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Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.
When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.
Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
- Luke 4:38-44
In yesterday's reading, we were told that Jesus went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority. Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon. And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him. Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out." And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.
Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon's house. But Simon's wife's mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of him concerning her. So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them. We see Jesus' "headquarters" of the Galilean ministry in Capernaum, in the home of Peter. We also observe that Peter is married; here it is his mother-in-law who is ill. To "rebuke" the fever is the same word used in yesterday's reading, when Jesus "rebuked" the demon. This word (επιτίιμισεν/epitimisen in the Greek) gives us a sense of "correction" - to put things in their proper order and value.
When the sun was setting, all those who had any that were sick with various diseases brought them to Him; and He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. My study bible says that "Jesus performed many miracles, healing countless people and releasing many from demonic spirits. No sickness could resist His power; no demon could refuse His word."
And demons also came out of many, crying out and saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of God!" And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ. My study bible tells us that "Jesus prohibits the demons from identifying Him for two reasons: (1) theirs is not a confession of faith, and (2) He reveals Himself to the people in His own way and time." We again see the use of the word for "rebuke." It is a tone of command, and it gives us a sense of Jesus' authority.
Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; but He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent." And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee. We observe, as we will, Jesus' periodic withdrawal for prayer and rest. It is a good thing to remember for ourselves. As often happens in the Gospels, the crowds seek Him out. My study bible says that "Jesus' ministry was not based on the wants and needs of people in any given locality. Nor was the primary purpose of His ministry to heal. Rather His purpose was to preach the kingdom of God. Thus He moved to other cities, the miracles testifying to the power of the gospel message which He preached."
We note that Jesus doesn't stay where people love Him and want Him, nor where He's popular. He's called by God the Father to other places, He knows His mission. Neither does He stay in His hometown, where He's been unable to perform any signs for a population that will not accept Him as anything but their idea of the son of Joseph the carpenter. Without faith, He cannot do what has been done elsewhere. Again, this is an acceptance of the will of God; as the human Jesus, his human will conforms to the divine, and we continually get a sense of the acceptance of mission throughout the Gospels. The times of retreat for prayer and rest (and hence dialogue) also conform to this understanding. The challenge for us is to understand not only who Christ is and what He does -- for example in the authority of the rebukes that correct the ailments of humanity and set things aright -- but also in the example that He sets for each one of us. Do we take time out for prayer, and for "dialogue" with our Father? It's not by coincidence that we were taught by Jesus to pray to "Our Father!" Do we understand prayer as a period of rest or a time to "recharge our batteries," so to speak? We must also think of rest in this context of prayer: we are to abide in Him, to take rest in Him. And there we come to our imitation of Christ -- our way to follow His example of withdrawal for rest and prayer, to take refreshment in communion with God. As Jesus always gives us the example of taking direction from the Father, so we take time in prayer to ascertain where we go in life, what we are doing, how we best serve -- and even, like Jesus, we can take our identity in life from this process. We find "who we are" in this place of relationship to God, especially through prayer. So let us find ourselves where we belong, in right-relatedness to God and hence to the world, in a community that is part of God's good creation.
