Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

electing mercy ... (Deut. 28:4; Is. 25:6-7; 61:3; Am. 6:6; Mic. 6:15; Ps. 23:5;
45:8; 92:11; 133:2; Prov. 29:7; Eccl. 9:8; Mt. 6:17; 26:6-13; Lk. 7:36-50) ...
the elders bring and apply to the afflicted one the outward tangible sign of
God’s covenant faithfulness in regard to human distress, and the pledge that,
in adversity and in happiness, God’s plan does not miscarry” (Martin, 202).
And in the words of another, “Oil was certainly used in the ancient world as
medicine (cf. Psalm 55:21; Lk. 10:34). There is, however, no indication of
any medicinal use in James 5:14, particularly when the contextual emphasis
on effectual prayer and the power of the Lord is given its full weight. James is
not talking about the calling of a physician and taking the prescribed medicine:
he is describing how the ministry of intercessory prayer is to be exercised
in the case of believers who are ill ... Oil is clearly used as a symbol that
encourages faith and not some kind of magic potion (Mark 6:13). In this light,
anointing the sick with oil today can only have relevance as a symbol of the
grace of God, which alone is the source and power of the healing for which
prayer is offered. The anointing cannot be regarded as either essential or effectual
in itself” (Keddie, 212). 369
On balance, the proponents of the symbolical use of oil appear to have
the stronger argument. First, there is no evidence of the universal application
of medicinal oil in the case of each sickness. This makes it unlikely that
James would require such application. Second, the early Church used the
term euchelaion, a combination of prayer and oil, which clearly suggests a
symbolical activity. Third, the use of the term aleipho may merely imply that
there was some physical action involved. Apparently aleipho occurs 20 times
in the Septuagint, in several instances in a symbolical sense (Ex. 40:15; Num.
3:3), and chrio 78 times, but neither one ever for medicinal purposes. At the
same time aleipho always requires a physical application, even if it is not medicinal,
also in the NT (John 11:2; 12:3), while chrio never requires a physical
procedure (See Burdick, 177-179, for this overview).
However, whatever explanation one takes, two things should be clear.
First, it is the “fervent request offered in faith,” and “not the anointing that
makes the sick person well” and raises him up from his sickbed (Nystrom,
306-307). Man may, in fact, must anoint, but God restores to health (Zodhiates,
III, 125, 139). The next verse adds that it is the faith of the elders, and
not of the sick person, that makes the difference! Second, James teaches dependence
upon God for healing. After all, the anointing must be done in the
369 Tasker, 130-131, holds that oil has been known to have curative power. However, because
of the breadth of the injunction to anoint with oil in this context, he is of the opinion that this
procedure was an accompaniment of miraculous healings that were not infrequent in the early
Church as a vindication of the truth of the Christian Gospel, although it was not a necessary
accompaniment of such healings.
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