Thoughts going in, Sunday February 8th, Epiphany +5

Mark 1:29 As soon as they left the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew's house with James and John. 30 Simon's mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31 So He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to minister to them. 32 When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all those who were sick and those who were demon-possessed. 33 The whole town was assembled at the door, 34 and He healed many who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. But He would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew Him. 35 Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He got up, went out, and made His way to a deserted place. And He was praying there. 36 Simon and his companions went searching for Him. 37 They found Him and said, "Everyone's looking for You!" 38 And He said to them, "Let's go on to the neighboring villages so that I may preach there too. This is why I have come." 39 So He went into all of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Well, as usual, I find a LOT going on in this small chunk of Mark's Gospel. It would be true to say it's all about Jesus, but the question is HOW and in WHAT WAY is this all about Jesus? Let's break it down:

vs 29: Following the worship/prayers/official expressions of faith, Jesus enters the home of his disciples. This little nugget is not lost on evangelical commentators. They rightly note that true worship of Jesus is not a matter of a once-a-week nod his way at an official worship service. Just the opposite. As we see in this passage, true worship and true discipleship is about integrating Jesus into all aspects of our life--taking him into our homes, as it were.

vss 30-31: This is a "take it to the Lord in prayer" moment. Prior to this point in Mark's gospel, Jesus had healed no one.... he had only just performed the exorcism at the synagogue. In the big picture, Mark the evangelist is systematically presenting Jesus as LORD over all: the demonic forces, illness, and later ceremonial uncleanness, nature, etc. etc., but verse 30 is very interesting. Without necessarily knowing that Jesus could or would be able to do anything about the woman's illness, they tell him about her at once. This is prayer in action.

I also cannot help but note two very interesting words in the Greek. The first is where Jesus "raised her up." The word in the Greek (egeiro) is the same that will be used for HIS RESURRECTION. In that sense, the healing of Simon's mother is an anticipation marker. The first time through, anyone unfamiliar with the story wouldn't catch it--but they would the second time. Hearing of her being "raised up" would immediately remind us of Jesus, and the fact that he not only conquered sickness in his earthly ministry, but was raised up victorious over death (the ultimate human illness) itself. But there's also another point to ponder. The believer's encounter with Jesus as Savior is ALWAYS a raising up. The big theological word often employed is "regeneration," a bringing back to life; infusing with new life, etc. In that sense, the 'raising up' of this woman is symbolic of the believer's conversion. S/he passes from spiritual death to spiritual life; s/he is 'raised up.' And this spiritual passing from death to life, this spiritual 'raising up' of course also anticipates the final resurrection (as per the creed: we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come).

The second interesting word in the same verse is where she began “to minister to them.” The word in the Greek (diakoneo) is where we get our word “deacon” from. I've taken the liberty of altering the TNIV text to serve them, changing it to read to minister to them, as that is a more faithful rendering of the Church's concept of diakonia. Here, then, Mark uses this story of the healing of Simon’s mother to paint an interesting picture: The life of faith begins with an encounter with Jesus who raises us up, and then continues on with a life of service/diakonia to him/on his behalf. In this way Mark is presenting Simon’s mother as a ‘model’ of the Christian life.

Vss 29-35: On the other hand, we also see the Christian life modeled by Jesus himself (after all, giving us the ‘example’ is one of Christ’s main concerns). He takes part in public worship at the synagogue; following that we see that his faith/faith-life impacts his treatment of others (both in terms of Simon’s mother and the crowds). This brings to mind the optional collect of the day for this Sunday where we pray: “make us agents of your healing and wholeness”). Are we divine? Can we cure? Obviously not, but the creedo of the Stephen Ministry is helpful here: God is the only “cure-giver,” yet we by virtue of our baptism are all called in one way or another to be “care-givers.” And then, of course, later we find the Lord in prayer. PUBLIC WORSHIP; CARING MINISTRY; DEVOTIONAL PRAYER….. this is the life of faith.

Vss 36-39 Lastly, this passage has a very interesting ending. The disciples go out into the middle of nowhere to find Jesus; they tell him that today’s crowd is already lined up waiting for him to return—even though it is evidently still very early in the morning. Given the flow of the story, one would expect Jesus to go back with them to Simon’s house and get on with the day’s healing(s). Yet he doesn’t. He moves on to the next place because PREACHING/PROCLAMATION is his primary mission….not being the local healer.

Cheers,

TM