Burning Fever Be Gone!

“In 1818, Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of ‘childbed fever.’ A doctor’s daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the hospital to examine expectant mothers without ever pausing to wash his hands. Dr. Semmelweis was the first man in history to associate such examinations with the result of infection and death. He then began the practice of washing his hands with a chlorine solution, and after eleven years and the delivery of 8,537 babies, he lost only 184 mothers – about one in fifty.”(1)

In Psalm 51:1-2, King David declared, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Just as Dr. Semmelweis washed his hands to ward off infection and “childbed fever,” the Bible teaches us that sin is an infection leading to a terrible fever – an infection that must be cleansed through the “washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26), and by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:5). I have entitled our message this morning, “Burning Fever Be Gone!” and I want to begin by asking us to stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word in Matthew 8:14-17:

14 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. 16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.”

Here in this passage, we read about a healing miracle, but let us first look at the scene. “When we compare Mark’s narrative of events with that of Matthew, we see that this incident happened in Capernaum, on the Sabbath day, after Jesus had worshipped in the synagogue.”(2) This miraculous healing was bestowed on Peter’s “wife’s mother [who was] lying sick with a fever” (v. 14); or, in other words, on his mother-in-law. Now, some might be astonished to learn that Peter was married. Did you know that “legend has it that in the [latter] days [of his life], Peter’s wife was his helper in the work of the gospel.”(3) In 1 Corinthians 9:5, the apostle Paul spoke of how Peter took along a “believing wife.” “Clement of Alexandria [even] tells us that Peter and his wife were martyred together.”(4)

Afflicted with a Burning Heat (vv. 14-15a)

When Jesus had come into the house, He saw Peter’s mother-in-law “lying sick with a fever” (v. 14). There were three kinds of fever which were common in [ancient] Palestine. There was a fever which was called Malta fever, and which was marked by weakness, anemia and wasting away,” lasting several months and ultimately ending in death. “There was [also] what was called intermittent fever, which may well have been very [much] like typhoid fever. And above all, there was malaria.”(5) But the fever that Peter’s mother-in-law suffered, likely was not related to the three illnesses I just mentioned. Based on what we discover as we dive into the original Greek, her fever probably had a spiritual component to it.

Allow me to share something from The NIV Application Commentary: “In the time of Jesus, many considered fever an illness in and of itself and not simply a symptom of a disease. It also had more theological significance since, according to Leviticus 26:16 and Deuteronomy 28:22, it was punishment sent by God to those who had violated the covenant . . . [and] curable only by the divine intervention of God.”(6) Sometimes illness was seen as being induced by demons. In Luke 11:14, Jesus healed a man who was mute by casting out a demon; and in Matthew chapter 9, Jesus healed a paralytic by forgiving his sins (Matthew 9:2). In summary, physical illness was seen as the result of a spiritual condition; whether that be living in sin, which is the breaking of God’s law; or some kind of satanic or demonic oppression.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for “fever” is qaddahat, which means “burning heat.”(7) The New Testament Greek word for “fever” is pyretos, meaning “fiery heat.”(8) If you have ever heard the English word “pyrotechnics” for someone who sets up fireworks, or the word “pyromaniac” for someone obsessed with fire, then this word pyretos might sound familiar. Both Matthew and Mark used a form of this word (pyressousan), one made up of two participles, that can be translated as “burning with fever” (Matthew 8:14; Mark 1:30). Commentator A. T. Robertson confirms this specific translation.(9) The physician Luke, when you look at the original Greek, described the mother-in-law’s fever as being a “mega fiery heat” (pyreto megalo; Luke 4:38).