Luke 4:38-39 (NIV)
38Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. 39So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them.
Reflection
What do we do if we are asked to help someone with a high fever? It seems like an ordinary thing, since we have all suffered through fevers. We think of cool baths, damp towels, and medicine. Then if those things don’t work, we have another armory of treatments: drink hot chicken noodle soup, stay under the covers, sweat it out, call the doctor. What comes out in this passage is that Jesus didn’t have an armory of treatments, he didn’t have to go to powers greater than his own. His power was enough. Jesus simply rebuked the fever and it left. To the ancient world, it was rare and a marvel, but it wasn’t a fluke, a magic spell, or a show. It was real, it was supernatural, and it was Jesus healing the ordinary in ordinary life circumstances.
Responding to the Transmission
While we also need to continue to take care of ordinary life circumstances, let’s live ordinarily by surrendering in faith to the healing that can take place in our lives and in others because Jesus is here and God’s kingdom is with us. If we need healing physically or in our hearts and minds, let’s pray in faith that Jesus would heal us in those areas. It doesn’t have to be special or dramatic, but agreeing and believing that God can do it.
