March 12: Compassion for All

Jesus Teaches with Great Authority

Mark 1:21-28

Luke 4:31-37

Jesus Heals Many

Mark 1:29-39

Matthew 8:14-17

Luke 4:38-44

Jesus Heals a Man with Leprosy

Mark 1:40-45

Matthew 8:1-4

Luke 5:12-16

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

Mark 2:1-12

Matthew 9:1-8

Luke 5:17-26

A quick joke today with apologies to all mothers-in-law:

One of Jesus’ first miracles was healing Simon Peter’s mother-in-law – a deed for which Peter never forgave him.

Our reading today includes the recording by all three of the synoptic writers (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law, who it seems lived in the same home as Peter and his brother, Andrew. Of all of Jesus’ recorded miracles, this one is the shortest, with each of the writers devoting only a couple of sentences to the miracle. But there is one important point that we can learn from this story:

Jesus had compassion for all, even - and it seems - especially for those considered second-class people by the Jews.

Already in Matthew’s account in chapter eight Jesus has healed a leper (who was unclean and would never have been touched, but Jesus did so) and a servant of a centurion (who would have been a Gentile and a Roman officer, both hated by Jews). Here, Jesus heals a woman. And though women definitely would not have been considered in the same extreme negative light as a leper, they did not have the same standing in the Jewish culture as men did. But Jesus didn’t care about that and even touches her to heal her, an action that probably would have been considered taboo in those days.

Take heart, my friends. If you are one who struggles with who you are, maybe because of your financial status, or your lack of education or supposed lack of skills, or just your lot in life, you need to come to grips with the fact that Jesus is not bound by your own opinions of you, or even how others perceive you. He came that we would have a FULLER LIFE, and that means all of us!