Mark § 5

And immediately, leaving the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon, etc. If we have said that the man freed from the demon signifies a mind cleansed from impure thoughts, consequently a woman afflicted with fever but cured by the command of the Lord shows the flesh restrained from the fervor of its concupiscence by the precepts of continence. For all bitterness, and wrath, and indignation, and clamor, and blasphemy (Ephesians IV), is the fury of an unclean spirit. Indeed, fornication, impurity, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness (which is idolatry [Ephesians V]), are to be understood as the fever of seductive flesh. And immediately they told him about her, and approaching, he lifted her up, taking her by the hand. In the Gospel of Luke, it is written that they asked him on her behalf, and standing over her, he rebuked the fever. For sometimes the Savior, when asked, sometimes voluntarily heals the sick, showing himself always to grant the prayers of the faithful against the passions of vices, and sometimes to give to them not understanding what they are asking, or to grant them what they piously ask for even if not understood, just as the Psalmist requests: Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults, O Lord (Psalm XIX).

(in Marc. i. 7) First, it was right that the serpent's tongue should be shut up, that it might not spread any more venom; then that the woman, who was first seduced, should be healed from the fever of carnal concupiscence. Wherefore it is said, And forthwith, when they were come out of the synagogue, &c.

For the fever means intemperance, from which, we the sons of the synagoguek, by the hand of discipline, and by the lifting up of our desires, are healed, and minister to the will of Him who heals us.

Such eye-witnesses the Lord in infancy found; no different ones had He in adult age. Peter alone do I find-through (the mention of) his "mother-in-law" ,-to have been married.

Toward evening on the Sabbath, as was customary, the Lord went to the house of the disciples to take a meal. Meanwhile, she who was supposed to serve on this occasion was seized with a fever. But the Lord heals her, and she begins to serve them. These words let you know that you too, when God heals you from illness, should use your health for serving the saints and for pleasing God.

(ubi sup.) But in the Gospel of Luke it is written, that they besought him for her. (Luke 4:38.) For the Saviour sometimes after being asked, sometimes of His own accord, heals the sick, showing that He always assents to the prayers of the faithful, when they pray also against bad passions, and some times gives them to understand things which they do not understand at all, or else, when they pray unto Him dutifully, forgives their want of understanding; as the Psalmist begs of God, Cleanse me, O Lord, from my secret faults. (Ps. 19:12) Wherefore He heals her at their request; for there follows, And he came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up.

Can you imagine Jesus standing before your bed and you continue sleeping? It is absurd that you would remain in bed in his presence. Where is Jesus? He is already here offering himself to us. "In the middle," he says, "among you he stands, whom you do not recognize." "The kingdom of God is in your midst." Faith beholds Jesus among us. If we are unable to seize his hand, let us prostrate ourselves at his feet. If we are unable to reach his head, let us wash his feet with our tears. Our repentance is the perfume of the Savior. See how costly is the compassion of the Savior. Our sins give off a terrible odor; they are rottenness. Nevertheless, if we repent of our sins, they will be transformed into perfume by the Lord. Therefore, let us ask the Lord to grasp our hand. "And at once," he says, "the fever left her." Immediately as her hand is grasped, the fever flees.

(v. Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc. c. 1:32) But the disciples, knowing that they were to receive a benefit by that means, without waiting for the evening prayed that Peter's mother should be healed. Wherefore there follows, who immediately tell him of her.

He retired then as the custom was on the sabbath-day about evening to eat in His disciples' house. But she who ought to have ministered was prevented by a fever. Wherefore it goes on, But Simon's wife's mother was lying sick of a fever.

And immediately the fever left her, and she ministered to them. It is natural for those recovering from a fever to grow weary at the onset of health and to feel the discomfort of the illness. However, the health conferred by the command of the Lord returns wholly at once. Not only does it return, but it is also accompanied by such strength that she immediately is able to minister to those who helped her, and, according to the laws of typology, those members that had served impurity unto iniquity to bear fruit unto death, now serve righteousness unto eternal life.

(in Marc. i. 6, 8) But in that He gives most profusely His gifts of healing and doctrine on the sabbath day, He teaches, that He is not under the Law, but above the Law, and does not choose the Jewish sabbath, but the true sabbath, and our rest is pleasing to the Lord, if, in order to attend to the health of our souls, we abstain from slavish work, that is, from all unlawful things. It goes on, and immediately the fever left her, &c. The health which is conferred at the command of the Lord, returns at once entire, accompanied with such strength, that she is able to minister to those, of whose help she had before stood in need. Again, if we suppose that the man delivered from the devil means, in the moral way of interpretation, the soul purged from unclean thoughts, fitly does the woman cured of a fever by the command of God mean the flesh, restrained from the heat of its concupiscence by the precepts of continence.

By this it is signified, that God will heal a sick man, if he ministers to the Saints, through love to Christ.

But he has a fever who is angry, and in the unruliness of his anger stretches forth his hands to do hurt; but if reason restrains his hands, he will arise, and so serve reason.

But when evening had come and the sun had set, they brought to him, etc. The setting of the sun signifies the passion and death of him who said: "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John IX). And when the sun sets, more demoniacs than before, more sick are healed. Because while temporarily living in the flesh, he taught a few Jews, but after the defeat of the kingdom of death, he transmitted the gifts of faith and salvation to all the peoples of the world. To whom the Psalmist sings as if to the heralds of life and light: "Prepare the way for him who rides upon the sunset" (Psalm LXVII). For the Lord ascends over the sunset, because from where he lay in suffering, from there he manifested his greater glory by rising.

(ubi sup.) Again, in a mystical sense, the setting of the sun signifies the passion of Him, who said, As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5) And when the sun was going down, more demoniacs and sick persons were healed than before: because He who living in the flesh for a time taught a few Jews, has transmitted the gifts of faith and health to all the Gentiles throughout the world.

There is an activity of God displayed throughout creation, a wholesale activity let us say which men refuse to recognize. The miracles done by God incarnate, living as a man in Palestine, perform the very same things as this wholesale activity, but at a different speed and on a smaller scale. One of their chief purposes is that men, having seen a thing done by personal power on the small scale, may recognize, when they see the same thing done on the large scale, that the power behind it is also personal – is indeed the very same person who lived among us two thousand years ago. The miracles in fact are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see...

The miracles of healing fall into the same pattern. This is sometimes obscured for us by the somewhat magical view we tend to take of ordinary medicine. The doctors themselves do not take this view. The magic is not in the medicine but in the patient's body. What the doctor does is to stimulate Nature's functions in the body, or to remove hindrances. In a sense, though we speak for convenience of healing a cut, every cut heals itself; no dressing will make skin grow over a cut on a corpse. That same mysterious energy which we call gravitational when it steers the planets and biochemical when it heals a body is the efficient cause of all recoveries, and if God exists, that energy, directly or indirectly, is His. All who are cured are cured by Him, the healer within. But once He did it visibly, a Man meeting a man. Where He does not work within us in this mode, the organism dies. Hence Christ's one miracle of destruction is also in harmony with God's wholesale activity. His bodily hand held out in symbolic wrath blasted a single fig tree; but no tree died that year in Palestine, or any year, or in any land, or even ever will, save because He has done something, or (more likely) ceased to do something, to it.

But the door of the kingdom, morally, is repentance and faith, which works health for various diseases; for divers are the vices, with which the city of this world is sick.

Not without reason was it added: "when the sun was setting." Since they thought it was unlawful to heal on the Sabbath day, they waited for the setting of the sun and only then began bringing the sick for healing.

Because the multitude thought that it was not lawful to heal on the sabbath day, they waited for the evening, to bring those who were to be healed to Jesus. Wherefore it is said, And at even, when the sun had set.

And he cast out many demons, etc. Luke writes more openly about these things: "Indeed, demons were coming out of many, crying out and saying: 'You are the Son of God.' And he rebuking them, would not allow them to speak, because they knew him to be the Christ" (Luke IV). Therefore the demons confessed the Son of God; and they knew him to be the Christ, because the devil knew him as a man fatigued by a forty-day fast, but could not ascertain by temptation whether he was also the Son of God; now through the power of signs he either understood or rather suspected he was the Son of God. He did not persuade the Jews to crucify him because he thought he was neither Christ nor the Son of God, but because he did not foresee that he would be damned by his death. Indeed, the Apostle says about this mystery hidden from ages that none of the rulers of this age knew it. For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. II). But the Psalmist makes clear why the Lord prevents demons from speaking, saying: "To the sinner, however, God said: Why do you declare my statutes and take my covenant in your mouth? You have hated discipline" (Psalm XLIX), and so on. Lest anyone following the preacher hears the errant. For the devil is an evil teacher, who often mixes falsehood with truth, so as to cover the testimony of deceit with the appearance of truth.

(ubi sup.) For, Him whom the devil had known as a man, wearied by His forty days' fast, without being able by tempting Him to prove whether He was the Son of God, he now by the power of His miracles understood or rather suspected to be the Son of God. The reason therefore why he persuaded the Jews to crucify Him, was not because he did not think that He was the Son of God, but because he did not foresee that he himself was to be condemned by Christ's death.

(Pseudo Aug. Quæst. e Vet. et Nov. Test. xvi.) For the devils knew that He was the Christ, who had been promised by the Law: for they saw in Him all the signs, which had been foretold by the Prophets; but they were ignorant of His divinity, as also were their princes, for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Cor. 2:8)

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Now in that he says many, all are to be understood according to the Scripture mode of expression.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) And Luke does not contradict this, when he says, that devils came out of many, crying out and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God: (Luke 4:41) for he subjoins, And he rebuking them, suffered them not to speak; for Mark, who passes over many things for the sake of brevity, speaks about what happened subsequently to the abovementioned words.

He healed "many," it says instead of "all," because all constitute many; or: He did not heal all because some proved to be unbelievers who were not healed on account of their unbelief, but He healed "many" of those brought, that is, those who had faith. He did not allow the demons to speak so that, as I said, He might teach us not to believe them, even if they speak the truth. Otherwise, if they find someone fully trusting them, what will they not do, the accursed ones, mixing falsehood with truth! So also Paul forbade the divining spirit from saying: "These men are servants of the Most High God"; the Holy Man did not wish to hear testimony and witness from unclean lips.

There follows, and he healed many that were vexed with divers diseases.

Or he says many, because there were some faithless persons, who could not at all be cured on account of their unfaithfulness. Therefore He healed many of those who were brought, that is, all who had faith. It goes on, and cast out many devils.

Furthermore, the reason that He forbade the devils to speak, was to teach us not to believe them, even if they say true. For if once they find persons to believe them, they mingle truth with falsehood.

And rising very early in the morning, he went out to a deserted place, etc. If the setting sun expresses the death of the Savior, why should not his resurrection be indicated by the returning dawn? With the light having appeared, he went to the desert of the nations, and there he prayed among his faithful ones, for he stirred their hearts to the power of prayer through the grace of his Spirit. And he was preaching in their synagogues and throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons. In this preaching, which he describes him as having had throughout all Galilee, is also understood that sermon held on the mount, which Matthew commemorates. For Mark follows thus:

(ubi sup.) Again mystically if by the setting of the sun, the death of the Saviour is intended, why should not His resurrection be intended by the returning dawn? For by its clear light, He went far into the wilderness of the Gentiles, and there continued praying in the person of His faithful disciples, for He aroused their hearts by the grace of the Holy Spirit to the virtue of prayer.

Jesus prayed and did not pray in vain, since he received what he asked for in prayer when he might have done so without prayer. If so, who among us would neglect to pray? Mark says that "in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed." And Luke says, "He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, 'Lord, teach us to pray,' " and elsewhere, "And all night he continued in prayer to God." And John records his prayer, saying, "When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.' " The same Evangelist writes that the Lord said that he knew "you hear me always." All this shows that the one who prays always is always heard.

(Vict. Ant. e Cat. in Marc.) Not that He required prayer; for it was He who Himself received the prayers of men; but He did this by way of an economy, and became to us the model of good works.

After healing the sick, the Lord withdraws to a solitary place, teaching us by this not to do anything for show, but if we do some good deed, to hasten to conceal it. And He also prays in order to show us that everything good we do must be ascribed to God and we should say to Him: "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17). Christ Himself had no need of prayer in and of Himself.

After that the Lord had cured the sick, He retired apart. Wherefore it is said, And rising very early in the morning, he went out and departed into a desert place. By which He taught us not to do any thing for the sake of appearance, but if we do any good, not to publish it openly. It goes on, and there prayed.

For He shows to us that we ought to attribute to God whatever we do well, and to say to Him, Every good gift cometh down from above, (James 1:17) from Thee. It continues: And Simon followed him, and they that were with him.