Healing Oil

Mark 6:13 / James 5:14

They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Mark 6:13, NIV

This verse sticks out like a sore thumb (or possibly like a well bandaged and anointed sore thumb). Why?

Jesus has given the 12 authority over the unclean spirits (τῶν πνευμάτων τῶν ἀκαθάρτων), given them instructions on what to take and what not to take, how to behave and where to stay; and then sent them out two by two. They go out, preach that people should repent, drive out many demons and… anoint sick people with oil and healed them.

My question is this: where did Jesus ever anoint anyone with oil in the process of healing them? Put muddy spit on their eyes, yes; but oil, never. Nowhere else in the gospels do we hear of oil in connection with healing. Yes, in Luke, the Good Samaritan puts oil and wine on the man’s wounds; but that is basic first Century first aid, not Kingdom healing.

So why did the disciples do this?

It looks so much like a later elaboration, that I treble checked for any textual variations. None are listed anywhere I can see, meaning that all our manuscript witnesses agree. If it was a later addition, it wasn’t much later.

Of course, as I have acknowledged at the top of this post, there is also the question of James 5:14, the only other place where the New Testament mentions anointing with oil in the context of healing. Is this the same thing, and if so, where does it come from? All we know for sure is that no word of Jesus is recorded on this.

After some days of rather disturbed puzzlement, I think I have arrived at a reading of this that fits with what I understand of the Kingdom; which I offer in case it helps anyone else. I would say fundamentally we are looking at two separate issues, even if they have some overlap at the edges; and I don’t think either should make us think that oil and anointing has a central role in healing. Like everything else in the Kingdom, healing is a matter of becoming fully convinced that what Heaven says is true.

Let’s start with Mark. Jesus gives them no instruction to anoint with oil, and yet they do. What is going on?

Firstly, I think we can be fairly certain they didn’t do this as a fall-back. “Not sure we can just heal people like the Master does; I know, let’s use olive oil!” Not very convincing. So I suspect that Jesus did instruct them to do this. Why is it not listed in the instructions He gave the disciples? For several reasons, one of which would have been so that we didn’t get the idea that anointing with oil was normative in healing. (In passing I would also note that Jesus never prayed for anyone to be healed, but that hasn’t stopped us from adopting both oil and praying for the sick as core practices. Jesus just healed people, and taught His disciples to do the same.)

The main reason I think, is this: Jesus was forever training His disciples for their future ministry; while also ensuring that Satan had zero idea of the real agenda being worked out. Satan knows perfectly well that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore has to put up with what he presumes is just Jesus demonstrating that power. Satan does not understand at all that Jesus is demonstrating what will be normal for all men and woman in the Kingdom, and especially not that he, Satan, will help fulfil this plan by having Jesus crucified. If he suddenly sees 12 ordinary Galilean Jews replicating Son of God type behaviour, he may have an “aha” moment and draw some conclusions.

Therefore, Jesus ensures that he will draw the wrong conclusion. To achieve this, He makes sure that what the disciples model will look like fulfilment of the existing covenant (which of course will be of concern to Satan, but nothing he can’t handle – he thinks). Luke records the very first time Jesus speaks in a synagogue, in Nazareth. He reads the beginning of Isaiah 61. This passage speaks of the servant of the Lord having been anointed, and later in the passage (past the point where Jesus stopped reading) it speaks of a crown of beauty in place of mourning, the oil of joy instead of ashes. As Satan knows perfectly well, the existing covenant includes the promise of deliverance from demonic oppression and from every kind of illness. So Jesus – I am guessing – tells His disciples, “on this occasion I want you to anoint the sick with oil and then heal them; you are reminding them that the oil of joy, as well as healing, is their portion.” In a limited sense it may have been like training wheels on a bicycle for the disciples; Jesus wants them to see that they can heal the sick with the authority He has given them, the oil helps get the sick into agreement with them, by referencing Israel’s covenant (under which oil was used in anointing priests, and later, kings). And Jesus always found a in the sick person a point of agreement with God’s promise before He healed them. (In Nazareth He couldn’t work any miracles except healing a few sick people, because of their unbelief.)

But the oil was never a necessary part of the healing. Is there a problem with using oil in healing? Only if it obscures the real issue, which is that the sick person needs to be in agreement with what Heaven says, i.e. that they are healed.

So what about the James passage? Yes, it speaks about praying for the sick as well; I would simply reiterate that this is not how Jesus healed anyone. But here is the assumption we may be coming to the passage with:

People get sick.

So when people get sick, James tells them to call for the elders who will pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. He goes on to say that if they have sinned their sins will be forgiven.

The assumption of the Kingdom is a little different. In the Kingdom, citizens know their rights, including the right to refuse sickness, and where it turns up, to drive it off. If we read James 5:14 as if it is saying whenever someone gets sick, it’s a job for the elders (and the anointing oil), then we have missed the point: the point is that believers don’t get sick and if they start to get sick, they have the authority to turn that attack back.

But: everyone has moments when they let the enemy in under their guard. You may feel stupid afterwards (don’t waste your energy on that), but once you are on the back foot, or falling down, it can be pretty hard to enforce your rights in the Kingdom. So what James is saying then would be “if you allow yourself to get clobbered, there is no shame in asking for help! The elders will pray for you, and agree with you for healing; and they will anoint you with oil to remind you of your citizenship in the Kingdom and membership of God’s royal household. (Anointing oil being a mark of those destined to be either priests or Kings in the old covenant).

And what about the forgiving of sin? Well actually, your sins are already forgiven, and what the Greek says is “if they have made any faults or mistakes, they will be released.” In other words, the most common reason for getting on the back foot is the sense that we have failed God or committed so sin, and Satan will use that to keep us down. The truth is, you are already forgiven; you need to confess your sin to God at least, but not in order to be forgiven: it is rather in order that you might know that you are released from that sin.

So what James is painting for us is a picture of what to do when illness gets a hold; call in the elders, let them affirm you and stand with you, ensure that you are not being held under by something God already dealt with, and all the lies of the enemy that can tie us up. Anointing with oil is simply a good way to make that affirmation concrete.

And here is the hard truth. The elders can’t do it all for you. What they do is to enable you to stand back on your feet in faith and take responsibility once more for your own health and prosperity. If you insist on being passive and a victim, then no amount of their time, prayer or oil will be of any avail to you. But why would you? We – including you – are more than conquerors! (Romans 8:31-39)

Know that healing is yours and when you need help enforcing that, for whatever reason: ask for help!