As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Mark 1:29-31

Everything Felipe knew about Jesus was from the movies. The many religious movies he watched confused more than enlightened him. For the longest time, he believed David was one of the twelve apostles. He also thought that Joseph, Jacob’s son who became the Pharaoh’s chief counselor, and Mother Mary’s husband were the one and the same. We started reading the gospel of Matthew together for about a year now and it dawned upon him that the movies presented an impoverished version of the gospel. One thing which impressed him was the number of healings and miracles in the gospels. He was under the impression that Jesus only did an handful of miracles because in the movies he watched only depicted a small array of miracles and healings. He was confused as to why they limited themselves to these when the gospels related so many.

It was the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law that started this conversation. I told him that this story was recorded in three gospels. Since we are planning to read all the gospels together, I just thought that I should prepare him to read this again. Apparently, three evangelists considered it to be an important event which everyone needed to know. At the same time, there is hardly any information. The woman’s name is not even mentioned. We can make some assumptions. She lived with Peter which implied that she was a widow and did not have any sons. Someone like her had very little space in society back then. In a way, she would be considered as someone who had already served her purpose in life. It sounds cruel because it was a cruel world then and not much different from the present one. I suppose that it is just in our fallen nature to treat people as a means to an end. Regardless of all this, the disciples told Jesus about her illness. They wanted her to be well. She was someone special to them and Jesus elevated her even more. She became one of the first people whom he healed.

Her healing did not give her a celebrity status. It just permitted her to serve them. The person who serves is usually the one prepares the meal too. In cultures where food is eaten with hands, there has to be someone with clean hands to make sure everyone gets enough to eat. Consequently, this person is privy to the dinner conversations. Therefore, only trustworthy people can serve at the table. Jesus did not just heal her. He restored her privileged status in the family. It may not sound like a great deal to modern ears. She was living in an ancient time with ancient standards.

As Felipe listened to this story, we could see that he was trying to grapple this concept. Suddenly things were beginning to make sense to him. His life in the streets was a life of anonymity but he never minded it. He liked being anonymous. It was being abandoned that he detested. It was good news for him that this woman was never named. It wasn’t relevant. We did not need to know her name. Besides, it would be meaningless to us. Despite being nameless, nothing can change the fact that Jesus held her hand and lifted her up. God visited with her; a widow without not much prospect in the eyes of the world became one of the first people that Jesus touched and healed. She represents all the anonymous people who labor day in and day out without expecting any recognition. Perhaps, Peter’s mother-in-law’s anonymity is good news for these people. They did not need to be the squeaky wheel in order to get God’s attention. He recognizes and knows them in their quiet existence. For Felipe and I would say, most of our homeless youth, this is the most important thing.

I have read this passage countless of times. I never stopped to ponder on it. I used to think that it spoke very little to me. It is because I come from a world where my idea of the gospel is contaminated with complicated ideas of grandness and fame. I like stories where an unknown person rises up to become a hero that saves hundreds. There are people like that in the world. They are few and far between. Moreover, their stories are meant to entertain us. They claim to be inspirational. In reality, they just entertain and maybe provide some material for our fantasies of grandness. Peter’s mother-in-law was like the majority of people in the world. We see her in the thousands walking past us as we go to meet the children and teens. They are the grandparents of many of our children and teens, the only ones who gave our children and teens any attention in their households. The person who keeps our apartment building clean is one of them. She lives a quiet existence. She works silently and is almost invisible. It doesn’t mean she is unnoticed. We chat with her whenever we get the chance. Recently, she hasn’t been to work for a few days. We sense her absence even though someone else has taken her place. I doubt that many people noticed her absence. She is like the most of us. Besides our friends and families, the world won’t miss us when we are gone. There is nothing sad nor tragic about this. We don’t need the whole world to know of us. Not all of us are meant to be like the famous saints and heroes. Besides, Jesus did not seek saints and people with great potential. He sought people like Peter’s mother-in-law. Jesus is not the savior of people of great influence or power or potential. He is the messiah of those whom the world regards as mediocre. Jesus did not expect Peter’s mother-in-law to do “great” things. It sufficed that she served them at the table.

No one is going to write books and make movies of people like this woman. If they did, it wouldn’t be her story. It would be a fictitious one made to look spectacular. Something the gospel writers avoided. They wanted her to connect with the vast majority of the people in the world. Most of us are not charismatic. We are just ordinary people pressing on to do what is before us. Jesus was among people like us more than the people of great potential in His time. He chose apostles that no one would consider to be leadership quality. He never told them to be leaders. He asked them to be servants and healers. Most of them lived out their existence quietly. There were twelve apostles and we hardly know what most of them did. Jesus seems to favor these ordinary people. They are present everywhere among us. They are the ones who stop by their neighbors when they are not feeling well. They bring soups to recent widows or widowers as they coping with the pain of their loss. They are the ones who invite their lonely friends to spend the holidays with them. They serve at the tables in the homeless shelter. They care for the stray animals in their neighborhood. They are just ordinary people who are too plain and normal for the world to pay any attention. Maybe they might lack ambition to be anything else than the ordinary. The healing of Peter’s mother-in-law tells us that Jesus knows these people and He is present among them. He is their Shepherd.

I am grateful for this story. I am grateful that three evangelists had the wisdom to include it in the gospels. Now, I know where to look for Jesus. He is not among the people society has deemed influential. He is just outside my apartment right now with the lady that makes sure the floors are clean. He is with Felipe and the teens in their anonymity. Therefore, if I want to hear and see our Lord, I better be attentive to these ordinary people. They might have the words of Life. I paid attention to Felipe and he brought the mother-in-law of Peter alive to me.