Healing Peter’s Mother In-law. Mark 1:29-31
“29) And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30) Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to Jesus about her. 31) And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.” Mark 1:29-31
As mentioned earlier, Mark often used the word “immediately.” Things happened in rapid succession. From verse 28, immediately the news about Him went out everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. Jesus became the talk of the whole region because of the signs produced by His authority.
Then verse 29 says; “And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.” We can ascertain several things from this verse.
First, it appears that Peter and Andrew shared a house close to the synagogue. It was common in those days to have a family house. Their father may have been deceased. That would explain why Zebedee, the father of James and John was on the beach with his hired servants, but there was no mention of the father of Simon and Andrew. (See Mark 1:16-20)
Second, Peter was married and his mother in-law was staying with them. There was no social welfare system in Jewish culture. Families cared for their own aging family members. This is common in many cultures around the world today.
Third, when they arrived in the home, Peter’s mother in-law was laying sick with a fever. According to verse 30, immediately they spoke to Him about her. They made the need known to Him.
Finally, Jesus did what became customary to Him. He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand and the fever left her. He healed her. The result was that she resumed her normal activity and began waiting on them.
Nothing was to big or to small for Jesus. He ministered to the needs at hand. In this case, His touch imparted healing. There was no mention of her needing faith or believing. Jesus came to her, took her by the hand, raised her up and the fever left her.
This might sound insignificant, but it caught the attention of Mark. Matthew and Luke also record this miracle. (Matthew 8:14-15; Luke 4:38-39) Why do you suppose it was recorded by three of the four Gospel writers?
We are now left to speculation. That is always dangerous. It may have been the length of her illness, the seriousness of her condition, the kind of fever she had, or the immediacy of her healing. Whatever the case, Jesus completely healed her!
Her condition came from the category of natural causes. Her body was fighting some kind of germ, bacteria, virus or disease. It was not caused by an unclean spirit. It was physical and not spiritual in origin.
The gospel writers stressed that Jesus healed “every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23-24; 9:35) This included serious injuries like paralysis. (Matthew 9:1-8) There was no condition that was beyond His authority and power. He even raised the dead. (Matthew 9:18-26)
But His authority and power went beyond healings. They could be explained away as Psychosomatic. He also walked on the water, filled nets with fish, calmed raging seas and multiplied food supplies to feed thousands. These miracles were beyond any psychological explanation.
All of the above begs the question; “Who is Jesus?” You need to read the gospels, weigh the evidence and wrestle through this question for yourself. But you need to take one more step.
You need to solve the mystery of Matthew 9:35 and Mathew 10:1. What does it mean that Jesus gave authority to His disciples to do the same in His Name? Is this still applicable today? It certainly extended into the book of Acts. Hebrews 2:4 points to God doing signs and wonders to confirm the gospel message.
Welcome to my inner wrestling. The biggest difference between you and me is that I travel extensively around the world and see God working in these same miraculous ways in many places. I cannot deny the authority and power of Jesus Christ for our day. I’m not being radical, I’m just being honest. I am in as much awe and wonder at the authority and power of Jesus Christ as the four gospel writers.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
“29) And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30) Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to Jesus about her. 31) And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.” Mark 1:29-31
As mentioned earlier, Mark often used the word “immediately.” Things happened in rapid succession. From verse 28, immediately the news about Him went out everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee. Jesus became the talk of the whole region because of the signs produced by His authority.
Then verse 29 says; “And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.” We can ascertain several things from this verse.
First, it appears that Peter and Andrew shared a house close to the synagogue. It was common in those days to have a family house. Their father may have been deceased. That would explain why Zebedee, the father of James and John was on the beach with his hired servants, but there was no mention of the father of Simon and Andrew. (See Mark 1:16-20)
Second, Peter was married and his mother in-law was staying with them. There was no social welfare system in Jewish culture. Families cared for their own aging family members. This is common in many cultures around the world today.
Third, when they arrived in the home, Peter’s mother in-law was laying sick with a fever. According to verse 30, immediately they spoke to Him about her. They made the need known to Him.
Finally, Jesus did what became customary to Him. He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand and the fever left her. He healed her. The result was that she resumed her normal activity and began waiting on them.
Nothing was to big or to small for Jesus. He ministered to the needs at hand. In this case, His touch imparted healing. There was no mention of her needing faith or believing. Jesus came to her, took her by the hand, raised her up and the fever left her.
This might sound insignificant, but it caught the attention of Mark. Matthew and Luke also record this miracle. (Matthew 8:14-15; Luke 4:38-39) Why do you suppose it was recorded by three of the four Gospel writers?
We are now left to speculation. That is always dangerous. It may have been the length of her illness, the seriousness of her condition, the kind of fever she had, or the immediacy of her healing. Whatever the case, Jesus completely healed her!
Her condition came from the category of natural causes. Her body was fighting some kind of germ, bacteria, virus or disease. It was not caused by an unclean spirit. It was physical and not spiritual in origin.
The gospel writers stressed that Jesus healed “every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23-24; 9:35) This included serious injuries like paralysis. (Matthew 9:1-8) There was no condition that was beyond His authority and power. He even raised the dead. (Matthew 9:18-26)
But His authority and power went beyond healings. They could be explained away as Psychosomatic. He also walked on the water, filled nets with fish, calmed raging seas and multiplied food supplies to feed thousands. These miracles were beyond any psychological explanation.
All of the above begs the question; “Who is Jesus?” You need to read the gospels, weigh the evidence and wrestle through this question for yourself. But you need to take one more step.
You need to solve the mystery of Matthew 9:35 and Mathew 10:1. What does it mean that Jesus gave authority to His disciples to do the same in His Name? Is this still applicable today? It certainly extended into the book of Acts. Hebrews 2:4 points to God doing signs and wonders to confirm the gospel message.
Welcome to my inner wrestling. The biggest difference between you and me is that I travel extensively around the world and see God working in these same miraculous ways in many places. I cannot deny the authority and power of Jesus Christ for our day. I’m not being radical, I’m just being honest. I am in as much awe and wonder at the authority and power of Jesus Christ as the four gospel writers.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
