29And immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they spoke* to Jesus about her. 31And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.
32When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. 33And the whole city had gathered at the door. 34And 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.
35In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. 36Simon and his companions searched for Him; 37they found Him, and said* to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” 38He said* to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” 39And He went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and casting out the demons.(Mark 1:29-39)
I’ll never forget the morningI walked into my in-laws house and my mother-in-law and father-in-law were sitting at the table reading the newspaper. My father-in-law is a great guy. But, he is not one to tell a lot of jokes. When I walked in, he looked up and saw me and said, “Hi, Steve.” When I returned the greeting, he just kind of smiled and said to me, “Hey, do you know what the definition of ‘happiness’ is?” I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I said, “well, what is yours?” He just sort of smiled and said, “opening the refrigerator door and seeing your mother-in-laws picture on the milk carton.” As his wife smacked him with the newspaper, I figured it probably wasn’t a good idea to laugh to hard.”
You know, Mother-in-laws have been the brunt of jokes since the beginning of time. Well, I guess that isn’t exactly accurate since Adam and Eve didn’t have a mother-in-law. But probably shortly after that, Mother-in-law jokes became popular. Out of curiosity, I went to the internet this week and you wouldn’t believe how many web sights that there are that are dedicated to horrible mother-in-law stories and jokes.
One thing that I have found out in the last year and a half, becoming an in-law is no easy task. In her book "How to Be the Perfect Mother-in-Law," Camille Russo likens the transition to “feeling as if you’ve been strapped to a chair with a sock stuck in your mouth.”
Suddenly, your well-meaning advice is no longer accepted as well-meaning. The child you so lovingly nurtured into adulthood suddenly has a spouse ready to scrutinize your every word and action.
Mike Scholl’s relationship with the woman he now describes as “the perfect mother-in-law,” had a sour beginning. Before Mike married Kathleen Cronin, her parents invited Mike and his parents to dinner. Here’s where things turned sour. As mother-in-law- to-be Agnes Cronin describes it, “we always drink skim milk at our house. But Mike only likes whole milk.”
Wanting to accommodate her future son-in-law, Agnes bought whole milk especially for Mike. Unfortunately, the milk was sour. Not wanting to offend Agnes’ kind gesture, Mike drank it anyway without saying a word.
Today, 24 years later, Mike and Agnes get along great. “She’s always there when we need her, but never in the way or interfering,” the Fairfield man says. “She’s just a neat lady.” And, according to Mike, she’s a great cook. But, he brings his own milk.
Although we may not admit it all of the time, most of us really do like our mother-in-law. I know that before she passed away, I loved Deby’s mom. She was a wonderful woman with a big heart, a great laugh and a love for the Lord.
I also understand Peter’s desire to see his mother-in-law healed. Let’s take a quick look at this miracle this morning. This is an important event in the discipleship of Peter.
First, let’s take a minute to think about Peter’s family.
This miracle gives a rare glimpse into a very interesting family. One of the things that we must understand is that family life 2000 years ago was vastly different than family life in 21st century America. First of all, family members had very specific roles.
In this case, the head of the family would be Peter. Peter was the oldest male child. He would be expected to provide for the family’s well being. He would be the bread winner – his brother would help him, but it would be mainly his responsibility. He would also be the family spokesman. He would make the important decisions for all of the members. If a son were to marry, he would have to find the bride. If a daughter were to marry, he would approve the marriage and receive the dowry.
Apparently, his wife had no brother’s or they had passed away, because he had taken in her mother. She would be his responsibility as well as any other family members who were still around.
The reason that I share this with you is that I want you to realize what tremendous faith it must have taken for Peter to be willing to drop everything and follow Jesus.
There were probably some who would think that he was shirking his responsibility to go off on some adventure. But Peter had recognized something special in Jesus and was willing to risk everything to follow Him.
That is why I believe this passage is so important in the discipleship of Peter.
Mark tells us that Jesus had cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue in Capernaum. After the service concluded Peter, Andrew, James, John and Jesus walked over to Peter’s house. The house was probably just a short jaunt from the synagogue.
The men came into the home and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a fever. From my research, I have found that she was probably sick with either; typhoid fever or malaria.
Now, we don’t know what kind of fever she had. But, Luke, who as we all know was a physician, tells us that she had a “high” fever. (Luke 4:38) To be sure, Peter’s mother-in-law was in a life-threatening condition. More than likely, she had been in this condition for some time. As the head of the household, it was Peter’s responsibility to see to it that she was cared for. His wife had probably been by her side. Physicians more than likely had been called. In all probability, there was nothing more that could be done for her. The family was waiting for the inevitable.
But then Jesus does something that changes everything. Listen to the story in Mark 1:21-28
21They went* into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 25And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. 27They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” 28Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.
It’s the Sabbath day, and Jesus takes his disciples to the synagogue for worship. While He is there, he heals a man who is possessed by a demon. For the very first time, Peter sees Jesus do something to restore a person. This is the first healing miracle recorded in Mark and Luke.
So, what does Peter do? He takes Jesus home with him.
(Pause) What an interesting concept – taking Jesus home with us. For many of us, Jesus is the Son of God that we go to Church on Sunday to worship. Jesus is story in the Bible that we read about and hear about on Christmas and Easter. Jesus is the one that we put our faith in so that we can have the promise of Eternal life. But how many of us have truly taken Jesus home with us?
• How many of us have invited him into our hearts, but not into our houses
• invited him into our hearts but not our workplace
• invited him into our hearts but not our hobbies and recreational activities.
The best thing Peter ever did was make Jesus Christ central to every aspect of his life. At home, Peter continues to have all of the struggles of life. He has a wife, a brother and a mother-in-law to care for. His mother-in-law is sick and possibly dying. So, Peter took Jesus into his home and into his family.
When Jesus arrives, Peter’s mother-in-law is laid up. Peter probably doesn’t know for sure what is going to happen, but he takes Jesus to her anyway. And Jesus responds to Peter’s faith. He brings healing to his household.
Jesus simply reached out and touched her hand and the fever was dispelled. He raised her from her bed and, without any time for recovery, she begins to wait on her visitors.
There are some valuable lessons for Peter and for us in this story.
The first lesson, we have already touched on. Jesus Christ wants to be involved in every aspect of our lives. Too often, we categorize the spiritual and the secular. We put Jesus, religion, prayer, Bible study and worship over here in the spiritual. Over in the secular we put our family, our work, our relaxation, our hobbies, our habits, our relationships, and all of the other things that we think are not important to God.
But the fact of the matter is, when Jesus called us – as he did with Peter – to “follow Him,” everything becomes spiritual. Everything matters to Jesus. He wants to be invited into the home. He wants to help with sick Mother-in-laws. He wants to help with wayward children. He wants to be involved with the family finances. He wants us to include Him in our crises. Like Peter, we must bring Jesus home with us.
There is a second valuable lesson for us here this morning also. Through this healing, I think that Peter learned that Jesus was going to meet all of his needs – as Paul put it – according to His riches in glory.
Peter had made an amazing commitment to Jesus Christ when he left the fishing business and began following Him. It was a tremendous act of faith. I am sure that during the early days, he must have wondered how his family would be taken care of. Who would provide for the families material and physical needs while he was off following Jesus? Who would put meat on the table and clothes in the drawers?
This event went a long way in answering those questions for Peter. Jesus had demonstrated that He could and would take care of Peter’s needs. Peter would continue to be responsible for his family for the rest of His life, but Jesus would be the one who was providing for him.
Later, when Jesus would preach his most famous sermon – the Sermon on the Mount – Peter knew exactly what Jesus was saying when he said:
“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
From this point on, Peter would follow Jesus whole heartedly. He would have the faith to know that the master would meet his needs on a daily basis.
This was just the beginning of a life made completely and totally available to Jesus and His ministry. For Peter, Jesus became more than a part-time curiosity.
His home became Jesus home. Whenever Jesus was in Capernaum, He always had a place to stay. His family became Jesus family. He would always be welcome in their life.
Think about the rest of this story. Jesus had healed Peter’s mother-in-law on the Sabbath. As soon as the sun had set and the Sabbath had ended, people began to bring the sick to his home to be healed by Jesus. According to Mark, “the whole city gathered at his door (Mark 1:33). Imagine, if you can – for hours on end, people were coming to Peter’s home and Jesus was performing miracle after miracle. Diseases were cured, demons were expelled and crippled and mangled limbs were restored. And where was all of this happening? Right in Peter’s own home.
You see, Peter’s priorities were changed. Possessions no longer held the same place in his life. His home was now a place of ministry. Time and time again the sick and oppressed were brought to the door.
I have spoken often about the friends who broke through the roof and ceiling of a house and lowered their invalid friend down before the feet of Jesus. I have always loved that story. It demonstrates the kind of devotion and love one person can have for another. But, have you ever thought about the owner of that home? What kind of person would understand the would sit back and allow his roof to be destroyed by total strangers? Mark tells us who that homeowner was. Look at Mark 2:1-2; 1When He had come back to Capernaum several days afterward, it was heard that He was at home. 2And many were gathered together, so that there was no longer room, not even near the door; and He was speaking the word to them.
The house that they were in was the same one from Mark 1. The homeowner was Peter! You see, allowing this man get into the presence of Jesus was more important to him than keeping his roof intact.
Just like Peter, we need to open our hearts and homes to help people find Jesus.
Finally, after a long night of healing, the people of the town head home and the disciples begin to doze off to sleep. After a short rest, Jesus rises early and heads out to find a solitary place to rest. Later that morning, Peter and the rest of the disciples would go out to find Jesus, and the ministry for the day would begin. For now though, Jesus had left the house, but he would never, ever leave the home.
May it be so in our homes as well.
