Let the dead bury their own dead

 Then He said to another, "Follow Me."

But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God." Luke 9:59-60

This seems rather harsh.  The usual explanation is that Jesus was saying let the unsaved-- who are spiritually dead--bury those who are physically dead.

I once read of another view in which there was a custom that after a year had passed in which a deceased person was in a sepulcher, a relative would then officially bury them.  I don't know if this was a common practice in Jesus' day, or if it was even what he was referring to.

I think that in some way Jesus was saying that, depending on the circumstances, one will have to allow others to take care of certain things of a temporal nature when you need to take care of certain things of eternal nature or significance.  We have to discern what has priority.