Skip to main content

59. Peter's Mother-In-Law


Matthew 8:14-15, Mark 1:29-31, Luke 4:38-39,
Key Verse: So He went to her, took her hand and helped her up.  The fever left her and she began to wait on them. 
Mark 1:31

It's hard for us, today, in the age of antibiotics to appreciate the seriousness of this situation.  When we have a fever we usually just go to bed and sleep it off or call the doctor and get a prescription for penicillin and keep on going.  A little bug isn't about to keep us from our responsibilities. 

We only need look back, however to our grandparent's generation to understand how serious this fever may have been.  I'm thinking of the flu epidemic of 1918-19 that spread world-wide in which many people died.  When we remember that George Washington died from a strep throat, do we really need to look any further?  Infections, childhood diseases, bad drinking water, were all threats to life itself.  We forget that in our age of modern medicine, but travel to a third world country and we can be immediately back in the reality of Jesus' day.  Luke, the doctor, lets us know that the fever was "high," and in so doing, he is letting us know just how serious the situation was for this woman. 

It is interesting that this woman did not ask personally for healing.  Perhaps she couldn't.  High fevers often cause delirium or a lack of awareness of one's surroundings.  We don't know if this was the case or not, but it is possible. 

Jesus simply healed her.  Luke says that He rebuked the fever, but Matthew and Mark say that He simply touched her hand.  This may mean that, if Jesus did say anything, it was done quietly; perhaps so that He wouldn't startle her?  Who knows?  There is no comment about faith here by Jesus; no assuring that God gets the glory, just a simple touch and that is all that was needed.  Yet, even a touch is personal.  It is an act of love.  It is an act of reaching beyond yourself, outside of your comfort zone to someone who is in need. 

Then, there is the response of the mother-in-law to being healed.  She understands this act of love and appreciation and returns the favor by serving Jesus as her way of giving thanks.  This too may be a bit hard for us to imagine.  While it is true that in our day of good health care, it is hard to imagine seeing a fever as a real threat, we at least enjoy often laying in bed for a day to recover and get our full strength back.  That obviously is not the case here.  No recovery time was needed.  She was good to go as soon as Jesus touched her.  She didn't take that energy and do something selfish like go shopping or take off to visit a friend.  She turned right around and gave back to Jesus what she could.  Both she and Jesus understood the language of love and nothing more needed to be said. 

This healing also may have served to encourage Peter's faith in two ways.  First of all, it served as further proof that Jesus really was who He would later claim to be.  Secondly, if Peter really did follow Jesus and become a fisher of men, he was going to be leaving his household behind.  Perhaps his mother-in-law was essential to a smooth running home.  Her illness, or death, would have made it very hard for Peter to leave and follow the master.  Jesus eased that burden of concern by simply eliminating it. 

How do we show thanks for what the Lord has done for us?

Hymn: (chorus) "Give Thanks" 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faithful Through the Ages

Luke 2:22-38 Listen Link:  http://www.firstcovenantcadillac.org/#!this-weeks-sermon/c20mw Forgive the buzz on this one. I had a cold and my voice was way down. One of the odd little quirky things that Kathy and I like to do from time to time is walk through old cemeteries and read the tombstones. Sometimes there are interesting little tidbits of information or a verse of Scripture that give a hint to what kind of person lies beneath our feet. Often, however, there is just the name, the date born and the date of death with just a dash between. The dash represents the whole life lived between the two dates, so it would contain most of the interesting information, but it is hidden from us. All we can do is pick up little clues that can be gleaned from the names, dates and from the other tombstones around the one we are looking at. If there are a cluster of stones all containing the same last name, then we may be able to figure out the family relationships; who was the parent, wh
Post a Comment
Read more

August 28 A Non-anxious Presence

The purposes of the heart are deep waters, but a person with understanding can draw them out. ~Proverbs 20:5   How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with You. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. ~Psalm 139:18 & 23-24  People take time. In chaplaincy work, when so often, the person before me is facing a crisis, and or a difficult decision, it is common for me to practice the art of being a non-anxious presence for them. This simply means being present just for them. I’m not distracted by phone calls or texts or paperwork or my to do list or my next appointment.  Time is suspended for the moment while I just sit with them; available to pray, if that’s what they want; available to talk, available to be what they need from another human being while I
Post a Comment
Read more

312. Burial Plot!

Matthew 27:62-66 Key Verse: So, they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard." Matthew 27:66 "The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming." Psalm 37:12-13 You have to wonder if, by now, Pilate is beginning to question the sanity of the Jewish leaders themselves. It wasn't enough that they were jealous of this quiet dreamer, Jesus, now they were afraid of His disciples. From Pilate's perspective, this last must have been almost ludicrous.  After all, only one of Jesus' followers had stuck around for the trials and crucifixion. For the most part, as soon as Jesus had been taken, they had all scattered and were probably in hiding. The idea of this rag tag group of unlearned fishermen sticking their necks out now to steal a body and then start a rumor that no one would believe anyway, was ridiculous.
Post a Comment
Read more