Good old what’s her name.

 

Matthew 8:14-15. NRSV

14 When Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever; 15 he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she got up and began to serve him.

Every time I read these two verses my first thought is, “Yup.  Gotta make sure the woman is up and ready to cook for company.” Women do that, you know.  We can be half dead in bed, feeling really too miserable to get up for any reason, but let a child or husband act like they are hungry, and we are up and fixing food for them.  Bring a guest into the picture, and nothing will keep us in that bed.

There is so much more I want to know about Peter’s mother-in-law.  I mean, she only gets one full sentence.  Like the vast majority of women who appear in the Bible she doesn’t even merit a name.  The sum total of our knowledge of her is that she is Peter’s mother-in-law, and Jesus heals her rather casually - he touches her and she is well. That’s it. No fanfare. No crowds.  Nada.  Just, he touched her, the fever left, she got up and she served him. 

I want to know more.  I want to know why she lives with Peter and, one assumes, Peter’s wife.  Is it that her husband is dead and her son-in-law has generously taken responsibility for her care and support?  I want to know what the women and (probably) children in that family have been doing to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table since Peter left the family business behind in order to hit the road with Jesus for three years.  

 We can’t know anything more about her than is written here.  We can make some educated guesses about her life and situation, based in what we know about the lives and situations of all women in first century Palestine, but we cannot know anything more specific about her.   Hers is just one story amid all the stories of the women who exist at the edges of the lives of the men whose names live in our histories. 

Holy One, chances are that are stories exist on the edges of history.  We know that doesn’t make us any less important to you.  We know that you will touch us with love and heal our ills, even as Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law - without fuss or fanfare - so that we may continue to serve you.  We thank you for that, Lord.  Amen.