Jesus Knows Our Pain

“And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever.  And He touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.  When the even was come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the spirits with His word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophets, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.”  Matthew 8:14-17

Peter was making his home in Capernaum.  He and his brother Andrew were originally from Bethsaida which was northeast of Capernaum just across the Jordan River.  Jesus spent much of his time on earth in Capernaum, so I would guess that Peter had moved there to be close to Jesus.  He wanted to be, as one of my former pastors use to say, “under the spout where the honey comes out!”  We know from this passage that Peter was married because he had a mother-in-law.  Mothers-in-law are usually a package deal when one has a spouse.  Jesus did not require that his disciples/apostles be unmarried, but He did require that He be first in their lives (Luke 14:26).

When Jesus entered Peter’s home, He found Peter’s mother-in-law very ill with a fever.  We have all had fevers and can attest to how lousy they make us feel.  Jesus looked at her with eyes of compassion because He knew how she felt.  There is no record in scripture where Jesus was ever sick or in physical pain prior to the events that led up to and included His crucifixion.  The writer of the book of Hebrews (4:15) tells us that Jesus is our high Priest who can “be touched with the feeling of our infirmities”.  When we are ill, Jesus can feel our misery.  He feels our pain.  He feels our grief when we are heartbroken.  Jesus touched the hand of the sick lady and the fever and any other symptoms that she had were gone instantaneously.  She got up from her sick bed and begin to serve Jesus and the others in the house.  Usually when someone recovers from an illness, his or her recovery is not sudden.  I had pneumonia a few years ago, and after I had recovered, it still took several weeks to feel like my old self again.  That is the way that it has been for many of those who contracted COVID.

Word began to spread about how Jesus was healing the sick.  By that same evening, many who were demon-possessed were being brought to Him for healing along with those who were physically ill.  Jesus did not turn any of them away.  One of the more interesting healings is found in Mark 5:2-20.  Jesus cast demons out of a man and into a herd of 2,000 pigs which ran down a cliff and into the sea and drowned.  The townspeople, who weren’t even supposed to be herding pigs, were so upset that they ran Jesus out of town.  Apparently none of them, except the man healed, were grateful for his healing.  I suppose it was that “love of money” which guided their lives.  Why did there seem to be many more obvious demon possessions in Jesus’ day than now?  Matthew Henry explained it by writing that these possessions gave Jesus more opportunity to show His power over Satan.  People who do not know Christ can be demon-possessed, that is, given over to a “reprobate mind”, a depraved mind, unable to distinguish right from wrong.  In this day and age, we see the effects of those with reprobate minds every day on the news broadcasts which include mass shootings and ungodly policies created by “woke” politicians.

Everything that Jesus did was in complete fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.  Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 53:4, “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows…”.  How can one minister unto another unless they truly know what the other is going through?  When we experience a tragic loss or a devasting disease, our closest friends cannot know the pain and sorrow that we are suffering unless they have been through similar circumstances.  Jesus is the only One who really knows our pain.  The psalmist got it right when he wrote: “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.  He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.  Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep (Psalm 121:1-4).

The Lord is always near.  He knows what we are going through at all times.  He never takes so much as a nap, and he is always attentive to our pleas.  Jesus told His disciples many times to not be afraid (Matthew 14:27; 17:7; 28:10; Mark 5:36; John 14:27).  After all, they were in the company of the Lord of the universe.  But so are we who know Christ as Lord and Savior.  Jesus is also our friend (John 15:15), and a real friend does what He can to help and protect us.  Since He is going to be up all night anyway, why not give Him our worries and concerns which allows us to sleep?  We can always take them back in the morning, but who wants to be one who gives and then asks for it back?  There is an old colloquial phrase that describes giving and taking back, but someone might be offended and call it “racist”!