The healing of the man with leprosy was another attempt by Jesus to get the Jerusalem Pharisees to see that they had abandoned the central act that constituted authentic religion. The trusting leper was made clean, and by inference, the Pharisees who prized their religious purity, showed themselves to be impure due to their lack of faith.

Mark paints a picture of utter normalcy as a result of Jesus' act of healing of Simon's mother-in-law. Jesus exhibited no unusual behavior in order to cause the healing, and the old woman exhibited no unusual behavior upon regaining her health. If Norman Rockwell had lived during Jesus' ministry, this event might have ended up on the cover of the next Saturday Evening Post.

There are those today who believe in the power of spirits, and in some ways, our contemporary superstitions are very similar to those in ancient times. Today's Gospel reports a healing of "a man with an unclean spirit." (Mark 1:23)