On the daily lectionary reading

The Gospel reading from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) daily readings for this date is Matthew 8:14-17:

When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s 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.  When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.  This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

“He took up our infirmities

             and bore our diseases.”

Some would look at these verses and write them off: “Well, that’s jut another healing story.  Jesus heals people every time he stops and sits.  Nothing special about that.  There are dozens, scores of healings in the gospels.”

Like that makes any one healing mundane. 

Whenever Jesus performs one of his healing miracles, he is not only demonstrating compassion, he is declaring who he is.   In this passage, Jesus fulfills prophesy.  In this past Sunday’s Gospel Lesson from the RCL (Matthew 11:2-11), John the Baptist sends some of his disciples to Jesus to ask him, “are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?”  For a reply, Jesus offered a quotation from Isaiah 35:1-10 (the Old Testament lesson for Sunday) which says, in part,

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

   and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

   and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

   and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

   and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

   the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

Each of Jesus’ deeds of power, no matter how relatively great or small, testifies not simply to what Jesus could do, but who he is.

God is with us.