Healing James 5:12-16
Introduction https://youtu.be/isbLqW8uFDI
When it comes to illness, our secular post-God society suffers from a divided mind[1], most people[2] will stretch out life as far as possible by any means whilst others will want it terminated with medical assistance[3]. James’ practical wisdom illuminates the deeper dimensions of the significance of the ministry of healing[4]. Every sick human senses deep down this isn’t how God intended life to be[5]. When I lectured on this subject, the first thing I would do would be to ask class members to share about their experiences of healing. Every group had people who had prayed for and seen others healed or had experienced a significant healing themselves[6]. Whilst there are notable examples of healing in the Old Testament[7], the ministry of Jesus brought the action of God in restoring people into a completely new intensity[8]. There is something very distinctive about healing in the name of Jesus[9]. In Acts, healings often appear in the context of the preaching of the gospel[10] for healing is all about an encounter with the resurrected Lord of all.
Exposition
James like many other letters in the New Testament ends his teaching with an encouragement to pray[11], in fact, in every verse of this section. 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
The word for “suffering” here is used in other places (James 5:10)[12] of the unavoidably human struggles of life. When we fall ill is our first call on the Lord in prayer, or on the doctor? If we are “cheerful” songs of praise flow easily; but one of the most important references to singing in the Bible is where Jesus and the disciples “sung a hymn” on their way to the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:26). James swiftly moves to the community dimension of healing.
14 Is 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.
Calling for the elders is for James an immediate response to physical suffering[13]. In the Bible elders appear[14] as wise older community leaders with positions of leadership across local congregations[15]. These were trustworthy people with responsibility[16] to care for the spiritual wellbeing of the flock of God (Acts 20:28l 1 Pet 5:1). I have noticed that when I am in Myanmar I am repeatedly called to pray for needy people[17], not because I suddenly become more spiritual there, but because those simpler less resourced people honour the scripture more than we do. Unlike the Anglican system of Church leadership[18] eldership in the Bible is always in the plural. The elders are to “pray over” the sick person, which suggests the practice of laying hands as an act of identification with the needy (Matt 19:13)[19]. The anointing with oil “in the name of the Lord” (Acts 3:6, 16; 4:7, 10)[20] should be seen as a sacramental type act[21] where oil is symbolic of the setting the person apart to the presence and power of God. Much as Jesus was set apart by his anointing for the work to which God his Father called him (Luke 4:18= Isa 61:1; Acts 4:27; 10:38; Heb 1:9=Ps 45:7)[22]. Anointing sets a person apart for God’s special attention.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins[23], he will be forgiven.
James chooses a strong word for prayer[24] which suggests a fervent petition, but the focus falls not on the intensity but on the faith of the prayers. James’ promise of healing is not a formula for in the New Testament faith is a gift (Phil 1:29; Heb 12:2; Eph 2:8-9?) so where there is God-given faith healing will occur. Faith is something we can ask for; the father of the possessed son cried out, “cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”” (Mark 9:24). He didn’t interrogate himself about his lack of faith, he cried out to Jesus for more faith. Perhaps you, like me, are sometimes embarrassed by having little faith; but if we have faith to call out to Jesus for more faith that’s all we need[25]. In this passage it is the faith of the elders that God responds to[26] rather than just the faith of the sick person.
The expected result is that sins will be forgiven and the ill person will be dynamically “raised up”. The language of “raise up” is most commonly used (31x) in the New Testament of God raising Jesus from the dead. The expression “and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” indicates that sometimes sickness isn’t a consequence of a particular sin[27]. What James is indicating here is that healing and forgiveness are ultimately imparted to the suffering through prayer[28] because by grace they have been immersed in the delivering power of the death-and-resurrection of Jesus[29]. The person healed in the name of the Lord Jesus has been powerfully drawn into the sphere of Christ’s unblemished and perfected humanity.
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
Strictly speaking, the sick person doesn’t confess to the elders, the group confesses to God in the presence of one another[30]. The connection between sin and illness is a profound one. In 1 Corinthians Paul tells the church, “many of you are weak and ill, and some have died” (11:30), because you have sinned against other Christians. No doubt when the congregation repented of their selfishness and mistreating poorer members[31] the general health of the congregation improved. In this context, the presence of the elders to pray conveys the message that the whole church community is essential to prayer for healing[32]. I must say that the effectiveness of prayer for the sick isn’t ultimately due to the spirituality of the elders or the Church as a whole[33], but that divine healing is a manifestation of the grace of God in the gospel and not the result of anything in us.
16b The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
If prayer has “great power in its working”[34] no wonder the devil’s first priority is to stop us praying[35]. There is no human action more dynamic than prayer[36]. “it is no mere wishing. It is asking with a will….It is energy. Orare est laborare (To work is to pray.). We turn to an active Giver, therefore we go into action.” (P.T. Forsyth). If we have some strong willed people here….surrender your will to Jesus and you will assuredly become a strong pray-er!
But who is the “righteous person” whose prayer is powerful?[37] Well, let me suggest that most of the Church is confused about who this person is[38]. Let me be direct, there is no such thing as a “natural” pray-er[39]. I am not a natural pray-er and remember exactly where and when, after about 10 years as a Christian and several years in ordained ministry, the Spirit of the Lord put me on the spot about my prayer life in such a way that it became radically transformed. James now turns to a specific example of righteous prayer.
17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours[40], 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.
Elijah was a man remarkable for his miracles who by prophetic anointing commanded the rain to stop and return in the days of the idolatrous kings of Israel. James emphasises the fervency of Elijah’s prayers by literally stating, “in prayer he prayed”[41]. The prayers of Elijah not only had power to curse the land but to revive it by the same power by which God heals the sick and raises the dead. How then is Elijah “a person with a nature like ours”? After his great miracles when the evil queen Jezebel sent word to Elijah that she was about to have him killed the prophet fled for his life (1 Ki 18:2-3) and fell into a chronic depression and asked the Lord to kill him[42].
Conclusion
Life is difficult and full of many troubles and with aging various types of illness are going to be a part of it but Christians should never passively submit to so-called natural degeneration and decay[43]. James indicates that in the wisdom of God illness calls forth the most intense dynamic spiritual dimensions of prayer at an individual and corporate level. It does this because the ultimate righteous person whose fervent prayers have great power in their working is Jesus[44]. Jesus ultimate and highest prayer was for his resurrection from the dead as Lord and King over every evil power[45], including suffering[46]. At the heart of divine healing is the alignment of the prayers of the Church in earth with the purposes of her resurrected and exalted Lord. This understanding of healing makes the following Luther story so appealing.
In 1540 Luther’s great friend and assistant, Friedrich Myconius, became sick and was expected to die within a short time. On his bed he wrote a loving farewell note to Luther with a trembling hand. Luther received the letter and sent back a reply: “I command thee in the name of God to live because I still have need of thee in the work of reforming the church…. The Lord will never let me hear that thou art dead, but will permit thee to survive me. For this I am praying, this is my will, and may my will be done, because I seek only to glorify the name of God.” Although Myconius had already lost the ability to speak by the time Luther’s letter came, he recovered completely and lived six more years to survive Luther himself by two months. Myconius revived because he was touched by the Spirit who had raise Jesus from the dead to the glory of God (Rom 6:4; 8:7) to renewed usefulness in God’s service.
The sort of errors and exaggerations to which the healing ministry has been subject[47] shouldn’t hold us back from praying for the sick and suffering in a humble warm and caring pastoral environment. There may be dimensions of healing that will always remain a mystery[48], [no less a famous healer than Smith Wigglesworth remarked to claim to understand healing is a claim to understand God.] but if we trust the Lord the instructions of James will never leave anyone feeling their faith has failed. In the end the practically minded James isn’t that interested in what we can understand, but in what we do[49].
[1] Living apart from the consolation of the resurrection of Christ leaves life dreadful, futile and pathetic.
[2] Under the influence of medical specialists who are treated as if they have the power of life and death. Barth derides a, “psychological totalitarianism and imperialism that it is the doctor who really heals”.
[3] Voluntary Assisted Dying, which is just a fancy name for suicide, became law in Western Australia this year.
[4] The notion that passages like this one belonged only to the apostolic age, or until we had the whole canon of scripture, are extrabiblical in themselves and a denial that healing is not just a sign but a dimension of the kingdom of God. On the other hand, the teaching that Christians with faith should never be sick is contradicted by various places where in apostolic times godly persons were unwell (Phil 2:27; 1 Tim 5:23; 2 Tim 4:20).
[5] The idea that illness is illusory, as in Eastern religions and Christian Science, is a sign of demonic deception. Healing speaks to the fundamental character of human identity. Confusion necessarily arises about healing because it is a dreaded sign of our real fallenness under divine wrath and from which only Jesus can deliver us.
[6] One student’s conversion story involved a stranger crossing the street to pray for his manifest disability, he was instantly touched by the power of the Lord.
[7] The example of Naaman’s healing from leprosy springs to mind (2 Ki 5:1-14).
[8] Whilst the greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist (Luke 7:28), “did no sign” (John 10:41)] a non-miraculous Jesus is unthinkable.
[9] If healing is ultimately about the strength to be a full human being this is finally about Christlikeness.
[10] Acts 14:3 is especially illuminating with respect to the purpose of healing, “So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.”
[11] Col 4:3; 1 Thess 5:17, 25; 2 Thess 3:25; Heb 13:18; 1 John 5:16
[12] Paul uses a related word for imprisonment and similar affliction (2 Tim 2:9; 4:5).
[13] Advances of medical care do not entirely negate this need to give God glory through healing prayer.
[14] As in many extrabiblical cultures, e.g. Graeco-Roman, Indigenous.
[15] Jewish (Acts 11:30; 1:2; 21:18) and Gentile (Acts 14:23; 20:17; 1 Tim 5:17; Tit 1:5)
[16] There are good reasons for thinking that pastors and elders, terms clearly distinguished in the Church today, occupy the same ministry gift in the New Testament (https://marcminter.com/2019/10/23/pastors-and-elders/)
[17] I’ve picked up this is the same in other cultures, for example, amongst the Copts in Egypt.
[18] With its threefold ministry of bishop, priest and deacon, a post second century development.
[19] For a more detailed examination see of this as an” extension” of the Incarnation see : http://cross-connect.net.au/laying-on-of-hands/
[20] Note how there are strong promises that God will answer prayer in the name of Jesus (Matt 18:19-20; John 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23).
[21] It is hardly likely to be a medicinal remedy, for why would spiritual leaders be used for this purpose?]
[22] It is also used of the setting apart of Paul (2 Cor 1:21); in all cases there was no physical action.
[23] Christ clearly indicated a direct 1:1 correspondence between sin and sickness is a false doctrine. ““It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3)
[24] Greek euche cf. Acts 2:29; 27:29; Rom 9:3.
[25] To let shame stop you from calling out like this is to give ground to the devil.
[26] Similarly, it was the faith of the friends of the lame man who lowered him through the roof to be healed by Jesus that set things in motion (Mark 2:5).
[27] Though finally, all sickness and death is due to sin entering the world (Gen 2:17; Rom 5:12).
[28] Ultimately, of the whole universe.
[29] In this sense there is healing of everything in the atonement.
[30] Western Christians might find this intimidation, but in the classic text, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9), the term for “confess” is commonly used for open witness in the presence of others (1 John 2:23; John 1:20; Rev 3:5).
[31] The context in Corinth was that at the Lord’s Supper the rich were gluttonising whilst the poor were hungry.
[32] “When one person is ill, the whole of society is really ill in all its members. In the battle against sickness the final human word …(can) only be fellowship.” (Barth) Finally, this must be Immanuel, God with us in Christ.
[33] After all, as illustrated above, in the one congregation in Corinth the Lord was killing (1 Cor 11:30) and healing (1 Cor 12:9).
[34] This (energeo) is an action-packed term typically used of the actions of God, especially in relation to the resurrection (Eph 1:19; 3:7; Phil 3:21; Col 2:12; 1 Thess 2:17).
[35] Others might argue, with plausibility, that his first priority is to stop us reading the scripture; Jesus devotion in the wilderness suggests the two are in unity (Matt 4:1-11).
[36] Hence Jesus earthly prayer life and his present intercession (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25)
[37] It is certainly someone who doesn’t hold on to sinful attitudes (Ps 66:18; 1 John 1:7-9).
[38] In the cross-shaped wisdom of God, the most unlikely unimpressive students not infrequently turned out to be those with healing gifts.
[39] Following the reality that, “There is no one righteous, no not one” (Rom 3:10).
[40] Similarly, after a miraculous display of power Paul and Barnabas need to say, “We also are men, of like nature with you” (Acts 14:15). The story ends with Paul being stoned to the point of death!
[41] This is a Hebrew/Semitic way of speaking. Similarly, Jesus said, “I have desired with desire to eat”, usually translated as ,“I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).
[42] Elijah is so depressed he asks God to take his life (1 Ki 19:4). I remember times when I felt like throwing myself under the bus, more precisely, under lorries hurtling down the road.
[43] The Bible understands “natural” breakdown as ultimately due to the general judgement of God; “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it” (Rom 8:20).
[44] Who is praying for us NOW (Rom 8:34; Heb 7:25).
[45] “In the days of his flesh, uJesus1 offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.” (Heb 5:7). He was heard through resurrection, not only for himself, but for us all.
[46] Which would be the greatest manifestation of the glory of God. That God might be revealed to be God, the very reason why he created.
[47] Errors shouldn’t deter us from pursuing God’s best for hurting people. As they say, abusus non tollit usum—“abuse does not take away use.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/abuse-does-not-take-away-use/
[48] As something like sin and death neither originally willed or created by God, but real.
[49] “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22)