And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.
Comment: We don’t know how sick or for how long Simon’s mother-in-law had been ill. It may have been a case of long standing TB, or a serious typhoid or just a common cold. But in that culture she was probably pretty ill to avoid her duties. We’re not told, but instantly she was well enough to get up and be the hostess!
And as if Mark doesn’t want us to underplay the reality of both yesterday’s healing of a ‘spiritual’ problem or today’s healing of a ‘physical’ illness, he simply states that both sorts of healing were repeated many times! Why didn’t Jesus allow the demons to tell who He was? It may be that He wanted the people then, and us today, to consider His whole life and ministry before we label Him.
Prayer: Open my eyes, please, to the Truth of Your Word, O God!
As I read it! 
Thank you Barry for your comments on this passage. The first most obvious thing about this story is that if Simon had a mother-in-law, he must have been married. Right? Right! Secondly she was obviously the one who was in charge of feeding the family, for she immediately got up, after being healed, and feed them all. The demons know who Jesus is, that He is the Son of God with power over them, and we need to know this too, and keep our eyes fixed on Him, the One who died and rose again for us. God bless you.
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