Cured or made whole?

(Reflections on on Mark 1.29-39)

Mark packs a great deal of teaching into these few verses, three
scenes from the start of Jesus' ministry. Because this is part of his first
chapter, we can expect Mark to be introducing us to some themes which he
considers important. Let's look more closely.

1. The first scene (vv 29-31:)
On the Sabbath afternoon, Simon and Andrew bring Jesus home with them. The
mother of Simon's wife has a fever, serious enough for her to have gone to
bed. They tell Jesus about her; he comes at once, takes her by the hand,
and lifts her to her feet; the fever leaves her. Then, "... she began to
serve them...". Now, this COULD mean that she was sufficiently recovered to
return to her place, to her "women's work", in the kitchen: "Well, the guys
needed their lunch, eh?". Possibly. But more likely, something much more
is meant. The word Mark uses here for "serve them" is the same word he uses
throughout the gospel for "service", for being a "servant" of others. It is
the word for the MINISTRY of a Christian disciple. She "ministered" to
them.

This word-association is intentional. Later in the book, Mark pointedly
tells us that James and John, (who were witness to this incident), utterly
fail to understand. They ask Jesus for places of honour and glory in his
kingdom. His response is, that within the community of the disciples, the
greatest are the servants, those who minister in his name. And that is what
Simon's mother-in-law was doing. Her restoration to health, to wholeness,
enabled her to engage in her ministry.

2. Moving to the second scene (32-34):
Word gets around quickly in a small town like Capernaum! By evening, there
are numerous demands on Jesus to heal, restore, the sick. He is sought
after as a miracle-worker. This scene is a summary of the activity of Jesus
as a healer, but Mark's purpose of including it seems mainly to set the
stage for the third scene.

3. The next morning (35-39).
No doubt exhausted, Jesus got up early, went out to be alone, and to pray.
But not for long! The four come HUNTING for him, and excitedly tell him,
"Everyone is searching for you". In other words, "What do you think you are
doing out here? You are wanted back in Capernaum, you are in demand, you
are popular. Wow!" These new disciples have expectations of what Jesus'
ministry should be. Understandable; but they are not his expectations.
"No," he says, "We are not going back there. We are going on to other
towns." And the reason Jesus gives? - "So that I can PROCLAIM the message,
there also. For THAT is what I came to do."
Jesus did heal, restored the broken to wholeness. But he understood that
the first priority of his ministry was elsewhere: In his "proclamation of
the message"; in his teaching ministry.

This can be a hard saying for us. The crowds, like us, naturally want
cures, quick fixes, putting everything right, -and as soon as possible.
That certainly is good. But, in the way Jesus understood his work, healing
was more than a "cure"; to "heal the broken-hearted" is to restore
"wholeness". This is more than simply a physical cure of the body; it
involves a restoration to wholeness of the person.
That is, to a wholeness which enables the person to BE who they are in
God's eyes; -to a wholeness which enables a person to deal with the reality
they face; -sometimes to a wholeness enabling one to deal with a lack of
"cure"; -and to a wholeness which enables the person to undertake their
particular servant ministry. It is from lives which are restored to
wholeness, that wholeness can come, to our broken world.

And that does not mean immediate results, or winning popularity contests.
It involves much waiting, trusting in God; hoping, and expecting.
As Isaiah says, (40.31):
those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall soar as on eagle's wings,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.
Or, as we say:
... do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine ...