Mark 1:29-38 (NIV) 29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they immediately told Jesus about her. 31 So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. 32 That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered at the door, 34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” 38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.”
Jesus and the disciples come to the home of Simon Peter. They enter the small mud brick house expecting to find Peter’s wife and mother-in-law busy preparing the Sabbath feast. They were expecting the smell of fresh bread baking and the aroma of pungent spices, but on this day there is no meal, for Peter’s mother-in-law is sick with a fever. Jesus finds her lying on a mat and stoops down to her. With His touch the fever is gone, immediately, and she began to serve them. She served them in the spirit of celebration that filled the home. As the day ends we can imagine the people gathered around Peter’s home. We can hear the rumble of conversations. We see the bright expectation in their eyes as they wait for their turn to be touched.
Very early the next morning, Peter awakens knowing that many more people would be coming that day to seek Jesus’ power for healing, and Peter finds Jesus praying in solitude. Jesus says to him, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” As Peter hears these words, how do you think he felt? The miracles of healing seem almost an aside to what Jesus felt was really His reason for being here. So what is going on?
Jesus had healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever, and we know what a fever does to us. It zaps us, drains us our energy, and darkens our interest in God and almost anything else except hoping for the fever to pass. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law is a sign that God will come into our life when we are drained of all energy, when life has knocked the props out from under us, when we are feverish with activity to make our life better, and will heal us.
This healing is a sign that God will reach into our life and heal us, but there is a sign of something even more important. Jesus says “Let us go somewhere else so I can preach there also.” Jesus came to give the message of God’s loving rule in our lives. The power of His rule is seen in Peter’s mother-in-law. She served not because it was what she was supposed to do, but because of her gratitude to God. God comes in His Son to set us free so that we can see what we are here for.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope February 6, 1999
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
No comments:
Post a Comment