11.09.07
Christ’s Authority Over Sickness (Matt. 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41)
Christ’s Authority Over Sickness (Matt. 8:14-17; Mark 1:29-34; Luke 4:38-41)
Jesus left the synagogue with James and John and went to the home of Peter. The mother of Peter’s wife was sick. Luke (the physician) notes that she had a high fever, and in the Greek the tense stresses that this was continuous or chronic in nature. Mark – keeping with his portrait of Christ as Servant – lets us know Jesus ‘took her hand’. Matthew – keeping with his portrait of Christ as King – lets us know Jesus ‘touched her hand’.
Bottom line – Christ shows His authority over sickness by delivering her. Luke records this as ‘rebuked the fever’, and Jesus shows His command over sickness because of the result – the fever left her. It was just like the previous episode, deliverance was immediate from the demon possession, now it was immediate from sickness. She got up and began to wait on them, no extended recovery time, no wait-and-see attitude. She was totally rid of the fever.
Now – I realize some of you may be thinking that Jesus just did this because the men needed someone to do the work around the place…just stop it!
Now word was spreading rapidly. Jesus had cast out demons and healed sickness. By sunset, multitudes with similar needs had gathered at the home of Peter and Andrew hoping to experience the release others had experienced by the touch/command of Christ. Here is where my mind went to the animated flick ‘Robots’ (with Robin Williams). Remember the part where the star robot showed he had a knack for fixing up broken/busted robots? What happened? They lined up at the place he dwelt…and all were fixed. Same deal here! None went away disappointed – because Christ healed the sick and cast out demons.
Once again, note that when demons were confronted by Christ, they acknowledged His person and confessed ‘you are the Son of God’. Christ spoke an authoritative word and delivered the diseased and demon-possessed, but He forbid the demons to proclaim what they knew about His person.
For those that were looking for evidence of Christ’s ability or claims, He would not allow them to reject Him or His testimony because of the words that came from such questionable sources.
What about you and I? When we hear folks attempt to explain away historic facts and use fanciful, interesting and seemingly logical arguments from various questionable sources, how do we respond? If we experienced it for ourselves, would we have the same response? How long would it take before our memory faded or we started to convince ourselves that what we experienced could be explained in some other way?
