Ministry in the Home

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Scripture

When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.
(Matthew 8:14 NASB)
He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.
(Matthew 8:15 NASB)
When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill.
(Matthew 8:16 NASB)

 

Observation

Peter and family have established a home in Capernaum. Peter is living with his wife and mother-in-law which is a rather unusual arrangement. It means that there was probably the loss of all men in that household and so instead of Peter having his wife come and join his home, he was willing to become the man of his wife's home. One can only imagine this tight-knit family and today you can visit Capernaum and find the ruins of an early church which was built right on this very site .
This was the home that loved and nurtured Jesus. When you look closely at the years he spent in ministry, he wasn't in Nazareth with his family, but he was living in Capernaum. This woman would have been near and dear to him. Jesus came into the home and found the woman of the house terribly ill and had compassion on her and healed her. The next verse allows us to see how complete the healing was for she was well enough to step right back into her usual routine which was caring for the household which included caring for Jesus.

The community had come to know that Jesus was living in this house. Now, as evening came, the home was not consumed with the illness of one among their midst, but rather, were ready to serve those who had need. The sick, the poor and the needy from the town and surrounding area came, wanting to see Jesus and to be healed.

 

Application

Much of Jesus' ministry took place in a simple setting such as this home. He reached out to a needy world but met them in the simplicity of their daily lives. However, there was something significant about this home. Here were women who could have complained to God that they had been left without a man to care for them. Instead, God sent them a man by the name of Peter who was willing to leave his family and become the provider for his wife's family. Here is a mother-in-law who watched the transformation of her blustery fisherman son-in-law into a man of God whose faith in this man Jesus would literally change the world. Not only did she watch the transformation but she became a part of the team. She opened her home and it became a center of ministry, now remembered for all time!

God is asking us to open our homes to be centers of ministry. Too often we think that ministry has to be something complicated when in reality it is opening our doors to being hospitable in our corner of the world. It's inviting Jesus in and allowing him to become a part of everything we do in our home. In the midst of that service to him we also discover his healing touch.

Ministry is not a difficult thing. Open the door and simply let him in and discover that ministry begins in the home.

 

Prayer

Lord, may I simply and faithfully follow you in the ordinary steps of each day. Amen.

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