The Inflamed and Immobilized Coming to Full Function
David W Palmer
There’s no substitute for on-the-job training with Jesus. He calls to us: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” (Mat. 11:29 NKJV). Today, join Jesus’s apprentices and witness firsthand the deep and profound impact of the ministry you are learning to emulate:
(Matthew 8:14–15 NKJV) Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever. {15} So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.
I love this story; we can learn so much from it. We need to examine it closely, watching every detail as Jesus wants us to replicate his result through our life and ministry.
Let’s look at Mark’s account of this same incident:
(Mark 1:29–31 NKJV) Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. {30} But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. {31} So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.
Now Luke:
(Luke 4:38–39 NKJV) Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her. {39} So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.
The three gospel writers each see this story from a slightly different perspective—like it’s the same incident viewed from three different places in the room. But putting them together shows us several very important things:
Jesus and his team had just concluded the “church” meeting in the Synagogue that day. Jesus had again been teaching with authority, and had used it to evict a demon from its stronghold (See: Mark 1:23–27). Then they all came home to Peter’s house. His mother-in-law was bedridden with a high fever. She was immobile, inflamed, and unable to fulfill her function or to operate in her God-given gifts. This is like many around us each day; by simply inviting Jesus to step in, healing for them is available.
The brothers asked Jesus to help. He saw her condition. Again, Jesus engaged the “all authority” entrusted to him; he “rebuked the fever, and it left her.” He also “took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her.” Praise the Lord! What a release of authority mixed with compassion and supernatural ability we see in Jesus’s ministry. This sums up his mission, his heart, and his ability.
I love the last part: “And immediately she arose and served them.” When I first read this several decades ago, I felt for the woman. Many strong, capable young men surrounded her; but instead of them serving her, they got her up from a bed of sickness to serve them. Surely they could have made the Sunday meal that day. But then I realized; she wasn’t inflamed and immobilized any more after coming into contact with Jesus’s compassionate touch, his commanding authority, and his healing virtue. Peter’s mother-in-law was made completely whole.
What’s more, while inflamed and immobilized her ministry wasn’t functioning. What was her ministry? It was serving (See: Rom. 12:7a NLT). Once Jesus had made her whole again, her ministry could function perfectly: “immediately she arose and served them.” If we take our eyes off what could potentially offend us—that the older sick woman was made to get up to serve all the young men and their Sunday guests—and look at the spiritual, we see an amazing outcome of Jesus’s ministry. Through his authoritative word, his compassionate touch, and his amazing power, a person whose gifts were sidelined by the enemy was suddenly restored to full function in her God-given gift and calling. As a result, she was happy and fulfilled; and the whole family and church was blessed.
Today, you can again release Jesus into similar situations through your intercession and by inviting him in.
