SCRIPTURE: “He touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him” (Matthew 8:15 ESV).
OBSERVATION: In Matthew’s gospel, he recorded this quiet but powerful miracle in Peter’s home. After healing a leper and a centurion’s servant, Jesus entered Peter’s house and found his mother-in-law bedridden with a fever. With a simple, compassionate touch, Jesus restored her completely. Her healing was immediate and total, she rose up and began to serve Him. In this way, Matthew showed that Jesus’ kingdom power was not only displayed in public, but also in personal, domestic spaces. The miracle functioned as a microcosm of the gospel itself: Jesus came to restore what was broken by sin, whether in the body, in relationships, or in a person’s place within the community, and then to call the restored into His mission.
APPLICATION: We can see ourselves in Peter’s mother-in-law. We, too, were once laid low by the sickness of sin, unable to rise on our own. But Jesus touched our lives with saving grace, and the power of His gospel healed us. Now we are not merely healed, we are called. We are restored so that we might serve. When Christ lifts us up, He gives us a purpose: to live and serve for His glory. So we are no longer focused on comfort or self-focus. We get up, we step out, and we serve the One who touched us. Every act of obedience, every word of witness, and every expression of love flows from hearts that have been touched and made whole by Jesus.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus to touch us and make us whole. Thank You for saving us by Your grace and welcoming us into Your family. Help us not to sit in our salvation but to rise and serve You with joyful obedience. Use us for Your mission and Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.