So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her

 

 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 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 Orthodox Study Bible comments that this passage and 1 Corinthians 9:5 (in which St. Peter is called Cephas) indicate that St. Peter was married.  It points out, moreover, that Christ's healing miracles are diverse.  In this case, He heals by touch; elsewhere He heals with a word.  This healing is immediate and complete, while others are gradual (Mark 8:22-25) or they require the cooperation of the person healed of of that person's loved ones (Luke 8:54-55).  All of Christ's miracles manifest His redemption of ailing humanity.  Regarding Christ's rebuke of the fever, it cites the commentary of St. 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.   Here again, we see the same dynamic played out that we read in yesterday's lectionary reading (see above) in which the demons identify Christ, and He in turn rebukes them and does not allow them to speak.  We see several things at once:  that the demons must obey His commands; that they recognize Him and know His identity as the Christ and Son of God; and that Jesus' ministry at this stage must keep that messianic identity a secret.

 

 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.   My study Bible comments that Christ's primary mission was to preach the kingdom.  It says that miracles and healings testify both to the truth of the message and the identity of the Teacher (see Luke 5:24).  This same pattern, it notes, holds true in the Church (Acts 4:29-30).  

 

 In a modern scientific age, to rebuke a fever as a living, intelligent thing is far away from our understanding of illness.  But perhaps if it is difficult for us to understand or accept this, we might understand something else we can infer from the text.  That is, the ailments and ills of our world are all interconnected with the rebellion against God, the fall from grace.  If indeed, the symptoms of fever were the product of a kind of demonic affliction (and we cannot categorically deny that possibility in terms of our knowledge of the spiritual realm), then the text is telling us that we cannot separate sin from evil effects in our world.  We do not presume to say that someone's personal sin is the cause of their illness (for Christ Himself has taught us differently; for example, see John 9:1-4).  However, we can say that collectively we suffer in our world from the effects of sin that may have nothing to do with ourselves.  But we do inherit this "fallen condition," a world beset by false solutions, false beliefs, and the effects of the choices that accompany them.  And, if one may be so bold to say it this way, it is these effects Christ has come into the world to help us navigate through and to remove.  Christ's casting out and rebuking of demons -- with authority they cannot resist -- is testimony to His role as Deliverer, Liberator, and Savior.  But we also play a role in this battle through the tools of our faith, its sacraments, and our own cooperation with God's grace at work in us, thanks to the saving mission of Christ.  (This is called synergy in the theological language of the Church.)  There is an interesting perspective in commentary on these passages in which the demons identify Christ, and that is given to us through various Church Fathers, such as St. Cyril of Alexandria.  St. Cyril writes, "It was not right for them to usurp the glory of the apostolic office or to talk of the mystery of Christ with polluted tongues. Yes, nothing they say is true. Let no one trust them. Light cannot be recognized with the help of darkness . . ." (see also 2 Corinthians 6:15).  We may seek to compare this with Christ's teaching on the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23.  But there, as Jesus points out, the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat; therefore what they teach is important, but their works must not be imitated.  The demons, however, as St. Cyril says, exercise no apostolic office.  Today it might be difficult for us to understand the difference between personal failings or corruption and the institution of a recognized office and its protocols, but we might all be better off should we restore such understanding.  In society we have laws for a reason; yet even corrupt individuals holding office are subject to those laws and the legal ways of correction, even if justice takes time, and -- factoring in the spiritual battle and its effects we've been discussing -- justice in a worldly sense is imperfect.  The fullness of perfect justice will only be found in the One Who is good; that is God (Matthew 19:17) and we do not know what that fullness will look like (1 Corinthians 13:12).  But to seek to know God and to learn to grow in God's love so that we also may practice that love is a lifelong process in which we hope for righteousness (Matthew 22:36-40).  So let us be aware of spiritual struggle, the pitfalls of that which seeks to take us away from Christ, and how we are to live by His light.  For He is here to heal the world, and that in a myriad of ways for us all.