Peter’s Mother-in-Law & Discipleship (Mt. 8:14-22)

Jesus entered the house of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.  15 He touched her hand, the fever left her, and she rose and waited on him.  16 When it was evening, they brought him many who were possessed by demons, and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick, 17 to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet: “He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.”  18 When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side.  19 A scribe approached and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.”  20 Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”  21 Another of [his] disciples said to him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”  22 But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”

Simon Peter and his brother Andrew were born in Bethsaida (Jn. 1:44) but they lived in Capernaum.  Jesus went to Capernaum after John the Baptist was arrested (Mt. 4:12-13) and it was there that he called Peter and Andrew to be “Fishers of Men (Mt. 4:18-22).  It was the Sabbath and after they left the Synagogue, Peter and Andrew invited Jesus, James, and John to their home for refreshments.  Peter’s mother-in-law was ill (v. 14).  Jesus touched her hand, and she was healed.  She immediately got up and served Jesus and the others.  

The miracle at Peter’s house was quickly known throughout the village and at sundown, after the Sabbath Rest (Mk. 1:32-34), the villagers brought their sick and possessed to Peter’s house and Jesus healed them.  Jesus drove out the demons with a word (v. 16).  Mathew interpreted Isaiah’s prophecy (Is. 53:4) to mean that Jesus “took away our infirmities and bore our diseases,” which would lead his Christian readers to remember Christ’s Passion and its significance.

There is no indication as to the time Jesus departed for the Eastern side of the lake.  Scribes were scholars of the Law, professionals, and leaders in the Jewish communities yet, on the way to the boat, one of them showed subservience and addressed Jesus as “Teacher (v. 19).”  He wanted to become one of Jesus’ disciples.  Jesus did not reject him but explained in a figurative way that he is an itinerant preacher with no fixed place to live so being his disciple would not be easy.  Jesus referred to himself as the “Son of Man” in Matthew for the first time.  One of his disciples who was to accompany Jesus on his journey wanted to go and bury his father before leaving.  In ancient Palestine, burial followed soon after death.  Jesus used another figurative way to explain the radical nature of serving as his disciple.  One should leave burying the dead to those who are dead to God’s call.  Discipleship is a challenge and Jesus’ responses to the two men demonstrated what he expected from his disciples.  It meant immediately turning away from one’s previous life, leaving everything behind, and following him.

Almighty God, your Son taught that we are called to serve you without hesitation or reservation.  Grant us the grace to renounce all that binds us to a life not worthy of your call and to serve you according to your purpose.  This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen!

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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.