5th Sunday after Epiphany
Mark 1:29-39
As soon as [Jesus and his followers] left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And, the whole city was gathered around the door. And, he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And, Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And, he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.
Our Response to God
There’s a lot to unpack in these ten short verses, a lot that’s easy to miss if we don’t look closely and carefully. First, is the sheer number of people mentioned here. Of course, we have Jesus and his followers, and then we have Simon’s mother-in-law. Hold on a second, mother-in-law? Mother-in-law. I have to confess, it has never occurred to me that Simon Peter was married. This story appears in the three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and I could not tell you how many times I have read the title “mother-in-law” in connection with this man, and it never occurred to me that if Simon had a mother-in-law, that means he must have had a wife. It’s easy to miss, because this indirect reference to her is all that we ever get. She is never mentioned directly, and we never learn her name.
The text goes on to say, “That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And, the whole city was gathered around the door.” The whole city was gathered around the door! Surely, that must be a hyperbole. And, maybe it is, but Capernaum was a small town, maybe four or five hundred people, so a lot of people for a doorway, but maybe there were so many people there that it felt like the whole town.
At the end of the reading, Jesus and his followers are going to the neighboring towns, “throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.”
So, that’s who’s in the text. Now, what is happening here? In the verse right before our reading, Jesus is teaching at the synagogue on the Sabbath, and he commands an unclean spirit to come out of someone. The spirit says, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” We need to remember what this spirit said, because it’s important for what happens in our reading for today.
After that, Jesus arrives at Simon’s house, and heals Simon’s mother-in-law. There’s an argument to be made that this is still the same day, which means Jesus was healing on the Sabbath, and we have seen Jesus get criticized for healing on the Sabbath in other parts of the gospels, because people were not supposed to work on the Sabbath. Also, he touches a sick woman, and then this woman who had been sick only moments before is now touching all of their food. All of this was taboo, but as we have seen time and time again, Jesus looks past taboo and tradition, to what really matters. If your donkey falls into a well on the Sabbath, you pull it out of the well. If someone is considered unclean because they’re sick and you shouldn’t touch them, if you can take care of them, if you can heal them, then you touch them.
In the stories that we read about Jesus healing, when people are named, when we have specific details, the healing is always about relationships. The Professor of New Testament at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, Cynthia Briggs Kitteridge, writes, “In Mark’s gospel there is no ‘individual’ healing, only those that repair relationship, son to father, daughter to mother, and here, mother to children.”
It’s important to note here that as soon as she was healed, she began to serve them. Her response to God’s presence, to God’s miracle, was to serve. It foreshadows what’s about to come. Jesus raising her up foreshadows his own resurrection, when God the Creator raises Jesus the Christ up from the dead, so that he may serve. Resurrection is, after all, the entire point of the gospels, and so the gospel writers make reference to it, foreshadow it, as often as they can.
After healing Simon’s mother-in-law, we see that Jesus “cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.” Based on what we know of other descriptions of Jesus healing, it’s safe to say that he didn’t just wave his hands, and then the whole town was healed. These were done one-on-one, face-to-face. These were personal, Jesus talked to them, found out what was wrong with them, looked them in the eyes, and told them they were healed. I think the way this account was written, we’re supposed to understand that the way Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law was an example of how Jesus then would have gone on to heal all of the others who needed healing in the town. If he was going to heal everyone at the same time, there would’ve been no need to single out Simon’s mother-in-law in that way. And, we can remember with the other times that Jesus healed large numbers of people in a short amount of time, how draining that was for him. This was not a small feat. This was a great act, a great miracle, and those come at a cost.
Something strange comes next. The text says, “he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” Remember what the unclean spirit said earlier: “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” Jesus did not want the demons to speak, because he didn’t want them to reveal his true nature to the people there. That revelation was for later, and not for the mouth of demons. The revelation of who he was was too important for that, and so, he did not let the demons speak.
The next morning, Jesus goes to pray, and Simon and the others go looking for him. When they find him, Jesus tells them that it’s time for them to move on, to bring the message to all of Galilee.
What we have here, demonstrated in this story, is the intimate closeness of a personal relationship with God, the example of Jesus healing Simon’s mother-in-law, inside of the familiar comforts of their home, and a shared meal afterwards. And, we have the growing influence of Jesus’ power, as he heals the rest of the people in the town, and casts out their demons. And after that, the world altering proclamation, the truth of who God is and what God does, spreading out into the surrounding countryside, throughout Galilee, our relationship with God as a people.
There are so many stories about the Kingdom of God starting out as something small: a mustard seed, a bit of yeast. But, these things don’t stay small. The mustard seed becomes a tree, the yeast leavens all of the dough. God’s grace touches a single person, she responds through service, others are healed, the message spreads, and soon all will know the truth and the glory of God.
Jesus tells many parables throughout the gospels, and a lot of them are hard to understand. But, at their heart, they’re about relationship: our relationship with God; our relationship with each other. Our gospel reading today is not a parable. It’s an account of what Jesus did, proof that what Jesus says is going to happen will in fact happen, proof that Jesus will show up when we need him.
So, when Jesus does show up, when God shows up in our lives, will we be ready to respond? Will we be ready to serve? The gospels are about resurrection. Resurrection is happening inside of us; what was dead is now alive. That’s why we’re here. That’s why we do the things that we do, why we have come together as a congregation. How we have decided to be leaders in our community. Jesus has been resurrected in us, and God’s presence moves in us to serve. Amen.
~ Rev. Charles Wei
