Peter’s Ma-in-Law Pt. 1 of 2

He will even heal your In-Laws!
The 3rd healing recorded in chronological order is the healing of Peter’s ma-in-law. This is recorded in three of the gospels. Mark 1:29-31 & Luke 4:38-39 both record the deed but now Matthew finally gets into the “healings record game” in Matthew 8:14-15. The funny thing is Matt must have not cared what order the healings were in but rather that they just got recorded (I’ll cover that more in the entry “The Leper”). In the same chapter 8 he recorded the healing of the leper (8:2-4) and Centurion’s servant (8:5- 13) ahead of Pete’s ma-in-law but several sources show that those 2 healings happened after Pete’s ma-in-law. Not to write it off but in the grand scheme of things I don’t think it matters too much.
This last summer I had the privilege of co-teaching a class on the book of James with a friend of mine. My friend is a retired minister; he’s done this for years. I learned a very valuable thing from my friend: it was how to back up and look at the whole picture. I tend to get caught up in every detail and in turn lose focus on what’s really going on or what’s really being said. So let’s do that here, let’s back up and look at the whole picture. In the first 8 chapters of Matt we can see Jesus fulfilling His calling. Jesus came to preach/teach, then to heal (Matt 4:23). He came to set the captive free, first spiritually then physically. Seriously, what good is it to go to hell physically healthy? Matt chapter 5 through the end of chapter 7 records the famous “Sermon on the Mount”. There we find the “Be-attitudes” and so much more; those would be classified as the teaching/preaching part of Jesus’ calling. Or you can classify them as “spiritually freeing” parts of His ministry. Next in Matt chapter 8, we see Jesus “physically freeing” people from sickness and death. Matt never says what order the healings happened, he just records them. Let’s get to his version of the healing of Pet’s ma-in-law.
Matt 8:14-15 “14When Jesus came into Peter's house, he saw Peter's mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.”
Look carefully how Jesus ministered to her, “He touched her hand”. Recently I was listening to Pastor Bob Yadian’s series on “The Healing Lamb” (it’s a great teaching; you can pick it up on ITunes under “Precepts Radio”). Pastor Bob pointed out that when Jesus ministered healing to women He only touched their hands. We can see Jesus setting the standard on how to pray for the opposite sex. You pray for the opposite sex with discretion. In 1st Tim 3:1-7 Paul gives Timmy a list of qualifications that his elders must have. One of the requirements on that list is “Now the overseer must be above reproach” (1st Tim 3:2). There is no clearer example of “above reproach” than Jesus himself. Even at Jesus’ trial his accusers could not pin anything on Him. Even in the most spiritual situations it is important to remember our manners. One of the things about being “Christ-like” is to be “above reproach”.
Another thing that Pastor Bob pointed out was that Jesus never “prayed for the sick”. Sure enough Jesus did not pray for Pete’s ma-in-law; instead He commanded her fever to go. Matt records Jesus just touching her hand but Luke tells us that Jesus said what He said and the fever did what it was commanded to do. Now in James 5:14-15 we do see elders of the church praying for the sick. So there is prayer for/against sickness but when Jesus dealt with sickness He didn’t mess around. I guess we should’nt mess around either. Just get rid of it - sickness that is.
Stay blessed y'all, it's your choice.
jimmy