And when Jesus had come to Peter's house, he saw his mother-in-law laid down and in a fever;
Jesus has just healed a leper and answered a Roman officer's faith from a distance. Now He steps into an ordinary family home, where Peter's mother-in-law lies ill with a fever. Matthew records no request and no spoken word — only that Jesus saw her, and that what He did next was enough.
The healing just before this one went to a Gentile — an outsider to Israel. This visit to a Jewish home shows the Lord had not turned from His own people.
The Gentile centurion appealed in faith to that gracious power, which had only to speak the word and healing followed. Even so, the Lord in no way turned from Israel. His heart went out to His favoured but guilty people. And Peter's wife's mother lying down in fever lets us see it clearly. Here He does enter the house, and touch her hand. Luke tells us that she was seized with a great fever, since fevers differ a lot. Luke adds that they asked Him for her, and Mark says they told Him about her at once.
Three cures stand together in this chapter. Jesus works each one in a different way.
The third case is that of Peter's mother-in-law. Here His touch instantly cured her; there is no record of His having spoken a word. It might be His touch and His word, as with the leper. It might be His word only, as with the centurion's servant. Or it might be His touch only. The result was the same each time — instant deliverance. There was no slow recovery after the fever; she got up at once and served others. Sin brings on a fevered state of mind and soul, but His touch drives it away.
Power alone could have removed the fever from a distance. Something else brought Him into the house.
The sick mother-in-law of Peter rises up at His word and serves them, and the evil spirits leave those they controlled at once, and He heals all the sick. But it was not merely power. His heart was in it and felt it all. "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases." His miracles were miracles of goodness.
Recovery from a serious fever normally leaves a person drained for days.
His power did not only send the disease away with a word. Against all nature, it also gave her strength. A "great" fever leaves a person very weak even after it has gone, and a long time must pass before normal strength returns. But here the healing came from divine power, so Peter's wife's mother not only got up — she served them at once.
Set beside the leper and the centurion's servant, the fever is a third picture of human trouble.
We have had man in his polluted condition, and we have had man in his helpless condition, and now we have man in his ungovernable passions — the fever. The Old Testament looks at idolatry as adultery, and it speaks of those who go after idols as inflaming themselves. So here we have One who can deal with what is ungovernable. We also see that while the fire of sinful passions is burning you are unfit for service. The fever had to be subdued before she served.
Matthew groups these miracles by design. Commentators read them as a picture of God's dealings across time.
When Jesus healed the leper by His touch, it pictured the time when our Lord was here on earth in person… When He healed the centurion's servant by a word spoken at a distance, that shows what is happening now. He is no longer here among us in person. But His Word is with us, and crowds of Gentiles are finding blessing through faith in its wonderful message. The raising up of Peter's wife's mother pictures in advance what He will do when His present gracious work among the nations ends. He will turn once more in His goodness to Israel — the people Peter's mother-in-law stood for.
A mother-in-law means Peter had a wife. Paul later pointed back to that fact.
In 1 Corinthians 9:5 Paul the apostle insists that he had the same right to a wife as to eat and drink. He points to the example of "the other apostles," and names Cephas (Peter) outright. In his first letter to Timothy (1 Tim. 3), which deals mostly with church order, he lays it down with authority that both overseers and deacons should be married men.
- Seen — Matthew records no request. He saw the need, and that was cause enough.
- Touched — the leper got touch and word, the centurion's servant a word only, this woman a touch only. Deliverance was instant every time.
- Felt — it was not raw power. His heart was in it, and His miracles were miracles of goodness.
- Raised — a great fever leaves a person weak. Here He gave her strength, so she got up at once.
- Serving — the fever had to go quiet before she could serve. The moment it did, she served.
and he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and served him.
Matthew has just recorded two public miracles in the open. Now the scene moves indoors, where a common fever in a disciple's home meets the same healing hand — and the woman He raises gets straight to work.
He meets each of the three cases in this chapter in a different way, yet the outcome never changes. One writer sets them side by side:
The third case is Peter's mother-in-law. Here His touch cured her at once; there is no record that He spoke a word at all. It might be His touch and His word, as with the leper. It might be His word only, as with the centurion's servant. Or it might be His touch only. The result was the same in every case — instant deliverance. There was no slow recovery from the fever; she got up at once and served others. Sin induces a fevered state of mind and soul, but His touch dispels it.
In Matthew's account no one asks Him for help. One writer weighs that against the two cases before it: "You get a measure of faith in the leper and great faith in the centurion; here there is no appeal, but there is need. The Lord always responds to faith and need" (The Bible Treasury).
Recovery from such an illness normally takes time. One writer points out what did not happen here:
There was power here to send the disease away with a word. But there was more: against everything natural, He also gave her strength. A "great" fever leaves a person very weak even after it has gone, and a long time usually passes before normal energy returns. Here, though, the healing came from divine power, so Peter's mother-in-law did not simply get up — she served them at once.
Readers have also found a moral picture in the illness itself:
We have seen man unclean, and man helpless, and now we see man with his passions out of control — the fever… So here we have One who can deal with what cannot be controlled. We also see that while the fire of sinful passions is burning, you are unfit for service. The fever had to be put down before she served. In one Gospel, she got up and served Him. We are set free to serve both the Lord and those who are precious to Him.
Another writer sees the fever as inner unrest, not open sin — a "restless excitement that so often leaves a person unfit for both fellowship with God and for service" (James McBroom).
Just before this, He healed a Roman officer's servant — an outsider to Israel. One writer sees the next scene as proof that He had not turned away from Israel, and notes how the Gospels word her service:
The Gentile centurion appealed in faith to that gracious power, which had only to speak the word and healing followed. Even so, the Lord in no way turned away from Israel. His heart still longed over that chosen but guilty people. Peter's mother-in-law, laid low with fever, lets us see it plainly. Here He does go into the house and touch her hand… And it was not only that the fever left her at once; she was serving them (Mark and Luke) as well as Him (Matthew).
Some take the picture further and see the healed woman as a figure of Israel itself: "Israel has long been in a state of feverish unrest, left unfit for service… and Israel will be delighted to take the place of genuine service when the Messiah touches her fevered hand" (Leslie M. Grant).
The family did not organise an appeal; they simply mentioned the trouble. Writers point to the ease of that as the model:
There was urgency but not panic, because the people in that home already knew the Lord and trusted Him with it. Their speaking to Him is a picture of prayer. How natural it should be to turn to Him for the help and guidance we need in our families, and in every part of our lives.
The account ends with what she did with her new strength:
The healed woman used her new strength to serve the One who gave it, and those with Him. This is an example for all time. What do we have that we did not receive? So let everything be given back to Him who is the Giver.
- Touched. Matthew records no word here — only His hand on hers, and the fever went at once.
- Raised. Divine power healed her, so the cure carried its own strength with it and she needed no slow recovery.
- Freed. The fever pictures a restless state no one can control, which leaves a person unfit to serve. It had to go before she could serve.
- Reached. Grace had just gone out to a Gentile officer, yet He still entered a Jewish home — His heart had not turned from Israel.
- Serving. She spent her new strength on the One who gave it. We received everything we have, so we give it back to the Giver.