Jesus went into their synagogues, preaching and driving out demons throughout the whole of Galilee. In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus is presented as having hit the ground running. After his period of preparation (baptism and testing in the desert), Jesus embarks with haste and some sense of urgency on the two important aspects of his mission: teaching and healing. In yesterday's Gospel reading, we were presented with the account of how the people marveled at the authenticity of Jesus' teaching. Unlike the scribes, Jesus' teaching touched the lives of the people. In the passage we have read today, we are afforded a glimpse into another reason why Jesus’ teaching carried with it an aura of authenticity: Jesus not being afraid of coming down and, as it were, getting his hands dirty.
Whereas in yesterday's reading we saw Jesus healing the possessed man from "afar" (he rebuked the evil spirit and commanded it to come out of the man), in today's passage, the healing takes on a more intimate nature: Jesus grasps Simon's mother in-law by the hand. Of course Jesus would have successfully healed her from "afar" just as he later did with the centurion’s servant (cf. Luke 7:1-10). However, it was not only about the healing. Even without using words, Jesus wanted to continue teaching. In a society where gender inequality was widely practiced and tolerated, Jesus, a rabbi, went ahead and touched the hands of a woman who was not his wife. Secondly, Jesus allowed himself to get into contact with a sick person, and by so doing, put his own life at risk. If Jesus' teaching was authoritative, it was because he practiced what he taught. How else would he explain God being involved in a person's life if he, a rabbi and God's messenger, watched from afar those who were in need of services? How could he explain the good news of God breaking down the barriers of oppression and inequality if he himself acted in a way that portrayed an endorsement of oppression and inequality? He had to ensure that his actions matched what he taught. He held the hands of the ailing Simon’s mother in-law in order to teach.