Biblical Eldership Church Leadership

James’ Instruction to the Sick

conclude that his message is that medicine and prayer work together. This of course is true, but it is unlikely that James intends to comment on medicine or to encourage elders to act as physicians. James certainly is not naive enough to believe that oil is curative for all diseases. We can assume that if oil were needed for medicinal purposes, it would have been applied long before the elders’ visit. It is because medicine did not work that the elders are called. The elders’ task is to pray for healing, and according to verse 15, it is the prayer of faith—not the oil—that restores the sick. No matter what the sickness is, the elders’ prayer accompanied by oil is the scriptural prescription. In the only other passage in which anointing the sick with oil appears (Mark 6:13), the anointing suggests a symbolic significance only. According to the Gospel record, anointing the sick with oil was practiced by the apostles during our Lord’s earthly ministry, presumably at His instruction. Mark 6213 provides help in interpreting the use of oil mentioned in James 5214: “And they went out and preached that men should repent. And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them” (Mark 5: 12,13). According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus sent out the Twelve in twos to preach, cast out demons, and heal the sick (Mark 627,12; Matt. 1021; Luke 9: 1,2). Mark alone adds that the TWelve anointed (aleipho) the sick with oil. Some commentators believe that the apostles anointed people with oil for medicinal purposes (Luke 10:34), but that is doubtful. Applying oil for medicinal purposes would have seriously weakened and confounded the apostles’ unique, miracle-working ministry which was intended to supematurally confirm their Messianic message (Luke 10:9). Christ gave the Twelve the power “to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness,” so they didn’t need medicine (Matt. 10: 1; cf. Luke 9:2). The oil, therefore, must have had a symbolic significance. Those who hold the medicinal anointing view also claim that if James meant to say that elders anoint with oil for spiritual and symbolic reasons, then he would have used the more sacred Greek term for anointing, chrio, rather than aleipho'. The distinction between aleipho' and chrio, however, is not hard and fast. Although chrio is the more common term used in the Greek Old Testament (LXX) for the ceremonial anointing of priests or kings, aleipho‘ is also used (at least three times) for anointing priests. “And you

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