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Healing amidst fears of SARS: a retelling of Luke 4:38-40
By Kelly Muhonen
timbrel, July-August 2003
In 2003 Timbrel featured a series of articles retelling Bible stories in our present day world. This “Jesus in Our Midst” story is based on Luke 4:38-40, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law.
A great teacher had come to the Chinese village of Heze at what seemed like an inopportune time. The villagers had heard about him, of course. It was said that he was not only a great teacher but could heal people as well. The villagers wanted to hear him speak, but all were afraid of the crowds and of the disease that might be hiding in the crowds.
Illness had raced across the country but the rumors about it spread even faster. No one knew what to believe, but they were certainly all afraid. Restaurants, theaters, transportation —everything had shut down. Everyone was wearing masks, afraid to go out, afraid to breathe, afraid to get too close.
Lao Gu’s son-in-law, Xi Men, was a village leader. He was going to bring the teacher home for dinner, so Lao Gu and her daughter Wei Mei spent the morning at the market, bargaining for the best prices and searching for the freshest meats and vegetables. Everyone knew the teacher was to be her guest, and while they envied her, many warned her of the danger. After all, he had been traveling in the southern part of China, where the disease was most prevalent. Who knew if he was safe to be around? Lao Gu waved them off, but in her heart she worried.
Lao Gu and Wei Mei rode home from the market with their bicycle baskets stuffed with food. For such an honored guest, they would cook all day. They filled the kitchen stove with wood and soon the courtyard was filled with the scent of garlic, ginger, and hot chiles.
But then the fever struck. Lao Gu’s head began to ache. It was difficult to breathe, and her body hurt terribly. Wei Mei saw the sweat on her forehead and the paleness around her eyes, and led her to the little bedroom. “Ma, Ma, don’t you worry, I can do the cooking; you must rest.” All afternoon Lao Gu lay in bed, fearful of her illness, afraid that her daughter’s cooking wouldn’t be good enough, worried what the cost of her illness would be. They had no money for a doctor. No one in the village did.
The rest of the household went to hear the teacher speak, returning with him late in the afternoon. Xi Men scampered to fetch a cup of tea, all the while apologizing for the humbleness of their home. “You must be so tired, Teacher,” Xi Men said. “Please sit and rest before dinner.” To their surprise, however, he courteously declined the tea and chair and came directly to Lao Gu’s room.
He was not so tall, not so handsome a man, but as the teacher entered the room, Lao Gu saw a tenderness in his eyes she had never seen before. Wei Mei came behind him. Bowing her head slightly, she said, “Teacher, this is my mother, Gu Chao. She is very ill. If it pleases you, will you heal her?”
He said nothing at first but simply looked at Lao Gu with such overpowering kindness that she could barely return his glance. She knew that he really saw her, not the scarcity, the lack, or the meagerness of their home. He saw her and he saw her with an abundance of love.
But when he spoke, she was surprised at the fierceness of his tone. In fact, it was not to her he spoke. He spoke to her sickness, commanded it to go—and she felt it leave! A great heaviness lifted, the ache disappeared, and her mind was clear and full of peace. She felt nearly giddy with gratitude. Not only had the teacher healed her body; he had freed her from the fears that had burdened her for so long. She got up, took both his hands in hers, and shook them: “Thank you, thank you, Great Teacher.”
Lao Gu was so overwhelmed with joy that she didn’t know what to do. She led the teacher to the most comfortable chair, poured a fresh cup of tea, carefully peeled a ripe pear for him, and pulled Wei Mei into the kitchen. In no time at all they had crammed the table full of steaming dishes, with the choicest fish set before the teacher.
Barely had their chopsticks touched the food before the villagers filled the courtyard, bringing the sick and the hurting. Lao Gu tried to shoo them away so the teacher could finish his meal, but then she saw on his face that look of compassion he had for each one of them.
Lao Gu bustled around the courtyard offering hot water and sunflower seeds to her neighbors, telling everyone the story of what the teacher had done for her. And he did it again and again; no matter what hurt the villagers carried, he healed it that evening in Heze.
For the first time in weeks, the villagers gathered together without fear, and left Lao Gu’s home rejoicing.
Kelly Muhonen worked with China Educational Exchange from 1999-2002, teaching English to college students. During that time, Chinese Christian friends told her of villagers turning to Jesus because of healings in his name. “Many village women are illiterate and unable to read this story from Luke,” she says, “but they are experiencing its power in their own lives!”
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