Mark 1:29 - 39
One of the ways to read Mark's gospel is to keep in mind that it's all about Jesus gradually revealing what it means to be the Messiah promised by God. And not only is this revelation for the apostles and by extension, you and I, it's also for Jesus, who is depicted in Mark as someone who learns, someone who can be astonished, someone who feels deeply. And there are lessons for us as well, those of us who as Christians want to imitate our Savior..
In Mark’s gospel, Jesus has just come from the synagogue where he has demonstrated that he has the power to exorcise evil spirits. Now, still on the Sabbath, he enters Peter’s house and cures the mother-in-law, showing that he has the power to heal. But what can we learn from this story?
We can conclude a few things about Peter’s mother-in-law. She is almost certainly a widow, since she would not be living in Peter’s house if she had a living husband. She almost certainly has no sons, because they would be the ones to take care of her if her husband had died. And of course there is no social security nor any sort of welfare system. Peter’s house, by the way, is one of the few things mentioned in the New Testament that we know a little about. In the third century they built a church which was said to be on the site of Peter’s house. Over the centuries the church collapsed and the area was abandoned. In the nineteenth century some archaeologists discovered that beneath the ruins of the church was the foundation of a typical house. It was about twenty feet by twenty feet, with a large central area and two small rooms about eight feet by five feet each. There were no windows; a curtain closed off each room. And in one of these dark, cramped airless rooms Peter’s mother in law had collapsed with a fever. She had nothing, she survived on the charity of her daughter and son in law, and now she was deathly ill, because when you had a fever in those days, death was a common outcome. And the disciples, who have not yet witnessed Jesus’ healing powers, tell him about her, Mark says, immediately. If you could read Greek, and I can’t, you would be struck by the next line: Jesus takes her by the hand and resurrects her -- Mark uses that same word in describing Jesus’ resurrection.
So we learn two things: Jesus is there for us when we are helpless and it looks like all is lost; and it’s a good thing for you and I to bring people like that to Jesus, people we know who have little or no hope, just like the apostles did..
The cure of the mother-in-law gets the whole village excited, but it’s the Sabbath, so people don’t start bringing the sick and the possessed to Jesus until sundown, when the day officially ends. And Jesus cures them all, but when there is a break, he goes off to pray. The disciples, however, decide right then and there that they know what’s best for him. “Why did you run off,” they say. “Everyone is looking for you.” One of the things about Mark’s gospel is how human Jesus is pictured, And Mark has Jesus amazed by lack of faith, feeling sorry for the crowd in his gut, smearing mud on a blind man’s eyes, spitting on a deaf mute’s tongue -- and learning. Later on whenever Jesus cures someone he often tells them not to tell anyone. I wonder if his experience at Peter’s house was the reason. But I think we can learn something here as well. How often do we see God as a vending machine? It’s easy to go through life trying to stay on God’s good side, talking to him when we need something; but essentially completely distorting the relationship; God is the center, He calls the shots; my role is to be like Mary -- “I am the Lord’s servant, do to me according to your word”.
Finally Jesus tells his disciples that he must go and preach in other towns and villages, because that is why he came in the first place. Jesus had a very successful first day of ministry. They wanted to make him a rock star. But he always stops to check in with his heavenly father to make sure he’s on the right track. And after doing so he sees his priorities clearly. His main job is to get the message out, the call to repentance and the preaching of the kingdom. Cures and exorcisms take second place. So again, Mark has Jesus learning something about his ministry. I know we don’t like to think of Jesus as someone who learns, but learning is part of being human, and Jesus is fully human, in all things but sin.
And what can we learn from this? If you are like me, and you probably are, you sometimes have trouble focusing on what you are supposed to be doing because you are distracted by pleasure, or power, or making a living, or getting new stuff. And you forget that you have a limited number of days in which to do what you were put on earth to do. And it’s a good thing to check in with the Father now and then to ask, “what do you want of me today, Lord? How can I serve you better?” If it was good enough for Jesus, it should be good enough for you and I.
