When Jesus Touches…
Mark 1:29-37
This morning it was so tempting to start off with a mother-in-law joke. But, I have several problems.
First, I have been assured that it would be in very poor taste.
Second, it would be a horrible thing to make light of this woman that was reported to be sick.
Third, I have a really great relationship with my mother-in-law and I can’t dishonor that.
Let’s take a quick glance at the time line here in the first chapter of Mark.
John the Baptist came on the scene and pronounced the coming of the messiah. Jesus comes and is baptized and received an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Next, Jesus spends 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by Satan.
Jesus starts moving through Galilee and teaching "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
When he runs into Peter and Andrew then James and John by the lake and tells them Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
We often focus on that amazing moment of response. Wow….they left everything to follow Jesus. This small group heads off to Capernaum…..Why Capernaum?
We know it was a fishing village. It has a ½ mile long harbor. According to archeology, it was not a big city. Maybe only a few thousand people lived there in Jesus day.
But, it was on the edge of a major cross road for trade. Fertile fields nearby, the fishing industry all connected here on the North edge of the lake. The Romans placed a garrison outside of the town and they set up a tax office…where a guy named Matthew worked.
So, Capernaum was and important trade center in Galilee.
Capernaum was also the home of Simon, Andrew, James and John. When the fishermen drop their nets that day they are headed a few hundred yards maybe a mile or two….
They are headed home for the night or Sabbath. So after Jesus calls the fishermen they are not going anywhere yet. They just went up the small hill to one of their homes.
It seems that one set of brothers invites Jesus to stay over. It was the customary thing to do. And Jesus stays until the Sabbath where we know from last weeks scripture he taught in the synagogue.
From this point forward Capernaum would be Jesus home base for ministry and his mother and brothers would also live in the town at some point.
Filling in the gaps in the scripture, Jesus and his new followers meet at the synagogue and Jesus’ teaching amazes the people, he cast our a demon which further impresses the witnesses.
-- The service ends as our scripture this morning starts, it is still the Sabbath, immediately after the teaching session and Jesus and companions head off to Simon and Andrew’s home to spend the afternoon in Sabbath rest.
Basically, after church they headed off to have lunch at about 12 o’clock.
That sort of sounds familiar doesn’t it?
It seems that they were invited to Sabbath Lunch. The meal would have been prepared before sundown on Friday; because, no work was to be performed on the Sabbath.
According to authorities in history they only needed to travel around 100 yards from the Synagogue to the home.
There is a site that exists today that is thought to be the home of Simon and Andrew. The site has been identified since the time of Emperor Constantine. It has been a church and a tourist site for centuries.
Let’s listen again to what happens at lunch. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.
They get to the house and we find out that Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever. We don’t know how long she has been sick. Since this illness is mentioned it might be that the situation was serious. There were several different infections spread in the water and by Mosquitoes that often caused a high fever and a slow death.
A couple of little details tell us something about the un-named mother-in-law. First, she is probably a widow and it is likely that she has no sons. It was the responsibility of the oldest son to take care of the parents in their senior years. So, Mrs. Peter (also un-named) was probably the oldest or only daughter.
The disciples have only been around Jesus for a few days at this point. They have witnessed some new teaching and an interaction with a demon.
They don’t seem to ask Jesus to do anything but; they inform him of the situation. That pops some questions into my mind.
- Are they suggesting that this might be a bad time to visit and to go some where else?
- Maybe they are warning him about the potentially dangerous illness in the house?
- Are they simply telling Jesus about the situation?
- Are they already bringing their situations and needs to Jesus?
Jesus responds to the need. He touches her hand and the fever leaves. He helps her up form the bed and without any recovery time. Without even a light snack to giver her energy she gets up and starts attending to the guest.
A simple, caring, personal touch from Jesus restores this lady to doing something that she probably loved to do.
I know many women that just like to take care of people. They don’t want their guest to raise a finger. They make a fuss of you try to help. Some are in this room.
I wonder how frustrated she felt knowing that they had guest over for lunch and she was stuck in bed and separated from the guests.
I don’t think that Jesus healed her so that he could be made a fuss over.
He healed her because she had a need. And by healing her he allowed her to do what she loved to do.
I have been thinking about healing in this story and I thought about how Jesus has touched me from time to time.
I will suggest that most everyone here has been healed by the touch of Jesus. Many of us have been physically healed and some have experienced a miraculous healing touch. Many of us have been healed emotionally and have had our lives put back into working order when we thought we would never survive.
Jesus works and heals in all people’s lives wither they acknowledge Him or not.
But the most specific, healing in a believer’s life is the being healed from our sins and ultimately death.
I wonder if we really understand that fact with enough awe.
Are we really grateful?
Has our view of Jesus’ touch in our lives become old news?
Maybe, the question should be connected more on how we respond to the touch, to the healing?
Do we think that we have responded enough for his eternal act?
Are we actively living our lives as Christians in a way that reflects our healing?
Are we happy serving our savior?
Let’s go back to the scripture:
That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
The Sabbath ends at sundown, when the first three stars appear in the sky. And folks all over town show up at Simon’s door looking for Jesus to get help. Jesus responded by healing and casting out. Who knows how late he ministered.
The scripture continues:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Simon and his companions went to look for him, and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!"
--- Do any of you ever try the free samples in the stores? Sam’s club does it a lot back in the frozen food section. They have the little grills and ovens where they cook up the bulk pizza roles and other specialty foods.
They have figured out that if they let you try the different foods you are more likely to purchase some to take home. They know that many people need a sample before they will respond and make a purchase.
Ok, I have to admit something to you. I sometimes take samples, often more than one, with no intention of making a purchase no matter how good the product is.
Jesus was not giving free samples when He helped the people that came to the gate that night. He was responding to their real needs. When he healed Simon’s mother-in- law he did not need or even want a big audience.
He was responding to their real need.
When the followers found Jesus the next morning, they say,
"Everyone is looking for you!"….
Why was everyone looking for Jesus? What is their motivation?
Do you think that they wanted something from him?
Or do you think that they wanted to offer a response like Sally-Jo.
Did they want more free samples with no intention to make a purchase?
Sally-Jo was saved and her response was to serve.
Most of the people that were searching for Jesus that day just wanted to use him for their healing/salvation with no intention of serving as a response.
-- Folks many people in this world are happy to take advantage of Jesus.
Some call and visit churches when their needs are great enough. And often they find help and disappear as quickly as they appeared.
They want the quick samples that Jesus offers through the church. They are not interested in hearing the good news or really anything more than temporary satisfaction.
And they almost never want to respond in service to Jesus or anyone else.
Wow, that sounds negative. But it is not the response of the crowd that I worry about.
As we read about Jesus healing thousands we know that the majority never responded. That did not stop him from dealing with many peoples needs.
-- The only people that he was upset with were the people that were considered religious.
It was their attitude and response that upset Jesus.
The question that is nagging at me today….are we responding to the touch of Jesus
Christ on our lives in a proper way or are we just asking for samples?
Do we understand that we are saved to serve? Saved to represent Christ in physical ways, ways that we actually will enjoy and find eternal satisfaction as a result.
Folks, it is a time the reevaluate our ongoing response to the touch of Jesus Chris. Are we looking for samples and thinking what has Jesus done for me latterly?
All Glory be to God!
Folks in our closing hymn Please consider what you are called to respond.
The alter is open, consider how you will respond.
