Peter’s Mother-in-Law Healed

37 – Peter’s MIL and Others Healed, Matthew 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41

Matthew 8:14 When Jesus came into Peter’s [a]home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and [b]waited on Him. 16 When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and [c]carried away our diseases.”

Mark 1:29 And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with [a]James and John. 30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to [b]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 [c]waited on them. 32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. 33 And the whole city had gathered at the door. 34 And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was.

Luke 4:38 Then He got up and left the synagogue, and entered Simon’s home. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Him [a]to help her. 39 And standing over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her; and she immediately got up and [b]waited on them. 40 While the sun was setting, all those who had any who were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and laying His hands on each one of them, He was healing them. 41 Demons also were coming out of many, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” But rebuking them, He would not allow them to speak, because they knew Him to be [c]the Christ.

Footnotes (Matthew)

a. Matthew 8:14 Or house

b. Matthew 8:15 Or served

c. Matthew 8:17 Or removed

Footnotes (Mark)

a. Mark 1:29 Or Jacob

b. Mark 1:30 Lit Him

c. Mark 1:31 Or served

Footnotes (Luke)

a. Luke 4:38 Lit about her

b. Luke 4:39 Or served

c. Luke 4:41 I.e. the Messiah

Commentary

In the last study we learned that archaeologists found evidence that the synagogue at Capernaum was about a block away from Peter’s house, so when we hear that they immediately went to Peter’s house, we can assume the transition was indeed very quick. Through this passage, we also learn that, not only was Simon Peter married, but also that his mother-in-law and brother Andrew lived with him. Although it was common at the time for large, extended families to live in the same house, the custom for widows of this day was for them to return to their father’s house, if he were still alive, or else to move in with a son, rather than a daughter. It is a little odd that Peter’s mother-in-law lives with him, but it may speak to his generosity that he welcomed her to their home (The Word in Life Study Bible pg. 1641).

Jesus’s first act when he gets to Peter’s house is to heal Peter’s mother-in-law, for which we can assume she was extremely grateful, and she immediately follows this by serving Him in return. When we read of the mother-in-law’s service upon being healed, we are not meant to infer that Jesus was self-serving and needed her to be well in order to wait on Him. In fact, one of the reasons her service is remarkable to all the gospel writers is that most people are left weak when in recovery from a serious illness. Since Peter’s mother-in-law emerged from her fever with all her strength, this proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that her recovery was not merely coincidental, but a total renewal purposefully perpetrated by the Messiah. She would have needed all her strength to serve them, since service at the time took considerable energy and likely went far beyond cooking. Work and family tasks were divided among family members, with the women and children generally being assigned to fetching water, cooking (including grinding grain by hand for bread), childcare and education, “spinning wool, weaving, making clothes and linens, mending, washing, producing pottery and other utensils for cooking,” as well as several Sabbath-related tasks, such as filling the lamps with oil, preparing treats, and collecting an extra day’s water (The Word in Life Study Bible pg. 1714).

With reference to the Sabbath treats and extra day’s water, they would have done this the day before, in order to prevent themselves from having to work on the Sabbath, and I want to point out the strict legalism they lived under so I can call attention to the fact that both Jesus and Peter’s mother-in-law worked on the Sabbath. As we see throughout the gospel accounts, this was not entirely uncommon for Jesus, but was still unexpected. In fact, since Sabbath was from sundown to sundown, we can see that the rest of the town waited until Sabbath was officially over (“after sunset”) before bringing all their infirm to be healed. Meanwhile, Jesus had been inside Peter’s house performing healing already. Whenever Jesus healed on the Sabbath, He “showed that He placed human need above the mere external observance of the Sabbath” (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Vol 5 pg. 186).

By this time, the people of Capernaum are familiar with Jesus’s abilities (He had healed the nobleman’s child and cast out a demon in the synagogue), so they bring every type of ill and possessed person to Jesus for healing as soon as they are able. He graciously complies. It occurs to me that Jesus might have preferred the people to be as enthusiastic about His teaching, but He fulfills their need for healing without comment on this occasion. He loves them and wants to see them well, regardless of their immediate motives, and incidentally, their joy and awe at being healed will make them more receptive to His teaching in the future.

Through this healing story, we see again that the gospel writers remark that Jesus would not allow the demons to speak. Why not; weren’t the demons saying something true? Some commentators say that demons are so absolutely unclean that it is inappropriate for them to be allowed to utter such pure, perfect truth. Others say that God Himself is the only one who can choose when and how He is revealed. There may be merit to both of these theories, but I would like to add one more; the way the Devil works is to use truth to gain credibility. For instance, when he tempted Jesus, he twisted real passages of scripture to try to convince Jesus to sin. In the case of these demons proclaiming the messiahship of Jesus, one of two things could have happened. If Jesus had allowed them to continue to speak, they could have gone on to say things that twisted the truth, but would have been believable to the people, since the demons’ testimony had become trustworthy to them through the initial truth. Conversely, for any doubters or unbelievers in the crowd, they may have remembered the human persons the demons had indwelled as psychotic, which would therefore make the exclamation about Jesus seem like just another hysterical outburst, thus casting further doubt on Jesus’s position. By silencing them, He does not allow for either outcome, and He also further proves his power and authority. “The gospel accounts are filled with incidents of demon activity and even resistance to the ministry of Christ. His power over their influence further vindicates His divine messiahship” (Nelson KJV Bible Commentary pg. 1191).

See the next post here https://onthepath.online/2019/10/04/tour-of-galilee/

Scripture References

Matt 8:14

1 Corinthians 9:5 Have we no right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

Matt 8:16

Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew 4:24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed–and He healed them.

Matthew 8:33 Those tending the pigs ran off into the town and reported all this, including the account of the demon-possessed men.

Matt 8:17

Isaiah 53:4 Surely He took on our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken by God, struck down and afflicted.

2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for the sake of Christ, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Mark 1:29

Mark 1:21 Then Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and as soon as the Sabbath began, Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach.

Mark 1:23 Suddenly a man with an unclean spirit cried out in the synagogue:

Mark 1:32

Matthew 4:24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed–and He healed them.

Mark 1:33

Mark 1:21 Then Jesus and His companions went to Capernaum, and as soon as the Sabbath began, Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach.

Mark 1:34

Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew 4:24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed–and He healed them.

Luke 4:38

Matthew 4:24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed–and He healed them.

Luke 4:39

Luke 4:35 But Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the demon

Luke 8:24 The disciples went and woke Him saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters, and they subsided, and all was calm.

Luke 4:40

Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew 4:24 News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering acute pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed–and He healed them.

Mark 5:23 and pleaded with Him urgently, “My little daughter is near death. Please come and place Your hands on her, so that she will be healed and live.”

Luke 4:41

Matthew 4:3 The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

Matthew 8:4 Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”

Luke 4:35 But Jesus rebuked the demon. “Be silent!” He said. “Come out of him!” At this, the demon threw the man down before them all and came out without harming him.