Solitude - quality imaginative time with God

Our Gospel starts as Jesus leaves the Synagogue after preaching/teaching there and goes – across the road almost – to Simon’s house where his mother-in-law is ill, must be ill she is in bed with a fever – worse than man flu then! He makes her well and like so many of those Jesus heals that healing is not the start of some magical lifestyle but a return to the ordinariness of daily life, for her the provision of a meal. Though actually this meal will have had to be ready as this is the Sabbath and no work can take place. This also explains why it is after sunset before the locals turn up with those they would have healed, those who come wanting healing, for Sabbath runs – as does the Jewish day - from sunset to sunset, so by sunset on the Sabbath – Saturday – it is now the end of the Sabbath and the beginning of the new, the next day.

So we have Jesus at work healing, touching and casting out, the whole town we are told was there. The demons were forbidden to speak, why? because Jesus wanted His ministry to go at His pace and not that of the devil the prince of demons who would try every which way to derail Jesus ministry. Jesus did not want faith because the demons said he was the Son of God – but they did! They believed! He wanted people to believe because of His words which were supported by His deeds and explained His miracles as belonging to the love of God. So you can imagine how long this evening must have gone on for and how draining it must have been, Jesus for ever giving of Himself to others. All of us will have done that at times, when people are ill or bereaved or in any kind of trouble and we spend time with them listening, supporting, helping, being there for them, it is draining, trying to avoid saying the wrong thing, empathising, it is emotionally draining, just imagine that with a whole town full of people!