This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. 35 Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and those who were with him pursued him 37 and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” 39 So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.  Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. 32 When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. 33 The whole town was gathered at the door. 34 He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.  Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. 29 On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. 31 He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them. 

The connection with the preceding incident is explicit, indicating that the healing occurred upon the Sabbath. Tradition holds that the house shared by Simon and Andrew was not far from the synagogue at Capernaum. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law is brief and to the point. The few details contained are told from Peter’s point of view, and not once is the name of Jesus introduced into the account. It is not possible to know what disease had caused the illness of Peter’s mother-in-law, for in the ancient world fever was regarded as an independent disease and not as a distress accompanying a variety of illnesses. In response to the disciples’ request (v.30), Jesus stood beside the bed, seized the woman’s hand and lifted her up. The fever was removed and there was no trace of the weakness which could be expected under normal circumstances. As so often in the gospel narrative, the touch of Jesus brought instant healing: and she waited on them.

Restoring Position. I think modern minds are a bit surprised that the woman seems to immediately rise and begin to serve the guests of her son-in-law. But we have a different sense of hospitality. In 1st century Palestine, serving/hosting such a notable person as Jesus would have been something the matron of the house would have insisted upon as a matter of rightful place and honor. Perkins (Mark, 546) writes: Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Pheme Perkins (Mark, 546) raises the following questions: “How can we read these stories about Jesus, the exorcist and healer, without feeling cheated? God or Jesus has only to will it, and a person is healed. Does God will that person’s suffering? If anything would make Jesus angry, it would surely be the charge that God wills the suffering and evil in our world” Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time. It is very easy to simply note that Jesus cured Peter’s mother-in-law, be swept along in Mark’s breathless pace, and wonder if there is more to the story than meets the eye. Ched Myers (Binding the Strong Man: A Political reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus, 141) raises this question at the beginning of his comments on Mark 1:21-39:

These “miracle” stories raise important issues of interpretation. Is Jesus simply “curing” the physically sick and the mentally disturbed? If so, why would such a ministry of compassion raise the ire of the local authorities?

Continue reading →

This coming Sunday is the 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time in Lectionary Cycle B. The narrative moves quite quickly in the Gospel according to Mark. The narrative’s pace and immediacy is one of the most notable attributes of the writing sty;le Lest one think that Mark is simply concatenating stories without a larger vision in mind, it is always good to “step back” and see the larger framework in which the Gospel account exists. Continue reading →