“And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her.”
Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her — the domestic setting follows the synagogue setting immediately. Simon's mother-in-law has a high fever (pyretos megas, a great fever) — Luke the physician notes the severity. They asked Jesus to help her (ērōtēsan auton peri autēs): the household's intercession on behalf of the suffering woman is the faith-acting-on-behalf-of-another that produces healing.
Church Fathers on Luke 4:38
Luke having first introduced a man delivered from an evil spirit, goes on to relate the healing of a woman. For our Lord had come to heal each sex, and he ought first to be healed who was first created. Hence it is said, And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house.
For He honored His disciples by dwelling among them, and so making them the more zealous.
Now, see how Christ abides in the house of a poor man, suffering poverty of His own will for our sakes, that we might learn to visit the poor, and despise not the destitute and needy. It follows: And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever: and they besought him for her.
Read all 17 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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