Verse 8:15: “She arose and ministered to them”

Verse 8:15: “She arose and ministered to them”: 

She was prostrate (lying on the bed) confined by a fever. But just one touch of our Lord cured her completely. Not only that she was healed, but she was healthy enough to minister our Lord and His disciples. The first thing to do when one receives blessing of the Lord is to praise him and act accordingly. There are many examples in the Holy Bible, such as the Samarian, leper, the demon-possessed, the crippled (Acts). 

Earlier on the same day that our Lord caste out unclean spirit (Mark 1:23), on the way, He also healed the centurion’s servant. In short, He acted in the middle of multitudes and even when there was no one nearby. 

“And when it was evening, they brought many demoniacs before him”: Why later till evening? There is only one reason. It was Sabbath day. Even carrying a head-load was punishable on Sabbath day. To carry an object of the weight of a fig was carrying a burden. So the people with disease were waiting to see at least two stars (so that day has ended) to see Lord. But Jesus ministered others from dawn to dusk. 

Sabbath: The Sabbath was a day of rest "sanctified to the Lord" (Exodus 16:23; 31:15; Duet 5:14). The Jews observed the 7th day of the week as Sabbath. They observed this steadfastly, during Babel exile and even when they came back. The Prophets laid great stress on its proper observance. How the Jews observed it can be seen in OT and NT books (Exodus 20:8-11; Levi 19:3, 30; 23:3; Numbers 28:9; Duet 5:15; Jeremiah 17:21; Ezekiel 46:3; Matthew 12:5, 12; Mark 2:27; Luke 4:16, 31; 6:6; 13:16; John 9:14; Acts 13:14, 15, 27, 44, 17:3, 18:4; Hebrew 4:4-9). The violators will be punished. Their punishments are in Exodus 31:14, 15; Numbers 15:32-36; Nehemiah 13:15-18, 30, 31. 

But later the Scribes made the observance so meticulous that it went far beyond what the law contemplated. Thus it became a burden and this became one of the foremost of the formal rites. At the time of Maccabees, the Jews would rather be massacred than fight on Sabbath (I Macc. 2:35-38). In the war, thousands were killed because they could not take weapons or fight. But later they changed that rule. The ‘Mishna’ treatise, Sabbath enumerates thirty-nine main heads of forbidden actions. Among the main heads are such trifling actions as weaving two threads, sewing two stitches, writing two letters, etc. To pluck two ears of wheat was considered as reaping, while to rub them was a species of threshing (Matt., 13: 1-2; Mark 2:23-24; Luke 6:1-2). Carrying a bed was definitely a non-observance of Sabbath. It was unlawful to cure on the Sabbath or to apply a remedy unless life was endangered. This was the way by which they observed Sabbath during the time of our Lord.

Our Lord scolded this hieratical observance (Matthew 12:1-10; Mark 2:27; Luke 4:16, 13: 14-17, 14:5; John 5:10, 7:23, 9:14). 

The early church observed the 1st day of the week – Sunday – as Lord’s Day. Apostle St. Paul exhorts against the Jewish observance of Saturday as Sabbath (Roman 14:5; Gala 4:9, Col. 2:16). Since Jesus re-assured and appeared to them, the disciples considered that day as important (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). That day, they called “Lord’s Day” (Rev 1:10).