I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent

 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

Yesterday, we read that Jesus, upon leaving Nazareth, 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.  The story of Peter's mother-in-law is in each of the Synoptic Gospels.  It tells us that Peter had a home and a family.  This house in Capernaum is often called Jesus' ministry's headquarters in Galilee.  This sense in which Jesus rebukes her fever can be interpreted as one of correction, true judgment, a fitting dispensation.  And what the text tells us -- and does so in other Gospels as well -- is that she is immediately restored to her proper place in the home, which is in fact one of honor and worth.  As Son and Logos, Jesus restores a proper and fitting order, so to speak.  Further as to "rebuke," my study bible has an interesting commentary from Cyril of Alexandria:  "That which was rebuked was some living thing unable to withstand the influence of Him who rebuked it, for it is not reasonable to rebuke a thing without life and unconscious of the rebuke.  Nor is it astonishing for there to exist certain powers that inflict harm on the human body."

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.    Peter's home seems to become a kind of hospital, a place of care for ailments and afflictions.  Christ heals here by touch.  The tie with the demonic, that which creates destructive disorder, dysfunction, ill harmony, chaos, a kind of imbalance, is clear.  It does not seem strange that this is tied with disease.  Once again, as in yesterday's reading, they know who He is, but He does not allow them to speak and identify Him publicly as 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.   Although He is now known for healing, Jesus' primary mission is to preach the kingdom.  Healings and signs testify to the truth of His message and to the identity of the Teacher (see 5:24).  My study bible adds also that this pattern holds true in the Church (Acts 4:29-30).

What is healing?  Can we separate what it is to be human into the components of mental, spiritual, physical, and consider that they are not inter-related somehow?  I think modern medicine would recognize that disease can be linked through all levels of life, with statistics correlating disease with stress levels, for example.  Even the interrelation of mental health with possible breakdown in genetic patterns is a subject for exploration.  Regardless of how modern (Western) science may view disease or not, Christ as Logos is the one who brings into the world a kind of divine order.  His entire mission is about setting things aright, deposing that which causes affliction, disease, ailment, dysfunction, and disorder on a cosmic scale, which ultimately afflicts individuals on the most personal level.  Christ's work of salvation is that which ultimately heals and restores to good order and true right-relatedness for all things.   Every restoration to health is a sign of the presence of the Kingdom.  That is the way that we must see His ministry.  Various forms of medicine support the concept of "balance" and harmony as integral to health, such as systems of acupuncture, for example.  But what we remember about Christ is that He's in the world as the "stronger man" to fix whatever it is that needs healing, and this extends to humankind's relationship with God.  Working from this cosmic level, we have a power in Christ that is at work in all things, from Creator to creature, and He takes particular care to tell His disciples the importance of "the least of these."   To indicate the kind of power we're talking about, which permeates all things and all places, we take the words from Revelation:  "Behold, I am making all things new."  In the Greek, as regular readers of this blog would recognize, the tenses read more literally, "I am always making all things new."  It is Christ whose work permeates into the "least of these" moments of our lives, to the absolute level of being, to the most intimate secret of the heart.  It is in His love and care we take refuge, and in Him we live and move and have our being.  This is the power we trust and know in our Lord, and His great superseding love that supports the abundant life He offers to the world.  As Logos, He wants what is truly good for all, even in the times we don't.