29Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30But Simon's wife's mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them.
Peter had a wife!! Somehow I always thought of all these guys as bachelors. They entered the house of the brothers Simon and Andrew, but apparently the household also included Simon's wife and her mother. Even though I previously thought of verses 16-18 as saying how Jesus' followers were expected to abandon family and home, here I see that family and home is still very important and included in everyday life. It just says they were stopping in at the house of Simon and Andrew after leaving the synagogue. The way it is phrased, it doesn't sound like they found out that the mother-in-law was sick till they got to the house. This kind of family visit to the disciple's home seems to be a normal routine and not something out of the ordinary.
When they told Jesus about the mother-in-law's fever, was it to ask for healing? Or was it to warn Jesus that there might be something contagious in the house? So far, the only healing they had seen was casting out of an unclean spirit. So I would tend to believe the latter. Either way, Jesus went to her and healed her.
Why did he heal her? So he could be served? I don't think so. Jesus doesn't seem to me to be that kind of God. Besides, it says "And she served them", not "So she served them". What mother/mother-in-law/grandmother, hasn't welcomed her guests by offering food? This wanting to serve guests seems to have been a trait of mothers of all kinds for many generations.
When we are faced with problems, it is important that we take our problems to Jesus. We should not request what we want Jesus to do with our problems because sometimes he can do even more than we could have imagined with them. And when Jesus takes care of our problems, we should show our love and appreciation to Jesus in the best way we know how. For some, that will be praising Jesus' name, for others that will be showing love by serving food.