September 20, 2021 - Healing Rain
Matthew 8:14-17, CEB - Jesus went home with Peter and saw Peter’s mother-in-law
lying in bed with a fever. He touched
her hand, and the fever left her. Then she got up and served them. That evening people brought to Jesus many who
were demon-possessed. He threw the spirits out with just a word. He healed
everyone who was sick. This happened so
that what Isaiah the prophet said would be fulfilled: He is the one who took
our illnesses and carried away our diseases.
Today
we come the third account in Matthew of Jesus healing someone. He heals a leper (8:1-4), a gentile (8:5-13),
and now a woman. I find it interesting
that the first three people Jesus heals in Matthew’s gospel are all outcasts of
various sorts. Lepers were literal
outcasts, gentiles were considered unclean, and women were considered
property. As word gets out about this, Jesus
does begin to heal other people including people who were not outcasts. But I do believe Matthew wants us to notice
that Jesus first chooses to heal people that would have otherwise been overlooked
and/or simply ignored. All are included
in the inbreaking of God’s kingdom and all does in fact mean ALL. Too often Jesus’s community, is guilty of reverting
to exclusion.
The
second thing that strikes me is a detail that always makes me chuckle a
bit. Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law
and immediately, “she got up and served them.”
It makes me chuckle because it makes me think of my own mother. My mother is a woman of perpetual motion. It is hard for her to sit still, let alone
lay down, for any length of time. She
would rather be up cleaning, cooking, or taking care of someone. If she was sick enough to be lying in bed, the
sickness would have to be significant. Matthew
is trying to signal to us that Peter’s mother-in-law was like my Mom. She was really sick because otherwise, she
would have been up taking care of everyone.
As soon as Jesus heals her, that is exactly what she does. The healing Jesus offers allows us to be the
people we were made to be and, as we said last week, be restored to our place
in the community.
Although
there are other aspects of this passage that could be discussed, I want to
highlight just one more detail. Jesus
heals Peter’s mother-in-law by touching her hand. Obviously, this isn’t necessary because he
heals the Roman Captain’s servant with a word from miles away. Further, after Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law,
the word gets out and others start showing up for deliverance from evil spirits. The text says that Jesus “threw the spirits
out with just a word.” No touch
necessary. I should also point out that
it was taboo for a Jewish male, much less a Rabbi, to physically touch a woman
that was not his wife. The touch was not
only unnecessary, but it was bound to cause a stir. So why does Jesus choose to touch her anyway?
The
short answer is we don’t know. But I
want to add that I am touched by Jesus’s choice here. He chooses to heal through touch someone who
was not considered important or even worthy of his touch. He heals people who were considered important
and/or worthy without touching them. It
is as though Jesus is working to equalizing the playing field even through the subtle
details of the methods in which he heals people. He intentionally draws attention to those who
we would ignore. Some of the “illnesses”
Jesus took and “diseases” he “carried away” are our prejudices. That work continues still.
Question: Are there people you would consider unworthy
of healing, including yourself?
Prayer: Jesus, you lifted up and healed those who
were ignored and forgotten, oppressed and marginalized. Help us to see others and ourselves with your
eyes. May your grace and healing know no
bounds as your kingdom continues to grow in our midst. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for your neighbors today, whether you
know them or not.
Song:
Healing Rain – Michael W. Smith (I chose this song because of the image “healing
rain” – rain does not discriminate on whom it falls; it touches all of us.
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