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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" 

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