Mark 1:29–39

²⁹And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

³⁰Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her.

³¹And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

³²That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons.

³³And the whole city was gathered together at the door.

³⁴And 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.

³⁵And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.

³⁶And Simon and those who were with him searched for him,

³⁷and they found him and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you."

³⁸And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out."

³⁹And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

"What's all that noise?" grumbled Peter as he stumbled out of bed. People were banging on his door and shouting in the street. "What's all the commotion? Can't you people leave us alone? The sun isn't even up yet."

"We want to see Jesus," they demanded. We have brought all the sick, the crippled, the deaf and the blind of the city to be healed."

"Good grief! Jesus was healing and casting out demons until almost midnight last night, and it's not even morning yet. Can't you come back later and let us get some rest?"

"Look Peter, do you not know our need? Do you not hear our cries? Do you not feel our pain? Our children are sick, our brothers are oppressed by Satan. Have mercy on us and call Jesus out here, man."

"Okay, Okay, I'll get him." Peter disappeared back into the house. He went to the room where Jesus had slept, but he was gone. It was empty and his bed was neatly made and the sheets folded and set aside...

"Peter, what are you doing up at this hour of the morning?" came a voice from inside the house. It was Peter's mother-in-law. "Mother," said Peter, "I'm looking for Jesus. The people are making such a commotion outside."

"Oh, Peter. Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been taught to you since you were a child? Remember how excited you were yesterday when you brought Jesus home with you from the synagogue? He had cast out a demon from a man right there in the church. Then when he got here, before you even asked him to, he came straight to my room. I was lying there in bed with malaria, almost dead. He came into my room without even being asked to and took my hand. Immediately I felt well. My 106 degree fever was instantly gone. I got strength back in my legs. I could actually stand up! My skin color was normal and, boy, was I ever hungry! I got my appetite back real good. Remember, I went straight to the kitchen to make something to eat, and of course I gave some to Jesus as well. Peter,... it was a miracle from God! Jesus is God!

"Do you not know that God himself has visited us? Do you not hear what the prophet Isaiah said about Jesus? He said, 'it is he who sits above the earth. The inhabitants of the earth are like grasshoppers to him. It is he who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in.' This Jesus whom you brought home with you is the one Isaiah was talking about! Who else could cast out demons and make me well? Just as Isaiah said, 'He brings princes to nothing and makes the rulers of earth as emptiness.' It's true! Jesus is the King of kings. He rules over Emperor Tiberius in Rome and King Herod and even Governor Pilate. He has authority over the demons and unclean spirits. He had power over my malaria. Last night he healed people with all kinds of diseases. He has power over illness. His authority is over all the heavens and the earth. For he is the creator of all things. It was Jesus who set the stars in the heavens. He knows their number and calls them by name.

"Yesterday when he took my hand it was such a wonderful feeling. It was as if he sucked the malaria right out of me into himself. It's Just as Isaiah said, Peter, 'He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;... And with his stripes we were healed.'

"Do you not know? Do you not hear? Peter, the creator of all things has invaded our world, sort of like an invasion from outer space. He didn't even wait to be invited into my room yesterday. That's my Jesus for you. The Creator just crashed into the world to fix all that has gone wrong with the creation just like he crashed into my room to heal my sick body.

"Yes, it's an invasion alright. The perfect world he created has become corrupted and overtaken by the power of death and darkness. Everything is falling apart. Sin has made our lives a shambles. It has wrecked our families and relationships. It has brought disease and decay and death. It has ruined the economy. It has brought war and terrorism. It has brought corrupt officials to government. Rome is not only the most powerful city in the world, it is the most corrupt. Our whole world is under the curse of sin. But the Creator himself has invaded his creation. He has become part of his own creation. He has come to us in order to put his creation back the way it is supposed to be. He takes away our sin and sickness and death. He fixes our broken lives. He puts back our broken relationships. He forgives our sin. Just as he sucked the malaria out of me into his body, he sucks our sin out of us and into himself."

Maybe that's what Peter was thinking about a few years later, when he penned the words: "He bore our sins in his body on a cross." For Jesus took all our sin and brokenness upon himself and carried it to the cross. St. Paul says it too: "He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him." As Isaiah said: "he bore our griefs and sorrows and upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace." He suffered and died that we might live forever. He paid the price for our sin that we might be forgiven. He rose again so that we might be raised unto eternal life. He took the sin and curse of the creation into his own body and was crushed by it to death. Then on the third day he rose to make a new creation and restore all things to the perfect goodness they had in the beginning. He is restoring our lives today, he is restoring our relationships, he releases us from the power of sin and death and disease and decay.

"So, Peter, go back out to those people banging on the door and tell them that Jesus is not here. For just as he will someday rise from the dead and leave an empty tomb, so this morning his room is empty where he slept and he is off with his Father to do all that the Father sent him to do, renew the world, give life to the dead, bind up the brokenhearted, and free the captive from sin and death. He is going throughout all Galilee preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

"But tell those people that he has not left them or abandoned them. He knows their need. He hears their cries. He is going out to preach in their cities and towns. He continues coming to them every day in his preaching, that is, through his Word. His word is incarnate. It is incarnate in liturgy. Do you know what the word "liturgy" means, Peter? It means "God's service to mankind." The liturgy is Jesus serving humanity, the community of believers. Liturgy is his word read and preached. Liturgy is the word incarnate in the waters of baptism, and in the bread and wine of the Supper. Liturgy is his word incarnate in his saving actions of healing the sick and casting out demons. Liturgy is his word incarnate in our love and acts of mercy for the sick, the poor, the downtrodden, the homeless, the widow and the orphan.

"Every day when we worship Him, when we pray, when we confess our sins, when we sing hymns, when we hear and read the Scriptures, and when we receive the sacrament, Jesus is coming to us. He pours his Spirit out on us and renews us with his power, with his faith and with his love. He doesn't just pour himself out on us at baptism and then send us on our way. He continues to be poured out on us along the way through life through his word. Our lives are continually being transformed through the liturgy of his word. We are being lifted up out of the holes we have dug for ourselves. Relationships are being restored. Our hearts are being renewed in love for one another. He lifts the burdens off our shoulders and carries them himself. And we share in the burdens and sorrows of each other; all who are joined to Jesus in faith are joined to one another and share each other's burdens. That is the fellowship of believers.

"Peter, do you know? Do you hear? Then go tell these people that this Jesus heals the sick and restores their bodies to the perfection of Adam and Eve's bodies so they will never get sick again and they will never die. He is doing away with death and even though our bodies get weak and frail with age and our organs stop working one by one, he will renew our bodies and raise us up as on wings of eagles on the Last Day with incorruptible bodies. All creation is being renewed and restored. All flesh is being renewed. Death is changed to life, sorrow to joy, darkness to light. Hear, know and tell it to all."

Amen.