After Yeshua’s triumph on Friday night at the synagogue, he follows Peter home to his mother in law’s home and cures her of a fever. The following night, after the Sabbath, the fallout that results from being a miracle worker in an age without modern medicine begins to take its toll. But what’s the problem? Certainly, He wants to draw crowds and be famous, right? Isn’t that the best way to get people to hear His message? Not so much.
Transcript below. The editing is not impressive, just sayin’
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Part 7—A Fever and the Double-edged Sword of Miracles
So last week, we ended with Yeshua casting out a demon in, of all places, a synagogue. And this week we are going to start exploring the beginnings of the fallout from the episode which, up to now, has not been even slightly negative. The men of the synagogue that night, because it was at the beginning of the Sabbath and there were no women in attendance because it was their job to have the Sabbath meal waiting when the men returned, were astonished and amazed. So, what could go wrong? Certainly, everyone will want to hear what He has to say now, right? Let’s find out!
Hi, I am Tyler Dawn Rosenquist and welcome to Character in Context, where I teach the historical and ancient sociological context of Scripture with an eye to developing the character of the Messiah. If you prefer written material, I have five years’ worth of blog at theancientbridge.com as well as my six books available on amazon—including a four-volume curriculum series dedicated to teaching Scriptural context in a way that even kids can understand it, called Context for Kids—and I have two video channels on YouTube with free Bible teachings for both adults and kids. You can find the link for those on my website. Past broadcasts of this program can be found at characterincontext.podbean.com and transcripts can be had for most broadcasts at theancientbridge.com
All Scripture this week comes courtesy of the ESV, the English Standard Version but you can follow along with whatever Bible you want. I’m not prejudiced. Except against people who thought that Star Wars Episodes 1-3 were good movies. You people have problems.
Now, before we get into this any deeper, I want to remind you of something important. The disciples do not know, in this account, what we know. The only reason we know what we know is because we have a narrator. We live in a post-Cross reality. This stuff is a “no duh” to us but not to anyone at the time. I have often said that if prophecy in Scripture could be figured out ahead of time, then Yeshua/Jesus of Nazareth being the Messiah would be obvious. But no, you see, we look back and see our Savior in the Hebrew Scriptures because we recognize Him there—not because it was evident beforehand and not because if you are just smart enough and well-read and knowledgeable enough that it was possible to figure it out. Prophecy doesn’t work that way. I believe it was Ben Witherington who said that the early disciples recognized Yeshua in the Hebrew Scriptures, they didn’t twist them and change their meanings but they looked and realized that it was describing their own personal experienced with their teacher. That’s so important. But before His resurrection? No, it was impossible. I believe it was Oswalt who pointed out that prophecy in Scripture exists not so that we can figure out beforehand what will happen (which never works) but so once it does happen, we can point and say, “Oh my gosh, my God did it again! He is the only god who can tell the future because He is the only god who isn’t just as subject to the whims of fate as humans are. Remember from the series on Isaiah—all the other gods in the universe were subject to fate and so they could not prophesy the future. They were powerless to change the future in any real way and definitely couldn’t predict it. Yahweh, on the other hand, created time and space and is not subject to history. That is why He stands alone as unique.
Now, background for this section of Mark chapter one if you didn’t catch last week’s lesson. Yeshua has just preached, and then delivered a man from a demon in the synagogue shortly after taking the four fishermen as disciples. This was not met with any resistance from the locals, at all. As we will see this week, quite the opposite. In Capernaum, at least for now, we will hear nothing from the Pharisees and their Scribes. No backlash. No challenges. So, what does happen?
28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
Hey, this is great news, right? This is exactly what He wants, right? To be famous! Fame means that people will listen to Him and follow Him, right? The news couldn’t possibly be any better, right? Let’s see.
29 And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.
“And immediately”—immediately after what? After the incident driving the demon out of that man in the synagogue. After this, the five of them—Yeshua, Peter, Andrew, James and John left and went to the house where Simon and Andrew were living. Now, Egeria, a woman who was a pilgrim to the Holy Land in the late fourth century, wrote up her account and in it claimed that this home of Peter and Andrew had been turned into a church and that it was located about 100 ft south of the synagogue I had told you about last week, the black basalt synagogue. Now, as I also said last week, this black basalt synagogue was not in place during the life of Yeshua, but later on in the first century. But the home that is attributed to belonging to Peter had become a meeting place for area believers who had already started meeting on Sundays at the time when the Didache was written around 100AD, in addition to meeting on the Sabbath. I mean, after all, they also wanted a day when they could talk not only about the Hebrew Scriptures but also freely celebrate and discuss the Messiah. It is unlikely that they would be meeting in the synagogue for gatherings that were predominantly about their faith in Yeshua and discussing issues related to that. In Capernaum, it makes sense that Peter’s old home would be the place to go due to the honor given him as chief among the disciples.
Now, what do we make of the claim in John 1:44 that Peter was from Bethsaida?
Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.
The location of this Bethsaida is very much disputed. There are two archaeological digs claiming to be unearthing the “city”—one, Et-Tell–is about twenty years old but is quite far from the shore of the Sea of Galilee, a mile and a half away, so it is hard to believe that exhausted fishermen were making such a long trek to and from work every day, and a new one at, el-Araj, where the Jordan meets the Sea of Galilee in the north. I am attaching a short article here if you would like to look into this controversy more https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/news/where-is-biblical-bethsaida/
30 Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.
Aha! Maybe we have a solution. Maybe this is actually the home of Peter’s mother in law and perhaps Peter and Andrew stay with her when they are fishing in this area, even though their actual home is in Bethsaida, another fishing village to the east of Capernaum. Now, where is her husband? She might very well be a widow. In general, a man didn’t really have anything to do with his in-laws. A woman joined a new family, became embedded within her husband’s family. So if Peter is living there, she may well be a widow who owns the property but has no sons or brothers to care for her. In this case, although not legally bound to do so, Peter might be supporting her. Notice that it says nothing about Peter’s wife being there. If he lives in Bethsaida, she might be there at their home while he fishes locally in Capernaum over the winter months. Honestly, all we have are guesses based on what we know about the culture and geography. But it does speak to Peter’s credit that he has dealings with his wife’s family. This was not the norm as it is today.
I want to look at the fever, really quick here. In ancient times, fevers weren’t yet understood as symptoms or as a positive immune response but as a separate disease. So when it says she “lay ill with a fever” they really thought that the fever was in and of itself the problem. They weren’t asking about viruses or infections. She had a fever. The fever was the problem in their eyes, or at least one of the problems.
31 And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
Take note that last week we read about the first demonic battle recorded in this Gospel where Yeshua rebuked the demon in the synagogue and it departed out of the man. Following right on the heels of that story is the first healing miracle recorded in this Gospel. Again, no one is rebuking Him or challenging Him for healing on the Sabbath. There is currently zero opposition. Everything’s coming up roses at this point still. Let’s look closer at this healing. Ben Witherington, in his Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, mentions that there are NO such accounts of men taking the hand of female non-family members in Rabbinic sources. This is definitely breaking social protocols when He touches her. But, as I mentioned, no one protests.
The word translated here as “lifted her up” and in other translations “raised her up” is egeiro, and it is resurrection language. Yeshua touched someone that social norms frowned upon Him touching—not because there was anything inherently wrong with her but instead (1) because she was a woman unrelated to Him and (2) she was sick. This is going to be another major theme—touching people and associating with people who are in some way socially off-limits.
The “fever” left her. Now, they would not have looked any deeper, but we know that this wasn’t a case of being demonized. There was no rebuke. All He did was touch her and the fever (as well as whatever underlying cause) was gone. Indeed, we know in modern times that a fever is the body’s positive reaction to infection or virus—the body’s attempt to kill the problem with the body. They didn’t know that so it didn’t get written up that way—wouldn’t have made sense to them. Remember that the Bible is focused on truth and how God relates to us and how we relate to Him and is not ever meant to be a science text. If it was, it still wouldn’t make any sense to us because even modern scientists are playing with tinker toys compared to God’s understanding of the universe and how it functions.
Okay, the fever left her, she’s on her feet now, and she begins to serve them. This is obviously the Sabbath dinner on Friday night. We talked last week about this—the men go to the synagogue as the sun goes down and the women finished preparations so that everything would be ready when the men returned. I don’t entirely understand how this wasn’t considered work, but there are always loopholes. She went and served them. Possibly there was no food prepared beforehand because of her fever and she put something together really quick or else she had prepared food while ill. We don’t know. The important thing here is yet one more theme—restoration—time and again we will see people healed or delivered and then restored to service. They will do something to prove that they are once again fully functioning and able to be reintegrated into society. The Sabbath is about wholeness and restoration of order, an end to slavery and oppression. As the Lord of the Sabbath, and this is very important, Yeshua has come to bring rest and wholeness. And at this point, no one is taking issue with it yet.
32 That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.
That evening at sundown. Alright, they—the townspeople—waited until after the Sabbath to bring the sick and oppressed to Yeshua. Likely it was out of respect for the Sabbath itself and an unwillingness to carry people when it is not a life or death situation. So, this is Saturday night. They are arriving at the house Peter is sharing with his mother in law and his brother Andrew. They are bringing the very people that Yeshua has now proven He can deal with—the sick and the demon oppressed.
I ought to take a minute here and explain the difference between being oppressed and possessed. Oppression is just as it sounds—an aspect of a person’s life is under torment and influence by one or more demons. Possession is entirely different—with possession the person retains absolutely no control over an aspect of their life or all of their life. The Gerasene demoniac, for example, was absolutely possessed. Obviously, the man in the synagogue was merely oppressed. Likely his friends were very shocked to hear one speaking out of his mouth. But anyway, everyone in town would know in rather short order about the deliverance from the demon Friday night at the synagogue—but what about the healing of Peter’s mother in law?
Peter’s mom undoubtedly went to the synagogue the next morning. Illness was big gossip; people would have known about her infirmity and when she showed up rejoicing the next morning in the synagogue it would be big news. Even people who didn’t go, the outcasts and such, would know about the healing miracle. If you listened to one of my first teachings on infant mortality in the ancient world, you know how serious a problem sickness was in Yeshua’s time. You know access to medicine and doctoring was reserved for the wealthy and that superstition ruled the day. There weren’t a lot of options for someone who was sick—and a lot of people were sick.
33 And the whole city was gathered together at the door.
The tense on the verb here for gathered actually means that people were continuing to gather, not that they were already there. This was an event that occurred over a length of time. They were undoubtedly piling up in the courtyard between homes.
34 And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
We have four important things to notice here. First, I want you to notice the warrior motif. Yeshua is not just being portrayed as a miracle worker, but as a mighty warrior fighting in the realm of the demonic and winning because of his inherently superior power and authority. He is conquering oppression and disease. Mark is writing this report in such a way as to increase His renown as having unique divine authority to do battle against the forces of evil—and win every battle. Second, I want you to notice the references to “many” and if you were with me when I taught about the Book of Isaiah, you will hopefully remember the Hebrew word “rabbim” and the repeated references to the many in Isaiah 53. Third, Mark differentiates between being diseased and having problems with demons. Not all ancient texts believed there was any difference—in the ancient world in some cultures in some eras, everything bad was supposed to be the work of malevolent spirits. Fourth, despite the demons knowing who He is, He is not allowing them to proclaim it.
So, what’s the problem? This is great advertising, right? No. They are not coming to hear the message of the Kingdom but to find relief from their troubles. You might ask, “Well, what’s so wrong about that?” The problem is focus. The message of the Kingdom and the power of that message to truly set people free in this life is far more important than relief from suffering. But all they can see is the potential to have their temporal, temporary suffering ended. They aren’t showing up to hear the message of the Kingdom. This is a real problem that is another theme of the Gospel of Mark. I call it the double-edged sword of miracles. Miracles are awesome—but they can’t be the focus. They are evidence that the message is true—but they aren’t the message. In fact, they often get in the way of the message and the goal of ministry.
35 And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
Very early in the morning, so evidently, He was able to get some sleep but probably not much. This is Sunday morning; the Sabbath was the day before and of course He spent the beginning of the first day of the week (starting Saturday after sundown) healing people and casting out demons. It’s dark. That means He is creeping out with everyone else unaware that He had left—both in the house and in town. He went to eremos—a desolate place—but we can’t be too literal here. It would have taken him a long time to get to a truly desolate place if He started in Capernaum. It was surrounded by cultivated land. Likely, He found a secluded area to pray in and Mark used the word eremos to point us back to the wilderness journey where Israel failed in their temptations and to the wilderness where Yeshua succeeded when tempted by the devil. The wilderness is a place of victory for Yeshua, where He goes to regroup, pray and be strengthened. Victory is not to be had in the cities amidst the adoring crowds but in seclusion with God. Those victories just show up when people are around. You see we keep getting references to the Exodus and this is not an accident. Mark knew what he was doing when he wrote all this. And it is going to keep adding up and building.
So, I mean, what do we learn about Him getting away to pray? According to Witherington, (1) prayer is for everyone and no one is exempt from needing to communicate with God, (2) even Yeshua needed a respite from the constant demands of ministry, and (3) He needed to steer clear of would-be followers who were just in it for the wrong reasons. Yes, I know, the disciples He did choose were often just in it for the wrong reasons but at least all but one of them there was hope for.
Also, and William Lane pointed this out in his NICOT Commentary on Mark that Mark only portrays Yeshua praying three times—here, at the feeding of the five thousand, and in Gethsemane. Were those the only three times Yeshua ever prayed? Obviously not, but there is a pattern here at the beginning, the middle, and at the end of His public ministry. It is representative not of unique moments, but of Yeshua’s commitment to prayer for the whole of His ministry.
36 And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, 37 and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.”
This is really interesting. Remember last week we had a subtle reference to David soothing Saul’s demonic torment? Well, here we have a word translated as “searched” katadioko, and it is the same word we see in the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, the Septuagint that predates our modern Hebrew Masoretic text—well, it is the same word used to describe Saul’s hunting down of David. It isn’t a nice word. It’s an aggressive word, and can be a hostile one. Anyway, Peter is just one of the ones “hunting” Yeshua down here and not for the right reasons. This is the first sign we have of Peter emerging as a leader. As he was married, he was probably the oldest of the bunch. But there were others searching for Him. It says that multiple people searched and multiple people found Him. What is said to Yeshua when He gets found, “Everyone is looking for you.” It’s accusatory. “Where did you go? Why did you take off like that? Don’t you know that you will never gain a following if you vanish like that?”
But like I have mentioned previously—they want the wrong thing. They want relief from earthly burdens while Yeshua’s mind is on heavenly things. He heals because of His compassion and because He has to do battle with the spiritual forces of darkness but that isn’t why He came. But that’s what they want Him for. What does He have to say about what “everyone” wants?
38 And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”
His response to the accusatory statement, “Everyone is looking for you” is actually an answer. “Let’s get up and go to other towns.” The implication is clear in his following statement, “I can preach there,” meaning he will have no more luck preaching in Capernaum. They are mobbing Him in such a way that He cannot preach. As His mission is to preach and not to heal and deliver (those are merely side effects of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of Heaven into our reality). His mission isn’t to become a famous healer or exorcist. His mission is to preach, period. The rest is extra. The message is the most important thing right now. And as an answer to Peter’s unspoken, “What the heck are you doing out here??!!” He replies, “that’s why I came out.” He left the city in secret so that they could move on. Had He waited until daylight, He would have been mobbed again and prevented from doing so. The Gospel of the Kingdom must advance.
39 And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.
This section leaves off with Yeshua and His disciples moving on and, in order of importance (1) preaching in their synagogues and (2) casting out demons. The order of importance will be repeated over and over again. First, preach and teach and only then work miracles.
Now, I want to talk about two things before we close out this week—first, I want you to notice the Mosaic/Exodus pattern in what Yeshua is doing. As He is preaching in the synagogues, here is how it is coming off to the forces of the evil one. “The Kingdom of God has arrived, and I am proof. Let my people go.” And the demons pitch a fit, very much like Pharaoh and his magicians. They like things how they are as underlings to the gods of this world. But just as Moses called down plagues that judged Egypt and its gods (Exodus 12:12 tells us that the plagues and especially the death of the firstborn were the execution of judgment on Egypt and her gods)—in that same way, Yeshua casting demons out of Israelites is just another execution of judgment against the gods of this world. They have to make way and obey. They are not only going to be judged but dealt with permanently. Egypt is still around, folks, it has never ceased to be a nation. The people have remained the same despite the rulership changing drastically in Greco-Roman times. It has been devastated multiple times but never destroyed and in the last days, remember it says in Isaiah 19–
19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and deliver them. 21 And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them. 22 And the Lord will strike Egypt, striking and healing, and they will return to the Lord, and he will listen to their pleas for mercy and heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
But what does Revelation say about Satan and his armies? In chapter 20–
7 And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
On people, there is always mercy, as we are at the mercy of the god of this world, but for the god of this world and his minions, there will be no mercy. There already is no mercy. At the Cross, they were defeated and stripped of authority. They now have no authority other than what we ourselves give them through our sin, hatred, and cruelty. They can’t do anything without our permission.
So let’s talk really quick about giving demons permission to operate in our lives and the lives of others because Yeshua thought it was important to confront and expel them whenever He found them without seeking the permission of the afflicted. He just did it. His authority, unlike ours, is unlimited and His power, unlike ours, without measure.
There are really two main ways that we cooperate with the demonic and the first is through our own sins. That’s obvious. Let’s talk about porn, but as it is an addiction based on self-gratification I could just as easily talk about alcohol, cigarettes, any other drug, or even about food (which is the only thing on this list that we actually need). Everyone familiar with my testimony knows that I was a porn addict from the age of eight, when I saw a very explicit calendar at my father’s workplace, until the age of thirty-three when God delivered me at my baptism. It was the fourth of July, totally my independence day. I had been a believer for four years at this point, but I still struggled against the images in my mind that tormented me all night every night and oftentimes during the day. I hadn’t even peeked at anything, not even once, in those four years but I wasn’t free. I burned everything porn related immediately after becoming a believer. If you knew the severity of my addiction and the oppression I was under, you would be stunned. This wasn’t easier just because I was a woman, it was worse because I not only looked to porn for sexual gratification but also for emotional gratification—which is something that men generally don’t do. Giving it up was like a death for me. But I knew immediately how disgusting it was to God and how, If I was looking at it then so was He. I couldn’t do that to Him. I gave it up cold turkey—I don’t even watch movies with heavy kissing, much less sexual situations. But I was under demonic torment for those four years—I know I was. I just refused to cooperate with my physical senses. My imagination was harder to deal with and that took another decade, I am thinking.
Here’s the deal, demons only have the power that we have given them. I fed mine for twenty-one years and it was a constant fight to weaken it and rob it of its authority in my life—authority I had willingly and eagerly handed over. Now, because I have been open about this I have often gotten both men and women contacting me about their own issues and I generally see the same things—they don’t want the guilt but they feel entitled to the rush of pleasure. They don’t feel that it is fair that they should have to give it up. In other words, they really only want the guilt part of it gone. And they go through deliverance and get free of that demon and it is just exhilarating to be free from the torment of those thoughts but what happens next is that they feel lonely or depressed or, our great enemy, boredom. So they decide to dabble and BAM, everything comes back and they are enslaved again—just like a recovering alcoholic who gets goaded into one more drink with his buddies. Only this time it’s even worse—if not right away then it will be. And they knew not to get involved but they felt as though they were strong enough now to just sin occasionally. See how we justify it? Likely they found that sex without porn just didn’t offer the same rush—and it doesn’t because porn addicts damage their neural pathways and they tap into feelings that can’t be experienced without sin. As long as they feel as though they deserve those feelings, they can get delivered a million times and they will always go back to the trough. It was difficult for me to give up what porn did to my brain. I thought I couldn’t live without those feelings. I was wrong. I stopped cooperating entirely and now, unless I choose to go back, that demon has no authority.
The second way we cooperate with the demonic is through our prayers. Oh yes, a lot of believers are consorting in witchcraft through their prayers. When we pray against people, and not for them, it isn’t God answering those prayers because it isn’t Him to whom we are really addressing them. I was once harboring a battered wife away from her husband, about ten years ago, and he was the kind of guy who would pray against people. It was very difficult for a while there because when people are doing this, you can get sick and I was having a hard time just holding his cursing at bay. I do apologize to those of you who don’t believe in this stuff, you can just stop listening and tune back in next week if you want. So, after a while of this, I just got sick and tired of it and asked God to send his curses back onto himself. Immediately I felt the weight lift from off of me and he ended up in the hospital that very afternoon. Evidently, everything he had been sending at me over the course of weeks hit him all at once. Don’t worry, he lived. But I tell you this because, when you look at the religious beliefs in Greco-Roman Judaism and Christianity, they were doing this stuff. Look up something called “curse tablets” and I actually have a blog about it too written years ago.
Just pray for people. Ask God to discipline them and you. I have this rule that I will never pray something about someone else that I won’t also pray about myself. “Judge them Lord and judge me too, judge between us and I accept the consequences.”
Okay, so next week we will be talking about Yeshua’s healing of the leper, which means we are going to cover some of Torah Portion Metzora and the Temple and the priesthood. Should be fun and I will see you then.
