Scripture Reading: Mark 1:29-39

In today’s scripture reading, Mark’s Gospel emphasizes the power of Jesus’ word. His word can heal (1:31 and 34), free people from demons (1:34 and 38), and proclaim the Good News (1:39). His word has the power to make people whole, return them to their place in family and society, and reconcile them to God. Jesus calls us to the healing of the fever of disconnection.

The term “fever” is not mentioned much in the Old Testament. Two parallel texts describe fever as one of the punishments of the people of Israel if they do not obey the Lord’s commandments and ordinances once they reach the promised land (Leviticus 26:16; Deuteronomy 28:22). The New Testament contains a few other stories about the healing of fevers. Matthew and Luke have parallel accounts of this passage (Matthew 8:14-17 and Luke 4:38-41). John records an account of Jesus healing the son of a royal official, a Gentile. The boy is on the point of death, and one of his symptoms is a fever. Jesus heals the boy remotely, without having to touch him (John 4:46-54). In Acts, Paul heals the father of Publius, a citizen of Malta. Paul heals the man by prayer and laying on of hands (Acts 28:7-10). It is likely, that the fever that Peter’s mother in-law had resulted from malaria. Malaria was widespread in the Mediterranean in the first century and it is caused by parasites carried by mosquitoes. Its symptoms include fever, chills, and weakness. It can be fatal.

In this gospel passage, Jesus first ministered to Simon’s mother-in-law. In a male-dominated society of Jesus’ time, the place of the woman was that of a servant. In addition, Mark implied Simon’s mother-in-law was a widow without other family support, so her place in the family was tenuous. (Remember that a widow without family would be homeless.) This poor woman did not live with her husband’s family or her immediate family, but with her son-in-law’s family. Her place in the family was at the bottom of the pecking order. Without health, she could be a burden on the family.

When Jesus sat the woman up, he did not merely heal her of a fever. He restored her function and place in the family. So, he restored her self-esteem (1:29-31).

The modern world approaches the sick in different ways. We treat those with diseases or disorders that we understand with medicine. In the time of Jesus, the world approached the sick as those afflicted by evil spirits that influenced the body and possessed the person. But the spirit world extended beyond the individual. The whole of society was affected. Hence, sickness fell into the realm of faith. If an appeal to divine power could not address the issue, the sick were to be placed outside society to keep evil spirits at a distance. People were cut off from family and friends. They had no place in society.

What Jesus did for Simon’s mother-in-law, he could do for a village: restore loved ones back to their place in the family and in society. Notice Jesus healed the sick and expelled demons. He took a hands-on approach to situations that formal Judaism kept at arms’ length. Jesus came not only to make the person whole. He came to restore everyone’s place in society (1:32-34a). More important, Jesus’ word not only healed the person and returned him or her to a proper place in society, but His word returned the person to a proper place before God. That was the essence of the Good News. That was the reason for His ministry in Galilee, and later in Jerusalem. That was the reason for His death. And that was the power of His resurrection.

Friends reflect on an illness you have had. How did that illness challenge you? Did it increase your faith? Was the Lord close to you? Or did God feel distant? If we listen for the words of the Lord in health or in sickness or in social isolation, He still delivers the same message. When we stand before God as His beloved, we experience healing. The healing may be at different levels and at different times, but we do experience a sense of wholeness.  Our duty, and our challenge, is to pass that message onto others through our words and healing deeds. When the compassion that Jesus demonstrates on an interpersonal level through healing and exorcism is realized and practiced by us, then the world knows not only God’s compassion for the individual, but also justice for everyone. Jesus invites you for the healing of your disconnection. Amen.