I will follow you to wherever you go”

This young scribe is really impressed with Jesus and salutes Him as “Rabbi” (a salutation used for Jewish teachers). He offers to follow Lord unconditionally. That is praiseworthy, too. But Lord did not give him a straight answer. 
· Did the scribe ever think well enough about consequence of his acts? 
· Did he think that nearness to Lord Christ may or could give him wonderful powers?
· He may have to suffer for his sacrifice, too. Did he think about it?
· Did he purposefully decide to follow someone who did not have anything in this world as His own?

There is also one more interpretation. : 
Foxes = devils 
Birds = greed for wealth
Lord heartedly says that for all these, there is no place for the Son of Man. 

Jesus teaches on discipleship:
· Carry the cross oneself (Mat 10:38)
· Give everything to the poor (Mat 19:21)
· Love our Lord more than anyone else (Luke 14:26)
· There is no crown without taking the cross

“Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead”: 

What is shown here is a person who wishes to follow the Lord, but finds an excuse for not acting on it. Wishing is one thing, making it happen is another. Our Lord is not prohibiting a person from burying his father. But he was delaying infinitely his wish to follow the Lord. The man did not ask permission to dig a grave for his deceased father. He wanted to remain in his father’s house and care for him until his death. This could be for an infinite period. So his wish to follow the Lord could go on forever. So Lord says that people who are spiritually dead and separated from God, do bury the dead and attend to household things. Here our Lord is saying that any obligations should not be put ahead of following our Lord.