Sunday Readings: Job 7.1-4, 6-7; 1 Corinthians 9.16-19, 22-23; Mark 1.29-39
Immediately after leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick in bed with a fever. Jesus went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her immediately, and she began to serve them (Mark 1.29-31).
As Jesus begins his ministry, he calls Peter and Andrew, James and John to follow him. The five go to the local synagogue and then to the house where Peter’s mother-in-law lives. The verbs in this miracle story tell us becomes Jesus’ first woman disciple.
The New American Bible, which Catholics hear at worship, translates her story: “Jesus approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her, and she waited on them” (Mark 1.31). The word translated grasped or helped is the Greek word egeiro, which means to raise up, to lift. This is the same verb that Mark uses to describe Jesus’ resurrection.
Before his arrest, Jesus promises, “After I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee” (14.28). The young man in the empty tomb tells the three women who come to anoint Jesus’ body, “He has been raised; he is not here” (16.6). Jesus commands the paralyzed man whose sins he forgives before healing his paralysis, “Arise, take up your cot and walk” (Mark 2.11). Jesus commands Jairus’s daughter, whose family perceives her to be dead, “Arise” (Mark 5.41).
After Jesus lifts up Peter’s mother-in-law, her response indicates she experiences a call in his healing action. The New American Bible translation says she “begins to wait them.” The Greek word for her action is diakonie, which means to serve. The word can mean providing for physical needs and serving the table. The word gives an office in the Church its name–deacon. The tense of the verb is imperfect, meaning the serving action has begun and continues. Peter’s mother-in-law responds to Jesus’ act of raising her up by serving him.
Later in the gospel after Jesus takes his last breath on the cross, Mark tells us that many women witness Jesus’ crucifixion, standing at a distance. All of Jesus’ men disciples have fled (14.50) or in Peter’s case, denied him (14.66-72). Mark names three of the women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome, among many other women who have followed and served Jesus and come with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Peter’s mother-in-law qualifies as one of the many women who follow and serve Jesus to his death and burial and on the morning after Sabbath find his tomb empty.
- What meanings does raise up or lift up have for you?
- What do you see at stake in recognizing women among Jesus’ disciples?
- Who models a discipleship of service that inspires you?