And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. [Mark 1:29-31 ESV]
Maybe it's a sign of old age, but when I have completed a task I tend to reward myself with a break including a cup of coffee and a cake (if possible). Jesus did not take breaks - Mark is in a hurry to describe the various miracles of Jesus so he does not let time pass between the incidents. Jesus has just sorted out the mess in the life of a demon-possessed man and he is straight on to dealing with another crisis. This time He is helping out one of His disciples. Simon (or Peter as we generally refer to him) has a domestic situation. His mother-in-law is very ill. We are not told the nature of the fever or the cause of it but she is lying in bed in a poor condition, until Jesus enters the home and His intervention transforms the situation in that home. Notice that Mark records that 'they told him about her.' Now Jesus saw this for himself - he did not really need them to point it out to him. In Matthew's account of the same incident, it states that, 'When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.' [Matthew 8:14 NIV] But this is a picture of prayer - God wants us to make our requests known to Him - even though He is fully aware of our situation.
Jesus does not administer a lengthy treatment which results in a gradual improvement. It is instantaneous. Peter was there and this was in the early days of his term of following Jesus. He never forgot what he saw. He recounted this incident to John Mark who was the author of the Second Gospel. Notice, the lack of embellishment in the narrative. I would have probably spent longer detailing just how ill this lady was and the symptoms associated with the fever. It could have been malaria or another myriad of illnesses which produce a high temperature. What impressed Peter on that occasion was the easy way that Jesus carried out the healing miracle. He merely took Mary by the hand and helped her to her feet and there is an instant cure - the fever vanishes. She is no longer looking flushed and all the symptoms of fever vanish in an instant.
Peter is by nature impatient. He does not like to hang around waiting. This sort of instant transformation suits him exactly. But there is one detail which is provided in this skeleton-like description and it's dramatic. It simply records - 'she began to serve them.' She did not need to lie down to recover her energy. She is cured immediately and it shows in her actions. She serves in her own home in a quiet way but that is perfectly acceptable for this lady. She is not called to go further afield to witness to the transformation which Jesus accomplished in her life. She simply serves Jesus in her own home - as my mother did. But Peter never forgot this miracle. It is only the second miracle recorded in this Gospel - the first one was the exorcism of the demon possessed man. Now Jesus heals a woman who had succumbed to a very common complaint at that time and which often proved fatal.
There is excitement in this brief narrative. There is triumph. There is honesty and credibility. This is an eyewitness account and Peter was around when this Gospel was 'published' so he could himself testify to the veracity and accuracy of this account. There is excitement when we have an answer to prayer just as happened here. But we need to make the request in faith. We need to believe in the infinite power of the Son of God to intervene.
[Photo by Kat J on Unsplash.]
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