29 And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30 But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her. 31 And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. 32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils. 33 And all the city was gathered together at the door. 34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed. 36 And Simon and they that were with him followed after him. 37 And when they had found him, they said unto him, All men seek for thee. 38 And he said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth. 39 And he preached in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and cast out devils. Compare:
Matthew 8:14-17; Luke 4:38-41-44
Jesus Heals a Fever
Note carefully where they stayed while they were in Capernaum: the house of Simon’s mother-in-law. Who was Simon? He is better known as Simon Peter, the man who in Catholic tradition became the first pope. At least some of Jesus’ disciples were married, including the one who is believed to have been instructed by Jesus to found his church.
Simon Peter’s mother-in-law is the first person to be healed of something other than possession by an unclean spirit. She has a fever which Jesus takes away; later he would also heal the lame, blind, and deaf, demonstrating increasing power over physical ailments. This woman is described here as “ministering†to Jesus and his apostles after being healed, but this can be better translated as “serving.â€
Thus, immediately after the woman comes out of a fever she goes about serving a group of healthy men. Jesus would later be depicted as emphasizing the importance of serving others, but this scene suggests that this standard doesn’t apply when women are around to do the serving, regardless of their physical condition. True, women’s subservient status was the norm for this culture, but isn’t Jesus supposed to transcend culture?
At this time Jesus’ fame appears to be spreading â€" the more he heals people, the more he is talked about and the more people come to him to be healed as well. How many? There is no way to tell, but the numbers don’t matter to Mark. This isn’t a historical record, remember, it’s a theological tract.
We see that Jesus won’t let the spirits speak anymore because, once again, they know who he is â€" but is he deliberately trying to hide his identity? Why would he want to keep that secret from people if knowledge of him is so important for salvation? Then again, maybe he isn’t the important one â€" maybe at the time it was simply the act of repentance and belief in God that was sufficient.
Eventually, it seems Jesus tires of all the attention and goes off to pray in a solitary place. He doesn’t go out in public to pray where everyone can see him and he doesn’t attempt to lead everyone in a mass prayer; instead, he does it quietly where he can be alone with his thoughts. But why does he instruct his companions that it’s time to move to the next town when there are still people in Capernaum to be healed? Don’t the locals count just as much as others?
True, he does say that he wants to move on so that he can preach in other places, and it does make sense that he would want to spread his message as far and as wide as possible â€" but if that is the primary goal, why spend so much time healing people when he could be speaking and traveling? Why not just drive out a couple of demons in order to prove his credentials, deliver his sermon, and then move on? And we still don’t learn what, exactly, he is preaching at all of these synagogues.
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