Bible Study Series: Mark 1:29-34. How do you minister to the sick? Is your ministry biblical?
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If you would like to see the original Greek, please click here:
At that link, I also offer more commentary and a Summary and Conclusion, geared towards discipleship. Scroll down to the bottom and check it out!
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Mark 1:29-34
29 Afterwards, leaving the synagogue, they went into Simon and Andrew’s house, with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was laid up with a fever, and then they spoke to him about her. 31 He came up to her and raised her up, taking hold of her hand. The fever left her, and she was serving them.
32 As evening came, when the sun was set, they were bringing to him everyone having illnesses and who were demonized. 33 Now the whole town was gathered at the door. 34 He healed many having illnesses and various diseases and expelled many demons and did not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. (Mark 1:29-34)
Commentary
29:
Evidently, Jesus, along with Peter, Andrew, James and John left the synagogue and walked over to Peter’s and Andrew’s house. That must have been a silent walk, after they saw a demon manifest and expelled. They too must have been astonished, since they were new to all of it.
Here’s an interesting post for you:
Were Jesus, James and John First Cousins? Was Clopas Jesus’ Uncle?
30-31:
“taking hold of”: it could probably be translated as “gripping,” for the verb is very strong. I get the impression that he raised her up with his hand. And one can only lift a person with a strong grip.
Jesus again touched the sick person. Luke says he rebuked the fever (4:38). Merely touching or rebuking or doing both resulted in healing. The healing was instant. Sometimes you just have to touch the sick person in a discreet way. One thing no one should do is push the forehead back, so the person feels pressure to fall. I have seen this foolishness over and over again. That appears manipulative and fake. It is wrong. Let the power of God fall, sovereignly (1 Kings 8:10-11).
“left”: it is the verb meaning to “release” or “let go.” As he took hold of or gripped her hand, the fever loosed its grip on her, so to speak.
32-33:
The sun going down indicates that people brought the sick to be healed after the Sabbath day, though usually one waits until after the sun set and then added one hour, just to be sure. They would not even carry their sick relatives to be healed on the Sabbath, but they pushed the minute by minute timeline a bit sooner! The people were badly taught. They should have brought the sick on the Sabbath day.
“having illnesses”: this phrase can literally read “having badly,” but of course this makes no sense to modern readers. So everyone agrees to translate as I did or something similar like “having sicknesses.”
The picture is that the relatives of those who were weakened with various diseases brought them to him. It is moving to think of them lifting and carrying and shouldering those weakened by diseases. Maybe one of them was so disabled that they had to carry him on a stretcher. Maybe one of them had a high fever, like Simon’s mother-in-law, and he could barely make it. Maybe one of them was injured on the job, like a stonemason who had a stone land on his foot, and now he could no longer work for a long time.
“demonized”: the one verb is translated simply. The answer was the same: deliverance by the power and authority of Jesus.
You can study the NT vocabulary for demonic attack here:
How Does New Testament Define Demonic Control?
The whole town of Capernaum means that thousands were there. He could draw a crowd, which sometimes hindered his ministry in small areas like a town (Luke 4:42). Don’t let crowds restrict your ministry–or inflate your ego.
34:
“healed”: the verb means to “make whole, restore, heal, cure, care for.”
“many”: “The term ‘many,’ in the statement that Jesus healed ‘many that were sick,’ is used inclusively and is equivalent to the ‘all’ of v. 32; it reflects upon the large number of those who came for healing” (Lane). Garland agrees: “The ‘many’ is a Semitism for the ‘all’ (see 10:45: cf. Matt. 8:16; Luke 4:40)” (p. 73, note 13). Note that Jesus expelled “many” demons. That is also inclusive, meaning “all.” It is not likely that some demons were not expelled, just “many” were. No. He expelled them all.
“various”: it means “various kinds, diversified, manifold.” So Jesus healed all different kinds of diseases. This statement reveals that no physical weakness or illness stands in his way. No disease is too hard for him.
“diseases”: the noun means (1) “physical malady, disease, illness”; (2) “moral malady, disease.” In the Greek written long before the NT (and during NT times), it means (1) “sickness, disease, malady” (2) “distress, misery, suffering, sorrow, evil, disease of mind” (Liddell and Scott). Don’t be afraid to pray against diseases of the mind or moral diseases. Pray, and watch God work in your mind or your child’s mind! Here, however, it just means physical diseases.
The demons knew who he was (v. 24). He was the Son of God and Messiah, the Anointed One with an eternal relationship of Sonship with the Father. Messiah and the Son of God are synonymous titles here.
See Mark 1:1 for a quick study of “Son of God” and then click on these posts:
3. Titles of Jesus: The Son of David and the Messiah
6. Titles of Jesus: The Son of God
Why did Jesus command the demons to shut up and not reveal who he was? He did not want their dark endorsement; revealing who he was too soon would raise the wrong expectations of what the Messiah should do and who he should be, as the people defined the terms. And he was not going to be the Conquering Military Messiah, but the Messiah who became the Passover Lamb who sacrificed for us and initiated the New Covenant.
Lane writes of Jesus commanding demons not to speak:
The reference to the demons who knew Jesus is general, but intelligible in the light of the encounter with demonic possession reported in Ch. 1:23-26. In that instance Jesus was recognized as the divine Son, the Bearer of the Holy Spirit. As earlier he had muzzled the defensive cry of the unclean spirit, here he silences their shrieks of recognition, for they are powerless before him.
Luke 4:41, the parallel verse, says that they demons knew that he was the Messiah.
To conclude ……
Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, by rebuking the fever (Luke 4:39). Diseases can also be rebuked. He also held (or gripped) her hand and lifted her up. Don’t be afraid to touch someone and lift her up. I saw a pastor lift a woman from a wheelchair. I don’t think she was healed just then (she may have been healed later), but I like how he followed Scripture. Action often accompanies prayer for healing.
Then Jesus heals many and expels demons out of many. “Many” in this context means “all,” for it is not likely that some demons remained behind in a few of the people! We should not always read “many” literally in the Gospel. It can mean “all” in many (!) contexts.
GrowApp for Mark 1:29-34
1. Family relationships: Peter’s mother-in-law was in need, and someone told him about her. Do you know anyone with a moral or bodily sickness and told Jesus about him or her? In other words, have you prayed for him or her?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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