Delivered Sunday, February 4, 2018, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Arlington, Virginia.

Texts: Psalm 147, Mark 1:29-39

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Since January 7, with the exception of January 14 and next Sunday, the Lectionary has been taking us on a pleasant stroll through the beginning of Jesus ministry as told by Mark. Over the past several weeks, we have heard Judith tell us about Jesus’ baptism by John, Jesus calling Simon and Andrew to become “fishers of men,” and, last Sunday, his first public teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. I apologize to those of you who have been here the past several Sundays and have already heard pieces of this story, but I think it’s worth taking a moment to back up and think about how they all fit together. Today’s gospel reading picks up immediately after last week’s reading.

Amongst Biblical Scholars, the Gospel of Mark is known for, amongst other things, the transitional phrase “kai euthus.” This Greek phrase most directly translates to “and immediately.” The author uses that phrase so often that most translators paraphrase it to avoid repetition. This is particularly evident in the transition between last week’s reading and today’s, where the author uses the phrase in each of three consecutive verses, two of which begin our reading today: and immediately after they left the synagogue they went to Simon’s house, where his mother in law was in bed with a fever, and immediately they told Jesus about her.

I bring this up because I want to emphasize the pace at which everything is happening in the story. We don’t know exactly where along the Sea of Galilee Jesus picked up Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Mark doesn’t tell us how long these first four disciples had been following Jesus, or how far they had traveled together. The most specific marker of time we have received is “when the Sabbath came,” from last week’s reading: so we know this group has been together less than one week. We also know they haven’t traveled very far: they are still in Simon and Andrew’s hometown.

In summation, after last weeks’ reading, Jesus has gathered four disciples. At least two of these disciples are still in their home-town, and the four have been following Jesus for somewhere between a few hours and a few days.

Last week, we heard about Jesus’ first public teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, where, in addition to impressing everyone with his erudite interpretation of scripture, he cast out a demon like it was no big deal.

That brings us to this week.

I’m left imagining Jesus taking advantage of the congregation’s surprise at his casting out of the demon to gather his new disciple’s and slip away, even as the story starts to spread through the city.

I imagine even Simon, Andrew, James and John, the first four disciples are themselves taken aback: after all, it’s not like they’ve seen anything like this before.

So, in shock, they take Jesus to the one place they feel safe: Simon and Andrew’s house.

Now, there are two things I love about this story.

I’ve already talked about the first: the relentless pace of the author of this Gospel. The second is the specificity. As Jesus and his first four disciples enter the house, the author of Mark tells us that Jesus heals Simon’s Mother-in-Law.

I love the specificity because by telling us who Jesus heals, and let’s remember, Simon later becomes Peter, Mark is telling us that these first four disciples are not just meandering young men with little to leave behind. Thanks to Mark’s Gospel, we know that Simon is married. We know that when, in later texts, Jesus speaks of leaving family behind, it is not just hypothetical.

There is also something about this story that, at first read, troubled me.

Simon and Andrew bring Jesus, James, and John back to their house after the encounter at the synagogue. Once they arrive, Simon and Andrew rush to tell Simon’s mother-in-law about what they have just seen: Jesus, this person they just met, teaching at the synagogue, and casting out a demon.  Per the text, Jesus then healed Simon’s mother-in-law, who then “began to serve them.”

I find this text, at first read, troubling because the idea of Jesus healing a woman so that she might then serve him and his friends reeks of patriarchy.

But, in preparation for this sermon, as I read the text, again and again, praying over it each time, I came to see things somewhat differently.

First, prayer and re-reading allowed me to see that the summary I just gave you is not actually the text. I brought my own bias into play and assumed they told Simon’s mother-in-law about Jesus because who wouldn’t want to tell people about what they had just seen? Also, in my role as a preacher, telling people about Jesus is, you know, what I do.

But that isn’t what the author says. I reversed the order. Simon and Andrew didn’t tell Simon’s mother-in-law about Jesus. They told Jesus about Simon’s mother-in-law. The whole story in my head, Jesus and the four slipping out in the confusion and seeking a place to lie low just doesn’t fit. Instead of Jesus leading the disciples out, Simon and Andrew may well have all but dragged Jesus to their house so that he could heal Simon’s mother-in-law. Jesus didn’t heal her because he happened to be there. He was there in order to heal her. This is, I think a key distinction.

It is likely that James and John also lived in Capernaum. Jesus’ and the first four could, just have easily, gone to James’ and/or John’s house instead of Simon and Andrew’s, except that this text begins with Simon and Andrew setting out to see Simon’s mother-in-law cured.

Despite my first, erroneous reading, it was no accident that Jesus ended up at the home of Simon and Andrew. After witnessing Jesus casting out the demon at the synagogue, Simon and Andrew made sure to bring their new friend, Jesus, back to their house in the hope that he might heal Simon’s mother-in-law.

Last week, Judith, preaching on the healing at the synagogue that immediately precedes this text, spoke of her gratitude for all the ways God has of healing us from both physical and mental illnesses.

She spoke of the ways God created our bodies to protect us from most illnesses, and how God gave us minds and reason so that some of us could become scientists, nurses, and doctors who could learn new ways of protecting and healing us from illness.

Last week’s text and last week’s Sermon spoke to the beauty and glory of that healing.

But both the text and the Sermon left out a crucial point:

Why does God heal us?

That is the question to which this weeks’ text speaks.

I still don’t like the gender dynamic, though I like it a bit more now that I see that the story begins with Simon’s desire to see his mother-in-law healed. Jesus wasn’t slipping away or trying to avoid the crowd—when they eventually find him again at Simon’s house he doesn’t try to avoid them but goes out and starts healing more people.

Simon’s mother-in-law begins to serve them for many reasons, not the least of which is that is what would have been expected of her in a culture as focused on hospitality as theirs. That is an expectation that I don’t think has gone away: I’m sure most of us can remember a time when we surprised our parents by bringing home one or more friends and they jumped into action to provide what they could.

This doesn’t mean I, or any of you, aren’t allowed to be troubled by the implications, but even with that said, I’m going to push right into them.

I asked the question why God heals us. You may think it’s an obvious answer, that healing is a good in itself, that God heals us out of God’s love for us. Those can both be true, but incomplete. God heals us so we can be of service to one another. The food and refreshment provided by Simon’s mother-in-law was part of societal expectation, was a response to her being healed, but also helped Jesus prepare to heal those in the coming crowd.

Her service helped more people to be healed.

God heals us so that we can heal each other.

Amen.