Church Fathers Commentary Matthew 8:14-15

"And when Jesus was come into Peter`s house, he saw his wife`s mother lying sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she arose, and ministered unto him." — Matthew 8:14-15 (ASV)

Anselm of Canterbury: Having shown the healing of the whole human race in the leper, and that of the Gentiles in the centurion's servant, Matthew now portrays the healing of the synagogue in Peter's mother-in-law.

He relates the case of the servant first, either because it was the greater miracle and the grace was greater in the conversion of the Gentiles, or because the synagogue would not be fully converted until the end of the age when the fullness of the Gentiles had entered in. Peter's house was in Bethsaida.

St. John Chrysostom: Why did He enter Peter's house? I think it was to eat, for the text continues, And she arose, and ministered to them. He stayed with His disciples to honor them and make them more zealous.

Observe Peter's reverence for Christ. Although his mother-in-law lay at home sick with a fever, he did not urge Him to go there at once, but waited until His teaching was completed and others were healed. From the beginning, he was instructed to prefer others to himself.

For this reason, Peter did not even bring Him there; Christ went in of His own accord. He intended to show what He would grant to a disciple, especially after the centurion had said, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof. He did not hesitate to enter the humble hut of a fisherman, instructing us in everything to trample on human pride.

Sometimes He heals by a word, and sometimes He reaches out His hand, as He did here: He touched her hand, and the fever left her.¹

For He did not always work miracles with a display of surpassing power, but would sometimes remain hidden. By touching her body, He not only banished the fever but restored her to perfect health. Because her sickness was one that medicine could cure, He showed His power to heal by doing what medicine could not: giving her back perfect health and strength at once. This is indicated by what the Evangelist adds: And she arose, and ministered to them.

St. Jerome: Normally, great weakness follows a fever, and the effects of sickness begin to be felt just as the patient starts to recover. But the health that is given by the Lord's power is complete all at once.

Glossa Ordinaria: And it is not enough that she is cured; strength is also given to her, for she arose and ministered unto them.²

St. John Chrysostom: This phrase, she arose and ministered unto them, shows at once the Lord's power and the woman's devotion to Christ.

The Venerable Bede: Figuratively, Peter's house is the Law, or the circumcision. His mother-in-law is the synagogue, which is, as it were, the mother of the Church committed to Peter. She is in a fever—that is, she is sick with zealous hatred and persecutes the Church. The Lord touches her hand when He transforms her carnal works into spiritual ones.

Remigius of Auxerre: Alternatively, Peter's mother-in-law can be understood as the Law, which, according to the Apostle, was made weak through the flesh—that is, through a carnal understanding. But when the Lord, through the mystery of the Incarnation, appeared visibly in the synagogue, fulfilled the Law in His actions, and taught that it must be understood spiritually, the Law was immediately joined with the grace of the Gospel. It then received such strength that what had been a minister of death and punishment became a minister of life and glory.

Rabanus Maurus: Or, every soul that struggles with fleshly lusts is sick with a fever. But when touched by the hand of divine mercy, it recovers its health, restrains the concupiscence of the flesh with the bridle of continence, and with the same limbs that had served uncleanness, it now ministers to righteousness.

St. Hilary of Poitiers: Alternatively, Peter's mother-in-law shows the sickly condition of infidelity, to which free will is closely related, being united to it as if by the bonds of marriage. By the Lord's entrance into Peter's house—that is, into the body—unbelief is cured. This unbelief was previously sick with the fever of sin, and now it ministers to the Savior in duties of righteousness.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Matthew does not say when this miracle was done—that is, after what event or before what event. We do not need to assume that it took place immediately after the event that precedes it in the narrative; he may be returning here to something he had previously omitted. For Mark relates this after the cleansing of the leper, which seems to follow the Sermon on the Mount, about which Mark is silent. Luke also follows the same order as Mark in relating this event concerning Peter's mother-in-law, also inserting it before that long sermon which appears to be the same as Matthew's Sermon on the Mount.³

But what does it matter in what order the events are told? Whether something previously omitted is brought in later, or what was done later is told earlier, is unimportant, as long as the author does not contradict another evangelist or himself in the same story. Since it is not in anyone's power to choose the order in which they remember things they once knew, it is likely that each of the Evangelists felt obligated to relate events in the order that God brought them to his memory. Therefore, when the order of events is not clear, the specific narrative sequence that any one of them followed should not matter to us.

1. Hom. xxvii
2. non occ.
3. De Cons. Evan., ii, 21