Authority over Disease
Neither social conventions nor purity regulations prevent Jesus from ministering to the physical needs of men and women – Mark 1:29-39.
Jesus did not allow scruples
over purity regulations keep him from healing the sick and delivering the
oppressed from demonic spirits. Neither Sabbath restrictions nor Levitical rules
on ritual purity were intended to prevent human needs from being met.
The more personal nature of the next incident may be
the result of Peter recounting it years later to Mark, further evidence that the
latter compiled his gospel from Simon Peter’s memories - (Mark 1:29-39).
And in the story, Jesus does more than simply heal Peter’s
mother-in-law. It states that he was “grasping her hand,” and the Greek sentence
uses a verb with the sense of “grasp, seize; take hold of.”
In the culture of that day, to touch an unrelated
woman was socially offensive, and in Jewish tradition, touching someone who was
ill risked contracting ritual purity from that person. Thus, in addition to
physical healing, Jesus is bridging social and religious boundaries.
Though he is no political revolutionary, Jesus does not allow social or religious conventions to thwart him from restoring a member of the covenant people to wholeness, both physical and religious.
To save a life is more important than maintaining ritual
purity, something even the scribes and Pharisees allow. But with Jesus, there is
something different in his attitude about matters of ritual purity, and this causes
friction between him and the Pharisees who are more scrupulous about such
things.
After her healing, Simon’s mother-in-law arose and served
Jesus and his companions. Mark does not report this fact to teach female
subservience to men. The same verb rendered “serve” is used in Mark
when angels “minister” to Jesus after his temptation (diakoneô).
The same Greek verb occurs later when Jesus states
that the “Son of Man came not to be served but to SERVE” and to give his
life as a “ransom” for many. The physical activities of the woman demonstrate
how immediate her healing was, and that service to others should follow the restoration
of a disciple to wholeness - (Mark 10:45).
The events in the larger passage all occurred in the
synagogue at Capernaum where previously Jesus exorcised a demon on the Sabbath
day. Though men and women were eager to approach Jesus to meet their physical
needs, they continued to conform to the Sabbath regulations by waiting until evening
to do so - (Mark 1:21-38).
The gospel of Mark distinguishes between the healing
of illnesses and the exorcism of demons - (“He healed many having various
diseases and cast out many demons”), and it does NOT attribute all
afflictions to demons.
After these events, Jesus went out to a “lonely
place to pray.” And elsewhere in Mark, he prays at night, in
solitary places, and at critical points in his messianic mission.
