It is significant that Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law, because while Luke 4:38 might seem to imply that Peter needed to plead for her healing, Matthew shows that Jesus cared about her as soon as he saw her (Matthew 8:14), in spite of their fear that they might be neglected (Matthew 19:27). The woman healed was Peter’s mother-in-law by his marriage to the woman who also accompanied him on his journeys (1 Corinthians 9:5).
In Matthew 8:14 the evangelist specifically highlights the fact that Jesus was the one who saw Peter’s mother-in-law and took initiative. This is significant, especially because based on Luke’s account of events alone, one could easily conclude that an appeal first had to be made on Jesus before he noticed the woman (see Luke 4:38). What Matthew’s account therefore highlights is that Jesus, even in the midst of the battle, truly cared about the people on the home front (see Matthew 19:27). Furthermore, in light of Matthew 8:14 we can derive from 1 Corinthians 9:5 that the apostle Peter was indeed married and that his wife accompanied him on his journeys.1
14 And when Jesus entered Peter’s house, he saw his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.