On leaving the synagogue he entered the house of Simon and Andrew with James and John. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law lay sick with a fever. They immediately told him about her. 31 He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up. Then the fever left her and she waited on them.
32 When it was evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were ill or possessed by demons. 33 The whole town was gathered at the door. 34 He cured many who were sick with various diseases, and he drove out many demons, not permitting them to speak because they knew him.
35 Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and those who were with him pursued him 37 and on finding him said, “Everyone is looking for you.” 38 He told them, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” 39 So he went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee.
Jesus has just taught with authority in the synagogue and driven out an unclean spirit. Mark then follows him immediately into ordinary, domestic life. Leaving the synagogue, Jesus enters the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John (v. 29). The scene changes, but the kingdom does not pause. Mark shows that Jesus’ authority is not confined to a religious setting. It reaches into the place where people actually live, where sickness interrupts routines, and where burdens are carried quietly by families.
Simon’s mother-in-law is “sick with a fever” (v. 30). Mark tells it plainly, and he keeps the focus on Jesus’ personal action. “He approached, grasped her hand, and helped her up” (v. 31). The healing is not described as a spectacle. It is direct and close. Mark also highlights the completeness of the cure by what happens next: “the fever left her and she waited on them” (v. 31). In other words, she is not merely improved; she is restored. Her return to serving at home signals that the healing is real, practical, and immediate. The parallel accounts in Matthew and Luke preserve the same basic shape of the event: Jesus enters the house, addresses the fever, and she serves afterward (Mt 8:14-15; Lk 4:38-39).
Mark then widens the lens from one person in one room to the needs of an entire town. “When it was evening, after sunset,” the people bring to Jesus “all who were ill or possessed by demons” (v. 32). That time marker matters. The Sabbath day had been a day of rest, and once the sun set and the day ended, the community is free to move about more openly. Mark tells us that: “The whole town was gathered at the door” (v. 33). Jesus “cured many who were sick with various diseases,” and he “drove out many demons” (v. 34). Mark is not trying to separate Jesus’ teaching from his deeds. He presents a united picture: Jesus proclaims God’s reign and demonstrates, in concrete acts, what that reign means for human misery and spiritual oppression.
At the same time, Mark adds a striking restraint: Jesus does not permit the demons “to speak because they knew him” (v. 34). Earlier in this chapter, the unclean spirit in the synagogue identifies Jesus, but Jesus silences him there as well (Mk 1:24-25). Mark is already shaping a pattern: the demons “knew him,” but Jesus “did not permit them to speak” (v. 34). Mark is showing that recognition is not the same as faith and that Jesus controls the timing and terms of disclosure. Mark will steadily bring the reader to a fuller understanding of Jesus—an understanding that includes the cross, not only displays of authority. When people later confess who he is, Mark wants that confession to be formed by the whole story, not by fear, rumor, or misunderstanding.
After an exhausting day of healing and deliverance, “Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed” (v. 35). Mark’s phrase does not require a literal desert; it simply signals solitude. The point is that Jesus withdraws from the crowd and chooses communion with the Father before choosing the next movement of his mission. Mark will mention Jesus praying alone. Prayer, in Mark’s presentation, is not an accessory to the mission. It is an important part of Jesus’ public life.
The disciples then “pursued him” (v. 36). They find him and report, “Everyone is looking for you” (v. 37). Jesus answers them with clarity and direction: “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come” (v. 38). He refuses to be kept in one place, even a place that welcomes him. The mission is larger than one town’s needs, and it is not defined by the crowd’s demands. Luke records a similar emphasis when Jesus insists that he must proclaim the good news elsewhere too (Lk 4:43).
Jesus then goes “into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee” (v. 39). Mark frames Jesus’ work as word and deed together: preaching and deliverance, proclamation and confrontation with what deforms human life. In this early section of Mark, the opposition is not only social or political. It includes spiritual forces that recognize Jesus’ authority but resist his reign. The gospel, as Mark presents it, is not a message that floats above suffering. It is announced in the middle of human weakness, and it arrives with power that restores, heals, and sets free.
This passage also sets a pattern for what Mark will unfold across the Gospel. Jesus heals at home, and then he goes out—because the kingdom he proclaims is meant to be carried outward, from one place to another, until the whole land has heard.
Lord Jesus, you entered the home of Simon and brought healing with your touch. Give your Church fidelity to your mission, steadiness in prayer, and clarity in proclaiming your Gospel in every place. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The Holy Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition (2011).
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, commentary on Mark, p. 67.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre, The Navarre Bible: Mark, pp. 166-167.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu et al., eds., The Paulist Biblical Commentary (2018), pp. 981-982.
- Raymond E. Brown et al., The New Jerome Biblical Commentary (1990), pp. 600-601 (para. 10-12).
- John J. Collins et al., eds., The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, 3rd ed., p. 1247.
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