13Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.17Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
James 5:13-18
Important things to keep in mind when reading this passage of James and trying to apply it with real people, like you.
1. As a result of the Fall, sickness and suffering are a reality. Further, we will all die a physical death (and after that, face judgment. Hebrews 9:27) In the thick of it, people do forget these truths, but don’t remind them immediately because they will not hear you. See point 3.
2. It is likely that our deaths will be preceded by a period of illness, from which, in the plan of God, we will not be physically healed.
3. People faced with prolonged illness or suffering invariably have to modify their beliefs about God and themselves as a result of their experience. In addition, what they know in their heads often conflicts with their heart response to their experience of suffering (hence the "Why?" theodicy question, see Psalms 13 and 22). So we need to have patience and not be afraid of the expression of powerful emotions that can and do, under God, lead to new insight.
4. In broader context, James has been focusing on love in action authenticating a saving faith in Christ. In the immediate context of this passage, his encouragement to believers is to be mindful of the return of Christ and the coming judgment while persevering in faith in the face of suffering (as per the prophets and Job).
2. It is likely that our deaths will be preceded by a period of illness, from which, in the plan of God, we will not be physically healed.
3. People faced with prolonged illness or suffering invariably have to modify their beliefs about God and themselves as a result of their experience. In addition, what they know in their heads often conflicts with their heart response to their experience of suffering (hence the "Why?" theodicy question, see Psalms 13 and 22). So we need to have patience and not be afraid of the expression of powerful emotions that can and do, under God, lead to new insight.
4. In broader context, James has been focusing on love in action authenticating a saving faith in Christ. In the immediate context of this passage, his encouragement to believers is to be mindful of the return of Christ and the coming judgment while persevering in faith in the face of suffering (as per the prophets and Job).
Notes on the text: James 5:13-18
The primary idea in the opening verse (v13), in keeping with James' theme, is that faith should be applied in action in all circumstances.
Where someone is sick, the faithful response of that person is to "call the elders to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord." In other words, the faithful response is for the sick person to request intercession by the leadership of the church.
(nb The word translated "sick" here in verse 13 has a broader meaning in Greek. The word is astheneo, which is more commonly used in the NT to denote weakness of various kinds, including weakness of a spiritual/moral nature, weakness of a physical nature (illness, yes, but not necessarily serious or life threatening), or weakness of a more general nature (including anxiety, personal inadequacy linked to a sense of rejection, disrepute, dishonour, general powerlessness or even economic weakness (ie poverty)).
(nb the second "sick" in verse 15 is the Greek word kamne, which only appears in one other place in the NT, in Hebrews 12:3 as the word "weary" as in "consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." This I believe to be highly significant given the fact that immediate context indicates James has in mind Job-like faithful perseverance in the face of suffering.)
What are we to make of the fact that these two words translated "sick" in the NIV have such rich layers of meaning? Well, I think James is trying to not limit the context of intercessory prayer and anointing by the leaders of the church to that of serious illness.
Note too that James’ focus is on the faith of the elders praying, not the weakened person. There is no room for telling the weakened person that their faith is deficient if the prayer is not answered. We will see why in a moment.
Just as the words translated "sick" in verses 13 and 15 are able to be interpreted differently in a wide range of contexts, so the words for 'well' and 'raise him up' (verse 15) and 'healed' (verse 16) can be as well. To spare you, I will not go into the details, but ……this only adds more fuel to the hypothesis that James is wanting to cover a wide range of circumstances, including, but not limited to, physical sickness.
Within the context of new covenant relationship with God through love in action (ie faith) in Christ, God's care of his suffering, trusting and persevering ones is multi-faceted and various - God expects faith in action from us in all circumstances, but his care knows no bounds either, nor is there a circumstance where prayer is inappropriate.
This does not mean that the elders of the church should always keep a bottle of oil in their back pockets, but there are clear implications for pastoral ministry within the church context here for prayer, for the leadership of the church and for the membership in general. How might this passage be applied in your church, in your ministry context? Is it already? How?
Why oil though? It’s a good question.
Culturally, oil for the Jews symbolized a number of characteristics that encouraged the one being anointed. Ps 89:20-25 points to oil being something that infused the anointee (in this case David) with strength from God. Oil was also used to mark a new beginning (of particular pastoral significance to one weakened by suffering), it was also associated with joy (Ps 45:7, Isa 61:3) and an expectation of restoration, security and care by God. (nb It must be said that the "nard" referred to in John 12:1-8 at Mary's anointing of Jesus was a very expensive fragrant oil often used to rub on a dead body to neutralize the smell of decay, but she, out of an immediate and pressing desire, used it to express her devotion to Christ while he was alive.)
The prayer of faith -- the anticipation is that God will do as he desires, in accordance with his character, not that he will do what we want him to. To anticipate the latter runs counter to James telling his readers to preface their plans with "if it be the Lord's will," thus demonstrating a humble dependence on God's faithfulness to his promises, not a high-handedness or a presumption. God's will determines the outcome. So the prayer of faith can only be offered if the will of God is in keeping with the prayer. The righteous person's prayer is powerful and effective not because of personal merit, but because of close relationship with God enabling discernment of how to pray in accordance with the will of God. There is also of course the possibility that the weakened person will indeed die, and if that is likely, then confession if they need to and intercessory prayer by the leadership of the church are entirely appropriate preparations for the ultimate healing (resurrection and eternal life, see Rev. 21:1-5)
Confession - It is destructive to assume that sickness (although we might understand it more as weakness in this passage) is as a result of sin. Job's wasn't. The man in the gospels who was born blind was born so not as a result of sin ("Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" Neither! says Jesus (John 9:2ff). In some cases there can certainly be a direct link, eg alcohol abuse and vascular dementia is one that springs to mind, but even then, there may be people with vascular dementia who have not abused alcohol at all. So we need to be very careful. However, there is evidence in my pastoral experience to say that some sickness has its origin in sin. For example, knotted pain in the stomach can be a result of unforgiveness and if not dealt with, can lead to ulcers. The notion of sin resulting in sickness accords with scripture as well, although my example (which just springs to mind) is in a very specific context. Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:30 that some of the Corinthians have grown weak and sick and some have died as a result of failing to take communion after appropriate self-examination and failing to recognize that it is the bodily sacrifice of Christ that brings them forgiveness.
The primary idea in the opening verse (v13), in keeping with James' theme, is that faith should be applied in action in all circumstances.
Where someone is sick, the faithful response of that person is to "call the elders to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord." In other words, the faithful response is for the sick person to request intercession by the leadership of the church.
(nb The word translated "sick" here in verse 13 has a broader meaning in Greek. The word is astheneo, which is more commonly used in the NT to denote weakness of various kinds, including weakness of a spiritual/moral nature, weakness of a physical nature (illness, yes, but not necessarily serious or life threatening), or weakness of a more general nature (including anxiety, personal inadequacy linked to a sense of rejection, disrepute, dishonour, general powerlessness or even economic weakness (ie poverty)).
(nb the second "sick" in verse 15 is the Greek word kamne, which only appears in one other place in the NT, in Hebrews 12:3 as the word "weary" as in "consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." This I believe to be highly significant given the fact that immediate context indicates James has in mind Job-like faithful perseverance in the face of suffering.)
What are we to make of the fact that these two words translated "sick" in the NIV have such rich layers of meaning? Well, I think James is trying to not limit the context of intercessory prayer and anointing by the leaders of the church to that of serious illness.
Note too that James’ focus is on the faith of the elders praying, not the weakened person. There is no room for telling the weakened person that their faith is deficient if the prayer is not answered. We will see why in a moment.
Just as the words translated "sick" in verses 13 and 15 are able to be interpreted differently in a wide range of contexts, so the words for 'well' and 'raise him up' (verse 15) and 'healed' (verse 16) can be as well. To spare you, I will not go into the details, but ……this only adds more fuel to the hypothesis that James is wanting to cover a wide range of circumstances, including, but not limited to, physical sickness.
Within the context of new covenant relationship with God through love in action (ie faith) in Christ, God's care of his suffering, trusting and persevering ones is multi-faceted and various - God expects faith in action from us in all circumstances, but his care knows no bounds either, nor is there a circumstance where prayer is inappropriate.
This does not mean that the elders of the church should always keep a bottle of oil in their back pockets, but there are clear implications for pastoral ministry within the church context here for prayer, for the leadership of the church and for the membership in general. How might this passage be applied in your church, in your ministry context? Is it already? How?
Why oil though? It’s a good question.
Culturally, oil for the Jews symbolized a number of characteristics that encouraged the one being anointed. Ps 89:20-25 points to oil being something that infused the anointee (in this case David) with strength from God. Oil was also used to mark a new beginning (of particular pastoral significance to one weakened by suffering), it was also associated with joy (Ps 45:7, Isa 61:3) and an expectation of restoration, security and care by God. (nb It must be said that the "nard" referred to in John 12:1-8 at Mary's anointing of Jesus was a very expensive fragrant oil often used to rub on a dead body to neutralize the smell of decay, but she, out of an immediate and pressing desire, used it to express her devotion to Christ while he was alive.)
The prayer of faith -- the anticipation is that God will do as he desires, in accordance with his character, not that he will do what we want him to. To anticipate the latter runs counter to James telling his readers to preface their plans with "if it be the Lord's will," thus demonstrating a humble dependence on God's faithfulness to his promises, not a high-handedness or a presumption. God's will determines the outcome. So the prayer of faith can only be offered if the will of God is in keeping with the prayer. The righteous person's prayer is powerful and effective not because of personal merit, but because of close relationship with God enabling discernment of how to pray in accordance with the will of God. There is also of course the possibility that the weakened person will indeed die, and if that is likely, then confession if they need to and intercessory prayer by the leadership of the church are entirely appropriate preparations for the ultimate healing (resurrection and eternal life, see Rev. 21:1-5)
Confession - It is destructive to assume that sickness (although we might understand it more as weakness in this passage) is as a result of sin. Job's wasn't. The man in the gospels who was born blind was born so not as a result of sin ("Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?" Neither! says Jesus (John 9:2ff). In some cases there can certainly be a direct link, eg alcohol abuse and vascular dementia is one that springs to mind, but even then, there may be people with vascular dementia who have not abused alcohol at all. So we need to be very careful. However, there is evidence in my pastoral experience to say that some sickness has its origin in sin. For example, knotted pain in the stomach can be a result of unforgiveness and if not dealt with, can lead to ulcers. The notion of sin resulting in sickness accords with scripture as well, although my example (which just springs to mind) is in a very specific context. Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:30 that some of the Corinthians have grown weak and sick and some have died as a result of failing to take communion after appropriate self-examination and failing to recognize that it is the bodily sacrifice of Christ that brings them forgiveness.
Indeed, I believe James is saying that if sin is involved as a cause of the weakness, however that weakness might be experienced, confession and prayer will bring healing, both physical and spiritual (eg. Sin confessed, forgiveness sought and received, knotted pain disappears, ulcer heals). If it is not the cause of the weakness, then prayer in accordance with the will of God (see above) will still be powerful and effective.
The last verses highlight the value of fervent prayer and right relationship with God. Also, there is a fellowship with Elijah that James' readers would have found encouraging - that of his humanity perhaps, but more importantly that he was a figure who suffered much in the midst of faithful service. It was when the people ofIsrael
I hope this has been of some help to you.
Rev.Stuart Adamson , Anglican Chaplain and Pastoral Supervisor (CPE) (Prince of Wales Hospital , NSW Australia
The last verses highlight the value of fervent prayer and right relationship with God. Also, there is a fellowship with Elijah that James' readers would have found encouraging - that of his humanity perhaps, but more importantly that he was a figure who suffered much in the midst of faithful service. It was when the people of
I hope this has been of some help to you.
Rev.
Whilst it is correct to see all the prayers and responses to God in James 5 as within the eschatalogical context of the return of Christ, the truth of all the conditional items and caveats referred to by Stuart should not take from us the mood of hope and expectation implied in the passages. I have heard (and may even have preached!) sermons where God's promises were so over-explained with corrective material that there was, in effect, no promise left!
ReplyDeleteJesus gave the anonymous 70/72 disciples authority to heal - knowing that some would remain unhealed in this life, and James clearly encourages folk to seek prayer for healing when they are sick (with whatever).
I prefer to pray (and not "just pray") that God will (not "might" or "may") heal. If God will not do it now or within this life, then I want to help the person (or myself) come to terms with this in a way that strengthens relationship with Christ. Certainly faith is not the same as presumption.
There are many useful exegetical details in Stuart's article. However, with regard to item 4 we need to remember that there are passages of Scripture, eg in Ephesians 1 and 2, that value first-fruits and pre-emptings of the life-to-come, including prayer that we shall experience on this earth experience of the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
I do not want to be in such a position of trying to be "sound" that I won't come boldly through the torn curtain into the majestic presence of my loving Heavenly Father with a heart-felt straight-forward request for healing.
Lindsay Johnstone, Chaplain Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.