5 Epiphany, Year B, Feb. 4
Isa. 40:21-31 • Ps. 147:1-12, 21c
1 Cor. 9:16-23 • Mark 1:29-39
Speed is a characteristic of St. Mark’s gospel, with scenes patched together with the adverb immediately. This staccato pace is occasionally interrupted by the narrative present — stopping time and letting us observe a present moment. “And immediately coming out of the synagogue they went into the house of Simon and Andrew” (Mark 1:29, my translation). “Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever” (Mark 1:30, NRSV).
Her condition is deliberately reported to Jesus in the present tense: “They speak to him concerning her” (Mark 1:30, my translation). Later in the story, again in the present tense, “They say to him, everyone is looking for you” (Mark 1:37, my translation). Responding in the present, “he says to them, ‘Let us go elsewhere into the neighboring villages so that I may preach there also, for this is [why] I came’” (Mark 1:39). The address of the disciples to Jesus is a real-time “intercession” for a hurting world, a prayer for the sick and those who are lost and searching. Recorded in the present tense, it invites our prayers in our time and place for all who are in pain or suffering in any way, for all who are lost and searching. We are bold to turn to Jesus and speak.
Jesus responds. He healed Simon’s mother-in-law in a manner anticipating the resurrection. “And having approached, he raised her by the hand, and the fever left her” (Mark 1:31, my translation). The whole city came to Jesus, and “he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons” (Mark 1:34, NRSV). Jesus takes his message and his power to heal from village to village.
Both in his words and in his healing, we see the extraordinary and incomprehensible power of God, who reigns over the entire universe. Jesus is begotten of this source: “It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; … Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing. … Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth” (Isa. 40:22, 26, 28). So says the prophet Isaiah. Likewise, the Psalmist say, “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is beyond measure” (Ps. 147:4-5). Power, of course, can be terrifying, so it is important to recall that God shows his power chiefly in showing mercy.
God in Christ is the great healer of bodies and souls. Isaiah tells us that “He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless” (Isa. 40:29). The psalmist tells us that God rebuilds and gathers, heals the brokenhearted, binds up wounds, and lifts up the lowly. Moreover, God’s mercy and healing extend to all beings. “He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass on the hills. He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry” (Ps. 147:8-9).
This is the day that the Lord hath made. This is the moment to speak to Jesus, to tell him of all the pain in the world, to reach for and trust in his mercy. The Most High God stoops to behold the heavens and the earth in tender compassion and lovingkindness.
Look It Up: Psalm 147
Think About It: Call upon God’s mercy and healing.