“Expectations”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Mark 1:29-45 (Forward, p. 74) CEV p. 1027

The most obvious thread running through the various pieces or pericopes in today’s passage is the theme of Jesus’ healing of people of their various and diverse ailments, a fever in the case of Simon Peter’s mother-in-law, and demon possession, leprosy, and certain other unspecified diseases among the wider population. But, perhaps unmentioned or unnoticed within this narrative is a certain ‘back story’, a narrative, you might say, about expectations.

First off, let’s look at the case of Peter’s mother-in-law. Our account tells us that as soon as the fever left her, she got up and began serving them a meal, to which some people of a more modern or liberated viewpoint will certainly have taken exception. They will most certainly object to what they see as a stereotyped and rather ‘obsolete’ depiction of women belonging in the kitchen and being engaged in serving others. However, a more nuanced and understanding view of the times tells us that these very things—for better or for worse—were part of her identity and sense of purpose, her sense of who she was and where she belonged. In other words, Jesus, by His act of healing, restored her to life!

Then there is the case of the crowds. We are told that they waited until sundown to come to Jesus for healing. In other words, they waited until the Sabbath was over. Certainly, they could have come earlier in the day and Jesus would have healed them, but out of reverence either for the Sabbath itself or for Jesus (not putting Him into an awkward situation of flouting the Sabbath regulations), they postponed their appeals until later.

And then there are the disciples themselves: they seemed to think that the present situation and its needs were paramount. They seem to imply in their words to Jesus: ‘There is still a need here, so we had better attend to it.’ But Jesus sees the bigger picture:

-firstly, in feeling (knowing) His need to spend time with God.

-and secondly, in knowing that He had a much larger mission that just this present community and a much larger task than simply healing a few people;

And finally, there is the leper who Jesus healed. Jesus told him to keep quiet about his recovery and just go to the priest to be certified as now being clean, but the man could simply keep it to himself. He just had to tell everyone of his good news, which is quite understandable. He, like Peter’s mother in law, had been restored to life. So, we never do hear of whether he went to the priest or not.

So, to return to the idea of expectations. We often think of healing as an end in itself, as merely a return to some state of relative health or wholeness or well-being, but Jesus sees it as a return to life and to our proper existence and identity as human beings. And that’s why the healing was only a part of His mission, a part of the larger package. His bigger message is the Gospel, the good news of a restoration and recovery of our relationship with God, which then spills out into a natural restoration of other parts of our being as well. In fact, it might be said that a healing only of the body, without any of the rest, is something of a dead-end street, one that ultimately gets us nowhere. So, let us press on to that wider, greater healing which we can get only from God. Amen.

Forward notes: “Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, ‘I do choose. Be made clean!’” (verse 41)

“My church has a lovely little chapel near the undercroft: the Chapel of the Guardian Angels. Christ is depicted kneeling in a stained-glass Garden of Gethsemane and praying, ‘Thy will be done.’ During Holy Week, I take particular solace in that scene. It reminds me that Jesus also prayed in the midst of suffering. God knows what human suffering is and chose to walk its path, all the way to death upon the cross.

“In today’s gospel, a man with leprosy comes to Jesus in supplication, praying for his healing. Leprosy would have marked this man as ritually unclean, which is why Jesus instructs him to show himself to the priest. In the twenty-first century, there are others whom society deems unclean, unsafe to touch or to associate with. Wherever you see yourself in this story, Jesus meets you there. Jesus chooses you. Jesus has known our suffering and does not turn away. Today, remember that there is no burden too heavy to lay down before our God.:

Moving Forward: “Are you suffering? Take the burden to God in prayer.