Luke 4:38-39

Posted by DJL on Jan 22, 2013 in Daily Bread | 2 comments

After leaving the synagogue he entered Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her. Then he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.

Simon is Peter. Let’s acknowledge that right up front. Which means Peter is married. You don’t hear much about that, which is interesting. We never meet Peter’s wife. We don’t know if she is alive or died earlier. We don’t know if she grieved the time her husband was away following this carpenter turned itinerant preacher or was herself an early disciple. We don’t know if they had children. In fact, when you think about it, there’s a lot that we don’t know.

But we do know that Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is living with him. And we know that she’s sick, that she has a high fever. And we know that in the ancient world that was synonymous with grave illness and often with death. Further, we know that Jesus heals her, rebuking the fever. While this may seem an odd description for us, in the story it functions as another demonstration of Jesus’ power over anything – whether of the spiritual or material world – that would inhibit the children of God from enjoying abundant life.

And we know, finally, that when she is healed she gets up and serves. It is easy, and also important, to question the values of a story and culture where the women go unnamed and upon being healed immediately serve. At the same time, we might also see this eagerness to serve as a mark that Simon’s mother-in-law was not only restored to health but also to the community. She had a role to play, a place to fill. When she fell ill she lost not only her health but also her vocation, and Jesus in rebuking the fever restores her calling.

Moreover, and as we’ll see, service is an important theme throughout Luke’s Gospel. It is, in brief, the mark of true discipleship. And so Simon’s mother-in-law demonstrates the kind of response to Jesus’ power appropriate of all disciples, male and female. She is restored, and in gratitude she serves. She is blessed and blesses in return. So also with us, when we recognize blessing we also recognize a call to bless others.

In this light, Simon’s unnamed mother-in-law stands for all the disciples from that moment forward who, whether we know their names or not, understand that we are always blessed to be a blessing and called, whenever and wherever we are, to serve. And that includes us.

Prayer: Dear God, let us not only remember Simon’s mother-in-law but take her as our example of discipleship, those called to follow Jesus by serving others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.