Healing by Jesus

Mark 1: 29 - 34

This is a story of how Jesus healed and cast out demons. It is not only for Simon Peter’s mother-in-law but also other people. What can we learn from this part? In the original language, verse 29 has a term ‘euthys’ which is translated into ‘immediately’. This term appears in other passages, such as in verse 21, 23 and 28. Mark was conveying the life of Jesus as one that grasps the urgency from God. Our lives are not about relaxing and thinking that there are always opportunities to do many things and ministries at our own convenience. This world has fallen and keeps falling. If we do not grasp the urgency in ministry and evangelism, and only think about our own hardship, responsibilities over our family, we then keep waiting for a ‘good’ time to start serving, while in fact it can be so hard and complicated to define a ‘good’ time. Jesus, however, did not waste any time. Jesus seized the urgent moment as there were so many people that needed to be served. In Europe we should pray to God so that we can be sensitive and have our eyes opened to see whom we can serve. We might feel that we want to serve but do not know whom we can serve because people seem like they do not need Christ or God. We then let them be and carry on with our lives. This should not be the case. Instead, we should keep asking God to reveal to us what we can do. Be it in Asia or Europe, we are called to do something for God and should not waste our time, just like Jesus did not waste His time. This term ‘immediately’ signifies the urgency in the life and ministry of Jesus. If we learn the Gospel well and know the life of Jesus from there, you and I should be transformed to have the sense of urgency to do ministries. The question is whether we are ready - are our hearts open to it, or are we too busy, too tired to do any ministry?

Jesus healed Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. In the Hebrew language, the word ‘house’ in verse 29 means not only the building of the house, but also the household. While Jesus stayed in Simon’s house, he was of course involved with the people living there, including Simon’s mother-in-law, who was having a fever. In the Rabbinic tradition, fevers were associated with punishment from God or being possessed by demons. Today of course we don’t have to think that way, but with the historical context, we understand that fevers were taken as something spiritual. It was then unsurprising that in the Bible it is often said that diseases were rebuked, where the term ‘rebuked’ is normally used in exorcism. Verse 31 says the fever left her, pointing to the same understanding. It was a spiritual battle against diseases. In the Reformed tradition, there is a theology of miracle. We do not take all diseases to come from Satan, but neither do we eliminate any spiritual aspects from diseases, as if they are purely biological, natural processes. Be careful, as we might fall into the trap of naturalism, materialism, or physicalism. There are spiritual dimensions in diseases. In the original creation, there was no disease at all. It entered the world at the same time as the fall of man into sin. If man did not fall into sin, would there be any disease, or even death? When Jesus faced Lazarus, he was ‘deeply moved’. This term signifies not only sadness but also indignance because Jesus did not see the death of Lazarus as something purely biological or natural as if it was something that should happen anyway. Jesus did not just weep with other people to mourn the loss of a person, but He was indignant. He was angry over the fact that there is death in the world, which should not have been there. God created all things good, but as man fell into sin, diseases entered the world. Do we have such indignance against diseases which hinders the flourishing of man? Diseases may destroy happiness, although not always. There are sick people who get comfort and joy from God as they rely on Him. Nevertheless, diseases will hinder us in relationships, and in this passage, in serving. When we are sick, we cannot really love others, but we tend to receive love and be served by others. You and I are called to serve because we have been first served by God. Diseases then prevent one from getting the joy of giving, serving, praying, visiting others. This joy is taken away. It was not a coincidence that after Simon’s mother-in-law was healed, she began to serve them. This is the correct response after one is healed. Are you and I sick today? If we are, then we may need people to pray for, visit and take care of us. However, if we are not sick, then we should look at what Simon’s mother-in-law did. Being healthy is not a coincidence or something automatic. To be human, to be a christian, to be a believer, is to serve. Look at the life of Jesus and get the sense of urgency to serve. Whom to serve? People around us, just like Simon’s mother-in-law serving the people around her. When she was sick, she was a burden, and after Jesus lifted that burden, she did not stay in euphoria of being healed. Instead, she began to serve them. From this passage, diseases are what prevent people from serving. If you and I are healthy but do not serve, we are just like sick people. Start serving one another in your family. Children should also learn to serve so that they can grow into spiritual maturity. Spoiled children do know what it means to serve. However, those growing in the grace of God will serve. We should also serve others beyond our family as there is also the family of the Kingdom of God. We should also learn to serve people out there who have not known Christ.

Jesus healed with His power. A commentary writes about the all-sufficiency of Jesus Christ. There were Greek healers who used spells and incantations, but Jesus did not use any. Jesus came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her. Jesus came to the place where the disease was. You and I should also come to people who are sick instead of waiting for them to come. We are not like hospitals which wait for sick people to come by themselves. Sometimes the hospital is used as a metaphor for the church, which is appropriate in some aspects, but hospitals do not seek for or reach out to sick people. If the church becomes like a hospital in the sense of waiting for people to come, it is not right. Like Jesus, the church should come to where the sick people are. The church should also have physical presence and involvement in the sufferings of people in society. While staying in Simon’s house, Jesus did not say that He was only a guest and thus the household’s matters were none of His business. Jesus not only was physically present but also took her by the hand. There is a saying from the late Pope Francis that goes along the line that when we do charity to the poor and the sick, to give is one thing, but to give and to touch is another. All of us probably have given alms before, but we might reflect over how many times we actually touch the hands or the shoulder while giving. This depth is what is often absent in our lives. We might extend our hands while keeping our distance away from suffering and diseases. We might even think that the people we’re helping should not demand or expect us to get close. Jesus, however, took her by the hand. Jesus really involved Himself, did not feel disgusted by the suffering, and then He lifted her up. In the world, if we are sensitive enough, there are people who cannot lift themselves up, not only physically but also mentally and spiritually. They are even spiritually dead, but God wants to raise them, and He wants to use you and me. Are we ready? Jesus lifted up the sick woman. Do we also want to lift up people who are sick, physically, mentally, or spiritually dead? Do we have the same power as Christ? The power is given by Christ to His church. Jesus did not hold His power for Himself, but sent you and me, equipped with His power. This story is not just about someone sick who got healed through a miracle, as if christianity is reduced to about coming to Jesus and getting healed. There are many things we can learn from the story.

There was a command for silence in verse 34. Was it not actually a powerful propaganda if the demons, who were Jesus’ enemies, praised Him? Why did Jesus then not permit the demons to speak? Later on Jesus would also tell His disciples, the people He healed, to stay silent. There are a few reasons. Firstly, at that time, the concept of Messiah was a political one who would liberate the people of Israel from the Roman empire. If Jesus was known this way, it would be misleading. It is like nowadays where some know Jesus only as a healer. Indeed He heals, but if His healing is reduced to physical healing, and people do not have to know or believe Christ, this will lead to spiritual chaos. There was a danger if Christ was taken as a political Messiah.

Secondly, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the principle of hiddenness is important. Jesus did not make propagandas of Himself. Hence the church or christians should not make propaganda of herself. We should not create a profile that exaggerates ourselves. This is the way of the world, not the way of Christ. People indeed got to know Christ because he was a blessing to them, but he did not shout in the streets about Himself. He preached about the Kingdom of God and brought people to His Father as well as life in the Kingdom of God. It was actually not wrong if He brought people to Himself, but this principle of hiddenness is important. When we bring in people, do we bring people to Christ, who then brings them to the Father, or do we bring them only to our church, or even only to ourselves? Jesus told people to follow Him and brought people to the Father. This is the beauty of the work of Trinity. The Holy Spirit brings people to Christ, and Christ brings people to the Father. The church should follow this Trinitarian movement as well. In Isaiah 42:2-3,

He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice.

There is the principle of hiddenness in the work of this servant of God which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He did not cry aloud or lift up his voice. He did not show off or make propagandas of Himself. Instead, he healed and restored people. He strengthened the weak and did not quench a faintly burning wick. He lit it up so that it can live and serve. He did it faithfully, so the church i.e. you and I are called not to tell about how unique or how great our church is. That is not the life of Christ. He lived faithfully and mended the bruised reed. He lit up the faintly burning wick. The church should restore the lives of people, and from there the glory of God shines.

Lastly, in the New Testament studies, there is a messianic secrecy theory. The identity of Jesus as Messiah was kept hidden until Jesus died on the cross, after which then Jesus could be known and proclaimed as the Son of God. In Mark 15:39, it says,

And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

There was no command to silence. He was proclaimed as the Son of God, but not without the cross. To preach about Jesus and the power of His miracles without the cross is misleading. A commentary says that before the consummation of the work of Christ on the cross, all speculations and imaginations were premature. We are now 2000 years or so after Christ died and rose, but it is so sad if we still preach about Jesus without the cross. Even the centurion could confess that Jesus is the Son of God when He was crucified. He saw the glory of the Son of God when he was crucified, yet 2000 years afterwards, we still could not see the glory of God that shines from the crucified Son of God. Perhaps we are then the enemy of the cross who do not understand the cross. The command to silence is not forever, but it stayed until Jesus was crucified. Jesus has died and risen now. You and I are invited and sent to proclaim the crucified Jesus. The apostle Paul says he decided to know nothing except Jesus Christ and him crucified. The focus of the life of Paul was the crucified Jesus. May this be something that the church also proclaims: to see the glory of God in the humility of Christ. At the same time, with perseverance, you and I bear our cross. That is where the glory of God shines, not in the worldly ways. Jesus Christ reveals the glory of His Father by His perfect obedience, even to the death on the cross. This should be not only what the church proclaims but also the lives of people in the church: our perseverance in bearing the cross, lives that are sacrificial, loving and offered unto God, lives in righteousness, holiness and mercy. From these shines the glory of God which bring people to know Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God. May God bless us all.