{"id":5398,"date":"2009-07-14T12:35:27","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T12:35:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/2009\/07\/a-brothers-wisdom-86.html"},"modified":"2009-07-14T12:35:27","modified_gmt":"2009-07-14T12:35:27","slug":"a-brothers-wisdom-86","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/07\/a-brothers-wisdom-86.html","title":{"rendered":"A Brother’s Wisdom 86"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JesusJames*.jpg\"<\/span> We are looking at the last passage in James, James 5:13-20.<\/p>\n

James urges the messianic community to summon elders to pray over the sick:<\/p>\n

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to
\npray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.<\/i><\/p>\n

The word “sick” means just about what you and I think it does: sick. Probably sick enough though to stand out from ordinary sickness that humans both expect and typically recover from; in fact, the passage goes on to use words that may well indicate the person is seriously sick — perhaps near death. The elders, which shows there is some kind of leadership over messianists in the communities to which James writes, are to pray and anoint with oil. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It was also customary in the ancient world to
\nanoint someone with oil<\/i>. <\/span><\/span><\/a>Such an act could be more medicinal, procedural and connected to the natural
\nhealing process, as in Isaiah 1:6 when he speaks of wounds: “they have not been
\ndrained, or bound up, or softened with oil.” The same is found in the parable
\nof Good Samaritan: “He went to him and bandaged his
\nwounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal,
\nbrought him to an inn, and took care of him” (Luke 10:34). <\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span>A text in Josephus about Herod makes this most clear:<\/font><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

Yet,
\nstruggling as was with numerous sufferings, he clung to life, hoped for
\nrecovery, and devised one remedy after another. Thus he crossed the Jordan to
\ntake warm baths as Callirrhoe … . There, the physicians deciding to raise the
\ntemperature of his whole body with hot oil, he was lowered into a bath full of
\nthat liquid, whereupon he fainted and turned up his eyes as though he were
\ndead. His attendants raising an uproar, their cries brought him to himself … (War<\/i> 1.657-658).<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

But, anointing with oil was also used for
\nhealing supernaturally through the power and grace made available in Christ and
\nthrough the Spirit.<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/font> Thus, Mark
\n6:13: “<\/font>They <\/font>cast out many demons, and anointed with
\noil many who were sick and cured them.” <\/font>Forks appear in the road once we leave
\nthe obvious and general of this discussion. James’ words could involve the oil
\nbeing symbolic of consecration of the person to God (e.g., Exod 28:41; Acts 4:27;
\n10:38; 2 Cor 1:21) or the oil could be seen sacramentally, something that
\nmediates God’s healing grace. This is clearly developed in the history of the
\nChurch (in the Euchelaion<\/i>), which led
\nto such Roman Catholic practices as “extreme unction” and the “anointing of the
\nsick.”<\/font><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are looking at the last passage in James, James 5:13-20. James urges the messianic community to summon elders to pray over the sick: Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. The word “sick”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james"],"yoast_head":"\nA Brother's Wisdom 86 - Jesus Creed<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jesuscreed\/2009\/07\/a-brothers-wisdom-86.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Brother's Wisdom 86 - Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are looking at the last passage in James, James 5:13-20. 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