Jesus Christ Peter and Simon, Andrew, James and John Peter's Wife Peter's Mother-In-Law
Location
Down from the Mount, entering into Capernaum-Mt 8:1
Mark has it near the Synagogue in Nazareth but leaves out the Sermon on the Mount reference
and the Centurion's servant.
Peter's House, where he lived with his wife and mother-in-law
When
1. After the healing of the demoniac in the Synagogue at Capernaum Mark 1:21
Right after the healing of the Centurion's Servant (Matthew)
After a healing of the leper
Near the beginning of Jesus' Ministry years
Type of Healing
A Great Fever
Mt 8:14 Andwhen Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother liad and sick ofa fever.
Mark 1:30 But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever and anon, they tell him of her.
LK 4:38 And he arose out of the Synagogue, and entered into Simon's hous. And Simon's wife's mother
was taken with a great fever: and they besought him for her.
The Request
...and anon they tell him of her" Mark 1:30 "...and they besought him for her." LK 4:38
Means of Healing, The Healing
Touch
"And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them." Matt 8:15
MK 1:31 And hecame and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; and immediately, the fever left her, and she ministered unto them.
Luke And he stood over her: and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
Outcome
Immediate healing
Complete healing
...and she arose, and ministered unto them: Mt 8:15
...andimmediately, the fever left her, and she ministered unto them. Mk8:31
...and immediately she arose and ministered unto them.
People's Reaction
The reaction was multitudes showing up at the door by evening for healing and teaching.
Mat 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with [his] word, and healed all that were sick:
Mat 8:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare [our] sicknesses.
Mat 8:18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave com
Mar 1:32 And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto him all that were diseased, and them that were possessed with devils.
Mar 1:33 And all the city was gathered together at the door.
Mar 1:34 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.
Luk 4:41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking [them] suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.
Luk 4:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought him, and came unto him, and stayed him, that he should not depart from them.
Luk 4:43 And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.
Luk 4:44 And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee.
Jesus' or Apostle's Teaching
In this passage, Jesus' teaching is not mentioned directly, save for one passage in Luke when he
says to the multitude in the evening following the healing that "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for
therefore am I sent. luke 4:44" He indicates by this that healing was a part of the Kingdom of God. Most healings
are accompanied by preaching, and while the healing of the multitudes appears to be, the healing of Peter's mother-in-law
shows few words, and none that Jesus spoke, only an action.
Implications for Faith
A number of points are relevant regarding this short description of a healing, though it is mentioned in all
three 'synoptic' gospels:
The healing was of one of the closest disciple's family members, etching it on their faith.
As in most other healings, the healing was immediate
As in most other healings ,the healing was total, complete. (so complete that Peter's Mother in Law immediately ministers
to her guests, and they do not object for a period of recovery.
the healing is followed by preaching by evening and a multitude then healed
Healing was by 1)Standing above, 2)taking by the hand 3)touching with the finger (finger of God) and 4)lifting her up.
A simple healing but consistent among the 3 mentions, and first mention of the healing of an apostle's family member.
The lessons include that a healing of the Lord and Savior was immediate and complete, not a 'procedure' or with terms
of recovery, and that words were not 'required' : the touch of the Savior was enough. It is noteworthy that Simon, James
,John and Andrew were there, as witnesses to the healing, and that this healing appears to happen the afternoon after the Synagogue
preaching and teaching, when Jesus casts out a devil from a possessed man as the devil 'recognizes' him. In this pre-pentecost
setting, with no eminent prophet in Israel for a few hundred years, this had to have been astounding. (There were those with
the pre-pentecost gift, though such as Simeon and Anna the prophetess. 4) One should note that Peter was a married man, and that
a 'holy' marriage does not preclude even radical service for the Lord,but can enhance it, and that at the time he was called or
shortly after, Peter, to whom would be given the keys of the Kingdom, was living with his extended family.
Cross-references & Other Critical Facts
These passages occur in Matthew 8; Mark 1; and Luke 4.
Jesus Christ the Disciples of Jesus A Nobleman of Capernaum A Son who is sick
Location
In Judaea, in Galilee. In Galilee, in the City of Cana where the Water was turned to wine at the
marriage feast. A Cana, the Nobleman encounters Jesus and pleads for his son in Capernaum.
When
This healing, mentioned primarily in the Gospel of John, Jesus has just returned from Samaria,
in the city of Sychar, where he encounters the woman at the well of Jacob, near a portion of land given to Joseph, Jacob's son.
After many come to Christ in Samaria, he leaves to go to Galilee.
Type of Healing
Sick with a fever.
4:46...And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum."
John 4:52 Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
The Request
The nobleman hears that Jesus is in Galilee, and goes to him, beseeching him on behalf of his son:
When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and
besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. John 4:47
and in 4:49 "The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die."
Jesus's Response
Jesus's Response is short and direct, healing the boy by word in another city:
" Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe." John 4:48
Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. John 4: 50
Means of Healing, The Healing
The spoken word of Jesus: the child is in another city.
"Go thy way; thy son liveth.
Outcome
The healing occurs the very hour Jesus speaks, although the Nobleman does not find out till later by his servants.
."And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him,saying, Thy son liveth. 52 Then enquired heofthem the hour when
he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the feverleft him. 53 So the fatherknew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him. Thhy son liveth;
and himself believed, and his whole house.
People's Reaction
The father and his household believed. John 4:53
The father believed from the moment the word of Jesus was spoken. (John 4:50)
No other reaction noted.
Jesus' or Apostle's Teaching
Jesus points, as always, to the critical importance of faith, and the secondary importance of signs and
wonders
Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. 4:48
Signs and wonders are not bad, they were even prophesied as following Messiah, so the Jewish people were to look
for signs and wonders accompanying Messiah. Jesus also was not dismissing signs and wonders: before this healing he had
also accomplished several including changing water into wine and told the Samaritan woman "all that she had ever done" and even
the woman at the well at Sychar believed he was the Messiah. Jesus teaches that faith in who He was, though was pre-eminent,
and that even without signs and wonders, it was trusting belief he was after.
Implications for Faith
1. The Word of Jesus alone could heal.
2. Even people of some status sought Jesus: e.g. this nobleman, the Centurion, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimethea,etc.
3. The healing was immediate: the fever left at the same time Jesus spoke.
4. THe father showed faith three times: 1)He went to seek out Jesus, when most had not yet declared him Messiah,
2)He believed Jesus at his word without proof: he left for home immediately, and 3)He and his household believed in
Jesus from then on.
One other note: just before Jesus spoke to the woman at the well in Sychar, he had given the sermon regarding Moses
and the Brazen serpent, in which faith alone in the raised ensign of the Lord, the serpent lifted in the wilderness,
saved from death: no signs, no wonders, but pristine faith brought life, and healing from the deadly bites of vipers. (sin):
signs and wonders confirm faith, but they alone will not generate faith: one looks at a miraculous healing and praises
the Lord and believes, and another right beside says it is magic, or looks for a natural explanation: well, it was something
the child ate, etc. etc. Faith is pre-eminent over signs and wonders, but signs and wonders confirm faith.
Cross-references & Other Critical Facts
Singular reference in scripture. Note that Capernaum was Jesus' home town, and that the request came in
Cana where the water was changed to wine.
Healing by Paul of Publius' Father of a Fever, Acts 28
The Apostle Paul the Survivors of a Shipwreck Publius, a Chief Man of the Island Publius' Father Servants and 'barbarous' people of Melita
Location
The Island of Melita
When
Paul has just survived with others the Shipwreck, and come to Melita
The healing occurs right after Paul is bitten by a viper, (Acts 28:6)and casts it into the fire.
The local people think it is divine vengeance, but Paul's arm does not swell, and Paul lives,
so they treat him as a god which he rebukes. He meets Publius, a local official, whose father
is sick of a bloody flux and a fever.
Type of Healing
Fever
And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and a bloody flux, to whom
Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him. Acts 28:8.
The Request
There is no record whether the request for the healing was made: Publius accomodated Paul 3 days, 'courteously' ,so
it may have simply been that Paul saw the need and approached the sick father.
...to whom Paul entered in...
The Apostle Paul's Response
He lays hands on the father He prays and heals him (see above)
Means of Healing, The Healing
Laying on of hands
Prayer
Then others:
..others also which had diseases in the island came and were healed" Acts 28:9
Outcome
This is the last healing in Acts mentioned. The father is healed, and so are many from the Island.
People's Reaction
The people react to 1)Paul's immunity to the viper bite, (2)The healing of the viper bite.
The Viper bite:
The viper bite did no harm. The people first thought he was suffering divine retribution for some
unseen harm, then believe him to be a 'god'.
...there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.4 And when the barbarians saw the venoumous beast hang on his hand, they said among
themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffreth not to live.5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.6Howbeit they looked when he shoud
have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
Who also houred us with many honours; and when we departed they laded us of such things as were necessary.
Publius is noted for his mercy and kindness, providing them lodging, then when leaving, he hours them with many honors and supplies. (Acts 28:10)
Jesus' or Apostle's Teaching
Paul's teaching is not directly addressed, although one may guess that he probably addressed why he was not a god, and why the viper
bite did not kill him (this however is not stated in Scripture!).
Implications for Faith
1. Assimilation and Accomodation: When the pagan people of Melita did not understand they saw divine power and without knowledge could
only attribute it to a 'god'. When people see something not in their experience, most first try to draw it into constructs they already have,
e.g. a 'power' belonging to one of the 'gods'; only when they can conceive of the thing being a new thing outside their understanding, then do they
attempt to bring it as a new idea into their understanding, and 'make room' for it. Paul played on this a bit when he spoke in Greece
and pointed to their 'unknown god', a god that was supposed to sort of 'cover' them in case they had forgotten any. Paul did not endorse
the worship of pagan or Greek and Roman gods, but instead, uses the pagan construct, to bring the living God into view, for those who had no
concept of the slain Lamb of God who rose from the dead. He never endorses nor aligns with idolatry nor does he or the others allow themselves to be
seen as 'gods', but quickly rebukes them, but he understood how to begin to speak of Messiah to non-Jewish people.
2. Immanent Justice- these terms are often found in 'Developmental Psychology' when explaining how young children think. The 'barbarous people'
of Melita, have the idea of 'just punishment' or 'immanent justice', that if something bad happens to someone, they are being judged for some unseen
evil deed. When they see Paul bitten by a viper right after a shipwreck involving prisoners, they must feel that he really did whatever crime
with which he was charged. He shakes it off, unharmed, as promised. (they shall take up serpents, and if they drnk any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover
(Mark 16:18). Some Appalachian churches even today use practices like 'snake handling' believing that true believers are tested by whether venom
affects them, but that is not the spirit of the passage: Jesus refers to the event not harming believers, because the sovereign life of walking
in Christ is above the natural life. To deliberately have snakes bite worshippers is to tempt or test God, to put him on trial, which we are not to do,
and there is a difference between trusting his promises, and daring him to be right. In any event there is providential thinking.
3.When Paul lives the attribution is that he is good. Regarding the healing:
4.-It is immediate, as with the healings of Jesus -It involves laying on of hands with prayer -Multitudes show up on the island to receive
healing after hearing of it. The apostle is blessed and honored in departing Melita.
