Mark 1:29 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 1:29

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All three Gospels include this next healing. Mark and Luke link it strongly to the casting out of the unclean spirit from the man in the synagogue on the Sabbath, which in turn follows the call of the first disciples – Simon and Andrew, James and John – making the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law to be early in the Gospel record. Matthew’s placement of it after the Sermon on the Mount, is again consistent with his arrangement of material into themes, in this case bringing together a number of healing miracles.The Lord had just left the synagogue in Capernaum where he had cast out a demon to the amazement of the people. The preaching tour throughout Galilee will soon begin, but before that, this semi-private miracle takes place. From the synagogue he goes to Peter and Andrew’s nearby house. Actually Peter and his brother Andrew were citizens of Bethsaida – we are not sure which one; there was more than one place with that name. Perhaps they rented this house in Capernaum for the first time during the Galilean ministry, and it became a base. They could also continue to operate their fishing business in the short term from Capernaum on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.Peter was evidently married, and Paul later refers to this (1 Corinthians 9:5). There was no such requirement as celibacy among the early disciples. It was the Sabbath day and they had all gone to the synagogue, leaving Peter’s mother-in-law who was too sick to accompany them in the care of a family member or servant. Now they are home again and she is still gravely ill – too ill apparently to plead for herself. They have just seen the demon cast out and they know of the healing of the nobleman’s son, so they come to him to plead for this beloved member of the family.These are not all the miracles that Christ performed but specimens, included by the Spirit to teach us vital lessons. What are the distinctive features of this miracle? It was a healing that took place in a relatively private setting, the domestic circle of Peter’s household. Matthew simply records that Christ saw her and responded to her condition, but Luke tells us that they made request concerning her. She had a fever, which Luke, the physician, calls a high fever; this was something serious and dangerous and could be fatal in those days. He also tells us that after she was healed she served the household: she was immediately and fully restored.

Application

The first lesson is that we must ask, and the Lord is ready to hear us. They besought him for this very real need within the family circle, and he acted on their request. They will not only learn he is God, but that they could ask him to do wonderful things for them. It is a great lesson in prayer. In the Gospel record Christ never turned away a request for healing. Never tell yourself, ‘Yes, but I will be turned away! I may never be saved.’ If you truly repent and hand your life to him, he will forgive you and he will save you. If the healing of the demon possessed man was an illustration of how Christ can heal the very worst purely by grace, even though he had not been asked, then the private miracle to Peter’s mother-in-law shows the other side of the coin. He is ready to be asked. You can approach him. They brought one to him who was dearly loved, and he saw their compassion towards her. We may pray for strangers, but we pray especially for those who are part of our family circle. Our love for them makes us bring them to him with even stronger feeling, and that too forms part of our prayer. So you pray for your unconverted children, your relatives, your colleagues, and you can pray in the confidence that his ear is open to your cries.

If we are unsaved, we are burning. Perhaps you are burning with frustration in life. Perhaps you are burning with pride: you are the centre of your life, and pride rules you. Perhaps you are burning with covetousness and desire. ‘I want this; I want that. I will spend all my effort to get it. That, and that alone, will make me happy.’ Perhaps you are burning with ambition: burning up in this life. You can be pictured as bed ridden. There is nothing for God in your life; no activity toward him. No real heartfelt worship. No prayer, no service, no study of him.

If we come to him, he has identified with us. He has come into this world. He has gone to Calvary's cross. There he called out to his Father, ‘Put the sin of this man and this woman upon me, and I will suffer it in their place. I will suffer their punishment.’ There is no more wonderful identification than that, symbolised here by that touch of Christ, and he takes her by the hand and raises her up. What a picture of conversion! I'm raised up to newness of life. I find my heart filled with love for God. I have a new nature and I now know him and walk with him. From burning in this world to love for Christ and walking with him.

Here is Christ who can raise the dead and yet, tragically, countless never asked him. No one was ever turned away, yet many never came. If you go to a Bible believing church where the gospel is preached, you will have seen people come for salvation and receive it, and yet perhaps you have never come. Amazing! Just as Christ never refused to heal, so he never refuses a sincere applicant who came and asked him for forgiveness, salvation, conversion, new life. This was a healing within the family circle, but it was still a public witness. It was known that Christ was in the house, for later that evening the multitude gathered at the door of the house and brought their sick to be healed.

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Mark 1:29 Commentary and Bible Study