Lord, as we examine this, may Jesus, by the power of the Spirit, leap and come and walk before our hearts. May our hearts run to him with fresh love. Show us the glory of Christ. Hear our cry and help us never to be cold and lukewarm.
In Matthew 8:14-15, we read:
Jesus came into Peter’s house and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.
Last time, we learned a great lesson about faith by not going to the Centurion’s house; now, we learn a great lesson by going to Peter’s house.
Home Miracle and Three Lessons from the Miracle
First, let’s look at a few details about the miracle: the when, where, and who.
When: We are following Jesus verse by verse, tracing his footsteps, going where he goes, hearing what he says, and seeing what he does. We have seen the greatest sermon, a very long sermon from Matthew 5-7. We spent one year on it, but he probably preached it in one sitting. As he comes down, a leper appears, which is so shocking, and Jesus heals him. Then, a Centurion comes, and Jesus wants to go to his home, but the Centurion amazes Christ with his faith. Then, Jesus gives a small sermon about heaven and hell, which is very shocking to the Jews, as he says many will come from the east and west and sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This is the time—after the Sermon on the Mount, the leper, and the Centurion—on a Sabbath evening.
Where: All this time, we have seen Christ’s ministry in public, before a large crowd. Now, we come to a different scene, a private, in-home incident. Our Lord Jesus Christ had a heavy day. He had been preaching and working miracles. He had moved in the midst of a great throng, and now, as the Sabbath was drawing to a close, he needed rest and refreshment. It was most convenient that Peter had a house into which the Lord could go. So, along with Jesus, we enter the threshold of Peter’s house today. This miracle happens in his house. Tradition says that Peter’s house was only about 300 feet from the synagogue. Churches were built on the spot by Constantine’s mother-in-law, who came through Israel around 300 AD and had churches built on various spots to represent different events from the New Testament. It is just a tradition.
It was Peter’s house. He was the owner and would have been paying taxes. Some people wrongly misunderstand Jesus’s words and think you have to leave everything to follow him. In Luke 14:33, he says, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Yes, our Lord said no one can be a disciple who doesn’t renounce everything he possesses. This renunciation is not about leaving everything, but it means not being attached to your possessions in an idolatrous way. Your possessions should not become your idol. It doesn’t mean you have to sell everything. He said this to the rich man because his wealth was his idol. It means not making anything an idol. Jesus and his kingdom should have the first place in your heart. When you have to choose between wealth and Christ, or even life and Christ, you give up the former for the latter. In our heart, it’s an attitude. Compared to Jesus, we must have a holy hatred for everything else and be ready to leave it. It is wrong to teach that we must sell everything and not have any house or wealth. Here is a man who followed Jesus and would become a top apostle, and he had a house in his name that he did not leave or sell. He used it for Christ’s ministry.
Circumstance of the Miracle: They do what we do. They go to the synagogue or church, worship all day on the Sabbath, and then go home for dinner, but they had a problem. The other writer, Mark, tells us that Andrew, James, and John were there, so there were five people in total: Peter, James, John, Andrew, and Jesus. When they came to the house for dinner, there was a tragedy. How can you have a Sabbath dinner when a mother-in-law is sick? How can you possibly have a decent meal?
We see a woman, Peter’s mother-in-law. The only way you get a mother-in-law is by marrying a woman. We see that Peter did not leave his wife, nor even his mother-in-law. She must have been a very helpful mother-in-law, always busy, helping his wife and children and being a blessing to the house. Peter was a married man and lived with his wife, and even after he became an apostle, he took his wife everywhere he went for ministry.
Every verse you take is an attack on the Roman Catholic Church. You cannot be a Roman Catholic if you properly read the Bible. Every verse kicks against Roman Catholic teachings. Their teaching on celibacy is that it is an elevated state of piety, and the most elevated man must be the Pope. But Peter, the first Pope, would fall from a state of elevated piety because he had a wife and lived with his wife. What an infallible church and its teaching.
She was bedridden with a high fever. If you compare this with Mark 1 and Luke 4, Jesus and the five men come to Peter’s house. Jesus is in one room, and the mother-in-law is in another. Peter goes and sees his wife putting cold clothes on her. She is suffering from a high fever. Luke, as a doctor, says she is in the grip of a great fever. In Luke 4:38, it says, “She was in the grip of a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her.” They come out and inform Jesus that her mother-in-law is sick. It’s not just an upset stomach or a headache. She is bedridden with a great fever. Upon hearing this, he comes and stands by her bed. He looks at her; she is sweating with a high fever, and her eyes are sunken. She is in pain and suffering from a hot body. The Lord, standing over her, reaches out and touches her, takes her hand, and puts one of his arms around her and raises her up. As he raises her, the fever immediately leaves her.
Matthew says he touched her hand; Mark says he took her by the hand and raised her up; Luke says he stood over her and rebuked the fever. These beautiful details give us a complete picture when we put them all together. He did all of that. The writers use what is appropriate for their audience and theme. Luke says he rebuked the fever. He had authority over it. Matthew says, “When he touched her hand…” Why the difference? Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience. If a Jew touched a sick person, it would make them unclean. But Jesus can touch sick people without becoming unclean because his touch heals them.
Not only does the fever leave her, but she is also given an infusion of great strength and power so she can do the work of a healthy person. This is a miracle. There was immediate healing of the fever without any medicine. There was no Dolo 650 or anything. There was also immediate strength without any resting time. The fever left her body, but she was not tired. She was so energetic that she got up and went to work. She was restored to a level of healthy strength, to the extent of serving others.
Verse 15: “He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on them.”
What happened after the miracle: The next event after the miracle is that she ministered to them. This means she prepared meals that they had hoped to receive after coming back from the synagogue. Our Lord, tired from preaching, came home expecting some food and rest, but no food was prepared. Peter’s wife was ministering to her fevered mother. As soon as she was healed, she ministered to all four disciples. Mark says she ministered to him. This was a peculiar, special, and great service she gave to the Lord Jesus.
So here are the facts: a private home miracle. Now the question is, why did the Holy Spirit write this? Why did the Holy Spirit choose to write about this, when he left out thousands of other miracles that Jesus did? The world’s books would not be enough to contain them all. But why did he add this? I was wondering what to preach on this. What is it that he wants to say in this little private domestic miracle? Not just Matthew, but the Holy Spirit made Matthew, Mark, and Luke write about this, so there must be important lessons the Holy Spirit wants to teach us.
In application, I think there are three messages this shows for us today. Three lessons. One is about the state of the unsaved sinner. The second is about a compassionate savior. The third is about a saved sinner’s expression of gratitude.
First, the unsaved sinner’s state: The unsaved sinner, who is he? We were all like that. Do you think about what your state was when you were not saved? You didn’t know God.
Sin is symbolized as leprosy, but it can also be symbolized as a fever. Very few people know what leprosy is, but most of us have the experience of a fever. This is a condition that Peter’s mother-in-law had. Do you remember your fever? What would a fever represent? Those who have a fever spiritually are those who are on fire with sin. In a bodily fever, a burning heat inflames the body, quickens the pulse, parches the mouth and tongue, and dries up the entire system. That is, in a way, what sin does to a sinner. Do you remember when you had a fever in your soul, on fire with sin, dried up with evil desires, and inflamed with evil lusts? When I was an unsaved sinner, I thought about my state, my background, and the way I lived in sin and how terrible it was. I remember how hot I was as I pursued my passions and desires. They are so inflamed with their desires that their lives are consumed.
My lusts made my mind and body hot. It was like a madman, burning with heat. Oh, it was not always like that. A fever comes and goes for a few hours. Sometimes sin is very gentle and not hot. But when sin and lust hit, I would pursue them so hotly. Sometimes it was as if seven devils entered me, and I became like an animal. I didn’t know what was happening to me, as if some spirit had come into me.
Feverish people are frequently very restless. It is one effect of the fever that the person cannot lie still, but turns to and fro. Even their sleep is broken, and they cannot find rest, day or night. Under the power of sin, a spiritual fever didn’t give me any rest, day or night. My conscience was poking, a terrible torture with no rest. I felt so weak and dry.
There was a total absence of rest. I was toiling day and night. But when I sinned and fulfilled my lusts, did it give me what I wanted? Did I get rest? Never. Remorse and conviction would eat at me. There was no rest, and I was tossed around like the sea with heat. Nothing pleased me, and I was always uneasy and unsettled. There was no calmness or rest, just torture. I could not properly behave with my parents or family. I was like an animal, shouting and screaming. There was no kindness or gentleness. I even hit my mother. The house was like a zoo. God’s curse was on the house because of my sinful fever. There was no rest for me, and I would not allow anyone to rest around me. I could not do a single task properly. I would leave one task and start another and not complete anything or achieve anything. I was always longing for a foreign country. I went to different places, desiring to go overseas. I thought the problem was with my friends, family, and surroundings; I thought the problem was with the place, but the sickness was inward and needed a change of self rather than a change of place.
In our Lord’s day, people did not know how to deal with a fever. This poor woman would have died if Jesus had not intervened. I can tell you 100% that if the Lord had not healed me, my fever would have killed me. It was so hot, and I had no rest, no sleep, and was like a madman. I would have ended up committing suicide, turning to alcohol, or being in jail, or I would have died long ago. This is more or less the condition of every unsaved sinner. They all have the fever of sin. It doesn’t always show, but it keeps attacking them. The wages of sin are eternal death.
I remembered last week where I was. How terribly I was wallowing in a gutter. My parents’ background, my upbringing, my schooling, and the sins I committed showed what a gutter I was in. I should have died long ago in that fever. Can you see your unsaved state? Spend some time today thinking about your unsaved state and what would have happened if you had continued like that. Where would you have been? The worst ingratitude is to forget our state before salvation. So, Peter’s mother-in-law’s fever reminds us of our fever in sin.
Second Lesson: It reveals the glory of our Lord. It reveals the glory of a compassionate savior. There are three beautiful characteristics of our Lord that we can clearly see in this miracle. This is a gospel. It is good news to us as sinners. What does it reveal about our Lord?
First, this miracle sets forth the approachability and accessibility of Jesus. In need, we can go to him anytime. Remember, this was after the big Sermon on the Mount, and then healing the leper and the Centurion. He was so very tired. He goes to a house, expecting a time of refreshment and rest from the great pressures and demands of public ministry. You may not understand this if you are not a preacher. You might think it is just like a preaching machine: he comes easily, preaches, goes home, and enjoys himself. Only another preacher can understand the struggle. Preaching and the tiredness can have an effect on a weak human body. There is nothing like preaching in the world. It is not like a lecture or a speech. It’s not just talking; it’s preaching from the heart. There is a burden that drains a man completely. He was the preacher of all preachers. People were shocked after he preached because he preached with authority, not just like the Pharisees, who were like parrots. So much strength and virtue were going out of him. He was such an animated preacher. His whole body and gestures showed it, and he cried and pleaded. The current of truth going through a man is a great drain. It is so tiring. It takes such a long time to unwind. He went home fully drained and wanted to fall flat on the bed. He could not do anything. Even in that tiredness and burden, he could not get sleep until 2 or 3 in the morning. He couldn’t sleep all Sunday night and was so tired on Monday morning.
He was so tired after the long Sermon on the Mount, which we spent a year reading, but he did it in one sermon. Then, coming down, he performed the miracles of the leper and the Centurion. We see in the Gospels that he became thirsty and tired. We will see in this chapter that he will be sleeping in the midst of a raging storm as though he took a fainting medicine. So when he entered Peter’s house, he sat tired on a chair and wanted to eat and fall flat. If there was ever a time when no one should disturb him and he should be allowed to rest, it was this time.
Here we note the moment they know she has a fever, they come and tell him. Luke tells us they made requests of him. Here is a beautiful picture of the perpetual accessibility of our Lord Jesus. As a man, no matter how tired he was, in the face of human need, the Lord Jesus would be accessible. They felt free to tell him. They didn’t get a busy signal, no look of indifference, no irritated sigh that his rest was disturbed, and no frown. Instead, the gracious, inviting, and accessible Savior immediately went to help. If, as a weak human, he was so accessible, how much more accessible is he today with all his power and strength?
When I was in my fever, I was in the worst gutter. Nobody would even come near me. I was so hot that people would say I would not prosper and would become the worst person. “He is not worth five cents,” they would say. Nobody cared for me. But this Savior was so approachable. Nobody even considered me to be anything, but he invited me to tell him my problem and the fever I had. This is the Savior, even today. He is not far away; he is very near. We want to be far from him. In the face of a real need, if you hate your sin fever and you really want a cure, he is very accessible, even closer than your own breath.
When we preach the Gospel, we need to preach the accessibility of Christ. Whatever state the sinner is in, if he wants a cure, Christ is more accessible. This is also true for us as believers who need to come to him again and again. Whatever your fever is today, child of God, whatever is bothering you and keeping you hot, Jesus Christ waits with omnipotence to heal you. The living Christ is accessible, compassionate, condescending, and omnipotent.
In Hebrews 4:15-16, we read:
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
The response of Peter’s mother-in-law to her healing is a powerful example of what it means to be a truly saved person. The moment Jesus healed her, the fever left her, and she immediately got up and began to serve Him and His disciples. This was not a forced action; it was a spontaneous, inevitable response of a heart filled with gratitude.
The Inseparable Link Between Grace and Service
Her immediate service shows an intimate and inseparable connection between receiving God’s grace and giving oneself for service. The life and strength she had were a gift from her Savior, and she immediately channeled that gift back to Him in an act of service. This is a crucial test of genuine conversion: if you have truly received Christ’s grace, you will have a longing to serve Him and His people.
This longing is not something you have to be coaxed into with threats or promises of reward. It is a natural outflow of a grateful heart. We see this in Romans 12:1, where Paul says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” The right response to the immense mercy of salvation is to give our lives in service to God. A person with a grateful heart will yearn to find ways to serve Christ, not because they have to, but because they want to.
The Heart Behind the Service
This story highlights that every believer has a place in ministry, regardless of their role. Jesus has work of all sorts for all His followers, including women, who have a unique and vital role in the church. Peter’s mother-in-law’s service was simple but profound; she saw a need—tired, hungry guests—and met it with a thankful heart. She didn’t need a grand platform; she simply provided food and care. Similarly, we don’t need to do everything, but we can all do something that is acceptable to Him.
When we serve, our attitude matters just as much as our actions. We should not serve out of a sense of obligation or as a “duty” to avoid being “nagged” by our pastors. True service is a sacrificial act motivated by love and gratitude for what Christ has done for us. Our church, and our service within it, should reflect this. This includes our attitude in worship—singing joyfully and loudly to God—and our behavior and dress. Dressing with respect and coming on time to a church meeting are not mere formalities but a reflection of our reverence for God, who is in our midst.
A Sincere Service of Gratitude
We are not saved to live selfish lives. We are saved to serve Him. A person who is filled with the love of Christ and gratitude for what He has done will be consumed with a desire to serve Him. They will serve like a “madman,” as Paul did, and will not let minor inconveniences or sacrifices stop them. They will remember the “fever of sin” from which they were saved and be filled with a constant sense of wonder and amazement at God’s grace.
If you have forgotten the wonder of your salvation, you will find it difficult to serve. But if you constantly remember how Christ lifted you from the gutter of sin, your heart will be filled with gratitude. Just as Peter’s mother-in-law, even in the midst of a mundane task like cooking, was filled with joy and thankfulness. Her service was not a chore but a privilege. When we remember what a great privilege it is to serve Christ, our service will be filled with joy and be a delight to Him.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 