‘And he rose up from the synagogue, and entered into the house of Simon. And Simon's wife's mother was gripped with a great fever, and they besought him for her.'

Leaving the synagogue Jesus went to Simon's house to receive hospitality. Simon would shortly be renamed Peter and become an Apostle. He had probably previously been a disciple of John the Baptiser (John 1:41). Certainly his brother Andrew had. But when He arrived with them they discovered that Simon's mother-in-law ‘was gripped' with a ‘great fever'. Note the specialist medical terms used here, used by many physicians, but not used in the other Gospels. Luke was well acquainted with the medical terminology of the time. Physicians distinguished between a ‘great fever' and a ‘lesser fever'. So those present turned to Jesus and requested His help. Unlike the Nazarenes they believed implicitly that He could heal.

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