Over the years of studying Jesus’ healing miracles, I have noticed a progression in which the patients’ primary diagnoses become more challenging as Jesus’ ministry progresses—starting with a fever and progressing to bodily decomposition due to terminal expiry. We have to understand that the apostles chronicled a tiny sample of the miracles (as they were led by the Holy Spirit).  But I believe that this progression was part of a brilliantly orchestrated divine plan to provide greater and greater revelation of Jesus’ unadulterated power—until just the perfect point in time.  If Jesus had begun His ministry by raising Lazarus from the dead, we would have seen a totally different dynamic.  Without three years of gospel preaching—and three years of whipping the legalistic religious elite into a murderous frenzy—the Old Testament prophecies would probably not have been fulfilled to the letter, jot, and tittle.

I was googling the healing miracle timelines to determine the first recorded miracle, and it appeared to be the mother-in-law healing—according to Mark.

However, according to John, the first healing miracle was the Nobleman’s son—a remote healing, i.e., the nobleman was in Cana with Jesus—the son was in Capernaum.  The Book of John ends this healing account with “this is the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.”  Since Jesus was now in Cana (where He had officially kicked off His ministry by turning water into wine), the implication was that the Nobleman’s son was Sign #2, and Healing #1.  However, how did the Nobleman know that Jesus was a healer —and not just some magician or chemical engineer who could do clever tricks with H₂O?  I think he knew that Jesus was a healer because He had already been healing. And the #2 designation meant that, in two separate instances, Jesus had traveled from the Judean Hills directly to Cana just before doing the miraculous. 

And now Matthew…according to that gospel account, Jesus performed a mass/multiple healing right after Cana #1.  Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount mentions that Jesus healed the people first, and then delivered His incomparable sermon.

So we don’t know exactly where the mother-in-law healing fits on the timeline.  We do know that it occurred very early in Jesus’ ministry and that He was in Capernaum when the healing occurred.  My theory is that Jesus’ reputation as a healer had preceded Him, but the people weren’t particularly impressed.  How do we know this?  Nobody was clamoring to be healed when He crossed the town line.  Jesus had pulled into town well before the Sabbath.  He had probably preached publicly by the Sea and in Peter’s boat, yet nobody had queued up in the healing line.  But by the end of the Sabbath, the whole town was seeking healing outside the mother-in-law’s door.  What happened?

That evening, after sunset, people brought to Jesus all who were sick and demon-possessed, and the whole town gathered at the door.  Mark 1:32,33

I believe that it was a simple matter of demonic deliverance in the synagogue during the “church service” that day.  But I digress.  This post is about the mother-in-law.

Matthew 8 says that the mother-in-law was sick of a fever.  It appears that there was a sudden onset of this fever.  Jesus and the apostles came home after “church service” and discovered that she was sick.  Also, the mother-in-law did not personally ask to be healed—people interceded on her behalf.  (The good news for today is that Jesus will allow us to stand in the gap if our loved ones can’t pray for God’s healing themselves.) Chances are that this affliction had not progressed to the life-threatening stage.  At present, it was just an inconvenience.  In the tiny houses that people lived in, the mother-in-law’s sad state was probably a real damper on the communal atmosphere that invariably occurred each week at Sabbath end.  (At sunset the Sabbath was officially over and work was permitted again, including preparing hot meals.)  The mother-in-law was in discomfort, and dining would be subdued, but at this stage, things weren’t catastrophic.  However, that didn’t make any difference to Jesus.  No affliction was too minor—Jesus didn’t want someone to be in the minutest amount of discomfort or pain.

And while we’re on the subject of doing no work on the Sabbath—not only did Jesus heal Peter’s mother-in-law on the Sabbath (opposing the oral interpretation of Mosaic Law).  But then she got up and went to work herself —by serving Him, before the Sabbath was over. 🙂  So that tells me that Jesus wouldn’t let man-made obstacles get in the way of a healing.  24/7 was what you got from Him.

Matthew’s account says that He touched her hand and the fever left.  Mark’s account says that He took her by the hand and helped her up, and the fever left.  But Luke’s account says that He rebuked “it” and “it” left.  So which one is true?  Well, actually all three of them probably happened.  How about, He rebuked “it,” then touched her hand, then held/helped her up by her hand—“it” having departed. 

So what was “it?”

The Interlinear Bible says that the mother-in-law had been seized with a great (megas—violent, mighty, strong) fever (puretos – fiery heat).  At His rebuke (admonishment, chiding, reproving, rebuking), the fever left (aphiémi —was sent away, actually “it” loosed her, released her, let her go!)

No one snapchatted, tweeted, or even emailed about what had just happened to the mother-in-law.  But I believe the news spread through the town like wildfire.  Jesus had dealt with demonic possession earlier that day in the synagogue, and I believe He subsequently dealt with the demonic oppression of the mother-in-law. My theory—Capernaum was experiencing demonic activity—and the people were fully aware of it.  What caused these townspeople to flock to Jesus was that He demonstrated His indisputable power over demons. That power had been revealed mere hours before when Jesus had cast an unclean demon out of a man in the synagogue:  the people were amazed and said to each other, “What words these are! With authority and power he gives orders to impure spirits and they come out!” Luke 4:36

Mark 1 expressly mentions that when the whole town came to the mother-in-law’s door, they brought their demon-possessed people.  Where did these demons come from?  Capernaum was a hybrid community of, not only Jews, but idol-worshipping Romans.  There could have been some points of entry created by yielding to this behavior.  We do know that Jesus prophesied ruin for Capernaum due to its sin of pride, “And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Matt. 11:23-24). We also know that the Jewish segment of the population was fastidious about keeping the Sabbath laws—no one came to the mother-in-law’s door until the sun had set—so the people may have been suffering from a bad case of  legalism and/or hypocrisy.  All of the above could have opened the door to demonic visitation.  But the whole town was brought to a sense of awe by Jesus’ effortless manner of dealing with demons—as well as the absolute authority that He had over them.

So what can we learn about the nature of our triune God from this account?  Specifically WRT Healing:  He heals on the Sabbath; He heals 24/7; no affliction is too trivial; He cuts through any man-made obstacles; His diagnoses/cures are 100% spot on/perfect.  Generally, He hates to see us suffer, and He has incomparable power to save us in any sense of the word.