Is Anyone Among You Sick?

Is Anyone Among You Sick?

—James 5:14

James wrote to believers who had fled Jerusalem under great persecution, and his letter is amazingly relevant to modern Christianity on several points. He, for instance, called on the church to be in touch with the hurting world that is all around us. We live in the midst of a world of hurts. Hearts are hurting. Families are hurting. Tragically, when people today hear the word church, they too often think of a musty-smelling, irrelevant institution out of touch with real human need. Have we looked around us lately? People are not simply sick physically but mentally, emotionally, and spiritually sick. Thus, we find ourselves asking an extremely pertinent question for our own culture: “Is anyone among you sick?”

Perhaps no other ministry of the New Testament church has seen as much perversion as the church’s healing ministry. While many involved may have wonderful intentions and pure hearts, some healing ministries have too often been a vehicle for a few to build their own personal financial kingdoms by offering false hopes of healing to any and all who come their way. Here in James 5, we find the only directive in Scripture concerning praying for those who are sick.

Contextually James described a local church ministry at a member’s bedside. After all, who most needs healing? Is it the person who can get up, get dressed, drive to the city auditorium, listen to a flashy and fancy preacher, and then stand in a “healing line” for an extended period of time? Or is the one who cannot get out of bed in greater need of the Great Physician’s healing touch?

THE PROBE

“Is anyone among you sick?” The key to understanding this question is the word sick. James chose a word in Greek that means “without strength” or “to be weak.” Erroneously, we often assume that only physical sickness is involved. However, the word can include those who are weak in body, in soul, or in spirit. Note the next verse where James said, “The prayer of faith will save the sick” (v. 15). Here the word sick is a different word meaning “to grow weary.”

James was writing to those who had “grown weary” in the struggles of life, those “scattered abroad” (James 1:1) in the great dispersion. They had been forced to flee their homes and their jobs. Tempted to give out and give up, they were weary and weak. While these verses can certainly be applied to people who are physically sick, James was primarily writing to those about to crack mentally under the pressures of life.

THE PROPOSAL

James’s proposal is for those who are weak and weary to “call for the elders of the church” (James 5:14). Those who are sick spiritually and emotionally often need someone upon whom they can lean and from whom they can draw strength. But the initiative is to be taken by those who are sick themselves. Anyone who has ever served as a pastor or elder has more than once heard, “No one ever came to visit me when I was sick.” But in James 5, the onus is on the one who is sick to take the initiative in calling for the elders. In response to this initiative, the elders are then instructed to perform their ministry of encouragement, to—as Paul exhorted—“comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).

THE PROCEDURE

When a sick person calls for the elders, they are to “pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). In the Greek language in which James wrote, there are two distinct words translated into our English word anoint. One refers to an outward anointing; literally, a “rubbing down with oil.” The word is found in the story of the good Samaritan who bandaged the wounded man, “pouring” oil and wine into the wounds to fight infection and soothe the hurt. The other Greek word translated into English as anoint has to do with a ceremonial anointing used in a sacred and symbolic sense. Jesus, for example, explained that the Spirit “anointed” Him to preach the gospel (Luke 4:18).

Today, when the sick are anointed with oil and prayed for, the anointing is usually done in the symbolic sense. A drop or two of oil is placed on the finger and touched on the forehead, often in the sign of a cross. While there is nothing wrong in doing this, it is not at all the procedure that James described. He used the word that instructs us to do what the good Samaritan did: rub the wounded and the sick with oil. Pour wine into his wounds. In other words, use the best medicine known to man. The church should support the efforts of those in the medical community to bring healing, and those in the medical world should support the healing efforts in the church by recognizing the importance of the prayer of faith.

THE PRAYER

This prayer at the bedside of the sick must be “the prayer of faith” (James 5:15). Earlier in his letter, James indicated that when we pray, we must believe, asking “in faith with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind” (1:6).

Furthermore, the prayer of faith must always be offered according to God’s Word and His will. When my wife and I were raising our daughters, we did not always give them everything for which they asked. Many times we knew what was best for them when they didn’t. Quite honestly, looking back over my life, I am extremely grateful God didn’t give me everything for which I asked of Him. At times, my own personal preferences or prejudices clouded my thinking and took precedence over His will for my life. I have asked Him time and again for certain things I now see He had no intention of giving because He had something far better in mind. It is appealing to hear preachers say, “You can have anything you ask.” But that request is not biblical. The prayer of faith must be grounded in the Word of God, or it is not the prayer of faith. After all, in the words of Paul, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

THE PROVISION

“The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up” (James 5:15). This verse is not a carte blanche for healing. It is wrapped in the mystery of God’s will and way. After all, Paul once left Trophimus while he was sick at Miletus instead of healing him (2 Timothy 4:20). Paul allowed Epaphroditus to become ill and almost die (Philippians 2:25–30). Paul even asked the Lord repeatedly to remove his own “thorn in the flesh,” only to discover that God’s grace was all-sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:7, 9). And once Paul instructed Timothy to drink a little wine for his “frequent infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23).

Physical healing is a mystery wrapped up in the counsel of God’s own will. Some say all can be healed, yet God didn’t heal Paul when he asked. Others say that illness is the result of sin, yet some of God’s greatest saints have known the greatest suffering. Others say healing has to do with your attitude, yet no one had a more pitiful attitude than Naaman who was healed of leprosy (2 Kings 5:11–14).

All healing is divine. Medicine alone doesn’t heal. Doctors alone do not heal. Proper diet alone doesn’t heal. Exercise alone doesn’t heal. God heals! God’s own name is Jehovah Rapha . . . the God who heals! And we can trust the One who always has our very best interest at heart.

Q & A: “Is anyone among you sick?” Perhaps, even as you read these words, you are in pain or have heard the doctor say, “You have cancer.” Remember, God never slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4). He is awake and aware. Call some praying friends, lean on them and their prayers, believe that our God can still make the impossible possible, and surrender yourself into the loving hands of Jesus and His perfect will for your life.