Gospel of Mark Chapter 1 Vs. 30

 Jesus Heals Many

Mark 1:30 “But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.”

Simon’s wife’s mother... Paul also affirmed that Peter was married (1Cor. 9:5). That his mother-in-law was living with Peter and his wife may indicate that her husband was dead.

of a fever... That she was too ill to get out of bed, coupled with Luke’s description of her fever as high fever (Luke 4:38), suggests her illness was serious, even life-threatening.

Lay sick of a fever (κατέκειτο πυρέσσουσα)

Κατά, prostrate. Mark adds, they tell him of her. Luke, they besought him for her. Mark, he came to her. Luke, he stood over her. Mark only, he took her by the hand and raised her up.

and Anon they... Immediately, straightway, See Mat. 8:14-15.

straightway... Greek: eutheos, used 80 times; 40 times in Mark and 40 times by all other writers. Translated straightway, immediately, forthwith, as soon as, anon, by and by, and shortly.

We see in this Scripture above that Simon, better known as Peter, was married. We also can see from this that his wife’s mother was in the house with them. Someone told Jesus of the woman’s fever.

It is possible that such is the meaning of the expression, and if so, it has a useful lesson. Sometimes there are temporal gifts which we scarce know whether we should pray for, so complex are our feelings, so entangled our interests with those of others, so obscure and dubious the springs which move our desire. Is it presumptuous to ask? Yet can it be right to keep anything back, in our communion with our Father?

Now there is a curious similarity between the expression "they tell Jesus of her" and that phrase which is only applied to prayer when St. Paul bids us pray for all that is in our hearts. "In nothing be anxious, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." So shall the great benediction be fulfilled: "The peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts" (Phlp. 4:6-7). All that is unholy shall be purified, all that is unwise subdued, all that is expedient granted.

If this be indeed the force of St. Mark’s phrase, Jesus felt their modest reticence to be a strong appeal, for St. Luke says "they besought Him," while St. Matthew merely writes that He saw her lying. The "Interpreter of St. Peter" is most likely to have caught the exact shade of anxiety and appeal by which her friends drew His attention, and which was indeed a prayer.

He was promptly euthys told that Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed burning with a fever.