He laid his hands on each of them and cured them. After ‘wowing’ those who had gathered in the synagogue (cf. Luke 4:31-37), Jesus must have accompanied Simon to his house, perhaps to rest for the remainder of the day. But if rest is what he was after, he was mistaken. For the news of him having travelled through the surrounding countryside (the ending of yesterday’s Gospel), Jesus was a highly sought-after individual. By sunset, Simon’s house was turned into a temporary mobile clinic as the sick were brought to Jesus for healing. And Jesus did his best not to disappoint them. He healed those who were sick and drove out demons from those who were possessed. It must have been a sight to behold considering how Jesus performed the healings. 
We know that Jesus could have just  said the word and the sick would have been restored to wholeness (those who were brought to him were suffering from all kinds of sicknesses, some of which could have been contagious requiring him not to have contact with them). However, Jesus did not  just say the word. In addition to restoring them to wholeness, Jesus also wanted to give them what they must have been missing the most, something whose lack must have added to their misery: human touch. Rather than healing them ‘from a distance,’ as it were, Jesus proceeded to lay his hands on each of them, letting them know that they were still fully human. By laying his hands on them, Jesus reassured them that their illnesses had not taken away their human worth. By reaching out and touching them, Jesus showed those who were present what the good news of the kingdom he was preaching was really about. By extending his hands and touching those whom he was healing, he showed those who were in the room what constituted the good news and why it was considered as such. His preaching mission and ministry could be good news only if it restored men and women to wholeness. It was only good news if it restored a sense of worth to those who had lost it because of sickness. He wanted to preach by his way of life.