The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
February 7, 2021
Sermon by Rev. Bernadette Hartsough
In last week’s gospel, Jesus performed an exorcism in the temple. I shared with you how exorcisms were used to heal people of mental illnesses. This week Jesus goes to the house of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law. She is physically ill with a fever. The fever keeps her in bed. She cannot fulfill her role in the family.
Simon Peter’s mother-in-law served them as a part of the hospitality code in first century Palestine. Guests were served. It is much like we would do today if someone came to visit us except in the ancient world the hospitality code was much more extensive. You were responsible for those under your roof. You fed them, cared for them, and protected them from danger. Simon Peter’s mother-in-law could not do these things. The illness had caused her daily life to be taken from her. She was unable to function in society.
Jesus takes her by the hand and raises her up. His touch raises her up. The words “raised up” are the same words used to describe Jesus’s resurrection. She is raised to good health. The fever left her, and she began to serve them. She responses by serving her guests. The word for serving here “diakoneõ” is the same Greek word as deaconing. She deacons and supports Jesus’s ministry.
Here again Jesus is revealing his authority as God over human illness. This healing gives us a glimpse of God’s power and God’s kingdom. In the Isaiah reading God’s strength is described in detail. God gives power to the faint and strengthens the powerless. Isaiah says, “They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”
This is a beautiful comforting image. An image where bodies stay strong and healthy. I needed to be reminded of these words and to see these images. I am weary of what this pandemic has done. It has taken strength from the young and life from the old. And for those of us lucky enough not to have contracted COVID19, we are weary. Sometimes I feel guilty for feeling weary because I know how blessed I am. Most of us listening today are blessed to live in small communities where infection rates are down and where we have adequate healthcare. Yet we are weary. It is a weariness that comes from constantly seeing our mortality reflected in COVID19 through illness and death. It is a weariness that restricts our roles, our lives, and our human contact.
Our weariness can be balanced with hope as we continue looking at today’s gospel. After Jesus heals Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, people brought the sick to Jesus to be healed. They came after the sabbath, at sundown. This goes on throughout the night until early morning.
It is a world where many have lost hope. A world where people have put their hope in the wrong things as they search for recovery and wholeness. People came looking for Jesus. He was their hope. They wanted transformation. They wanted a savior. As they came, Jesus healed. Then Jesus goes off by himself in a deserted area to pray.
Jesus’s healing as part of his proclamation of the ushering in of God’s kingdom. He is modelling God’s desire for us to be healthy and whole. Healing takes three forms. All types of healing are here, body, mind, and soul. Jesus touches and heals those physically ill. Jesus continues to perform exorcisms of mental healing. Jesus models spiritual health by going off by himself and praying.
In this scene there is a lot of confusion and misunderstanding about why Jesus is healing. Jesus’s role was not to destroy Satan through miracles and healing. He does not do it for notoriety that is why he does not permit the demons to speak. Jesus’s identity is kept secret until the 8th chapter of Mark. Later, scribes will hear about Jesus’s healings and will accuse Jesus of being a magician. They will accuse him of using satanic power to control demons. This is NOT Jesus’s goal. Jesus healed to give us a glimpse of God’s power and God’s kingdom. Healing on all levels was part of the way that he proclaimed the Good News.
Jesus’s disciples misunderstand his healings. They want him to heal as many people as possible right now. When his disciples search and find him, he tells them that they are leaving. Spreading the gospel to as many people as possible was the priority. Jesus makes the presence of God’s kingdom real with his teachings and healings. The kingdom breaks into earth. Jesus shows the way to salvation by destroying human death.
Today just as in Capernaum people want healing and hope. Healing takes many forms. Sometimes people are healed physically through the skill of doctors and medicine. Sometimes people are not healed physically but they are healed mentally or spiritually. Sometimes we cannot see the healing. Sometimes it takes years, or it starts in this life and continues in the next. Jesus showed people that salvation through him starts the process of transformation that leads to wholeness of mind, body, and spirit. Jesus continues to transform and heal through medical discoveries, doctors, nurses and counselors. I have seen medical discoveries such as DNA testing and new drugs help my son. I thank God that we had good doctors to give him the medical care that he needed.
Prayer and touch heal. Intentionally praying for someone has been known to aid in mental and physical healing. Human touch is important, hugs, handshakes, kisses. Babies devoid of human touch have growth issues. Human touch is wired into humans. Jesus touched the people that he healed physically. He made human contact and modeled for us how to baptize, anoint, and ordain. Human touch has healing power.
In this time, we have little physical contact. We continue on, weary in the midst of this pandemic.
We know that healing is near. Vaccines are more available. We see glimpses of Good News.