Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
When the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them. Moreover, demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!”
(verses 38-41)
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In my mind’s eye I envision a surge of humanity pressing forward at the doorway of Simon’s house, some with eager expectation gleaming in their eyes, others weary with infirmities, yet shepherded along by faith-filled friends.
Meanwhile, inside the house is a woman, Simon’s mother-in-law, who is busily clearing dishes from the table after serving her first meal to guests in who-knows-how-long, having been unexpectedly raised from her sick bed only a short time before.
All this activity swirls around the person of Jesus. He is the one who raised Simon’s mother-in-law to active wholeness. He is the one who is the focus of the clambering crowd outside Simon’s door. Eyes on Jesus. It’s where Luke is pointing.
He wants us to see the firstfruits of prophecy’s fulfilment. Earlier, in the synagogue, Jesus had read the messianic prophecy from Isaiah 61. He presents it as his own personal Calling Statement. Without hesitation, he focuses it on himself, joyfully promising good news, freedom, recovery, release, together with the Lord’s favour, to be poured out on the poor, imprisoned, blind, and oppressed.
What he had promised in the synagogue is now experienced in real time at Simon’s house. Sickness is turned aside. Infirmities are vanquished. Demons are cast out, their imprisoning power undone. As they flee, they cry out the truth: “You are the Son of God!” Truly, Messiah is here.
It's a glorious start to the kingdom ministry of Jesus. When the people of Capernaum seek him out the next morning, they urge him to settle in and not leave – to confine his liberating works to them alone. But Jesus knows his calling. It’s freedom for all. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent” (verse 43). Later, just prior to the cross, he re-emphasizes it: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:10).
It's us. That’s why he came. We are the poor, the imprisoned, the infirm, the blind, the oppressed. We are those who desperately need – beyond our own deserving – the gift of the Lord’s favour. And now it has come, in the Person of Jesus himself.
The Apostle Paul, who had his own experience of blindness suddenly turning to sight, would later declare: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Freedom is here. The year of the Lord’s favour is upon us. All of it in Jesus.
So, stand with the crowd on Simon’s doorstep. Receive healing and release from the hand of our Lord. The Spirit of the Lord is on him. Through the cross he has paid the price. The new has come. Praise his name.
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Praise you, Lord Jesus – you are Messiah, the Healer and Redeemer. You bring freedom and release from sin and oppression. Gladly I commit myself to you afresh. You are Lord.
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Reflect:
At Simon’s house, Jesus laid “his hands on each one.” You, too, are in the Lord’s presence. What issues do you bring before him now? What healing and release do you need?
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Photo by Yucel Moran on Unsplash
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