Week 11 - James 5:13-18

We too often forget that death is not natural and that it is the result of sin (Romans 5:12).  This passage and a miracle by Christ clearly connect the two.

Matthew 9:2

And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

So James focuses healing on sanctification.  That sanctification is done by confession and a prayer of faith and then it memorialized by an anointing.  

James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

It is easy to get distracted by the anointing and see it as the method of healing.  It is not.  The method of healing is prayer.  The anointing instead consecrates the individual as holy and sets them apart for continued service.

Leviticus 8:12

And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.

Earlier we divided the Beatitudes into two classes, where some the promise is instantaneous, while most the promise is so assured that the blessing is past tense ("Blessed are") but we for which we must be patient ("shall be").

The instantaneous Beatitudes are those that give us entrance into the Kingdom (Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:10), by a contrite heart and a confession that may become subject to persecution.  Our instantaneous entrance to the Kingdom is memorialized in the waters of baptism by the speed at which the water evaporates.

Our passage this week also contains an assured promise but it is one of that second class, for which we must wait.

James 5:15

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, he will be forgiven

And that promise is memorialized in the oil of the anointing, which does not evaporate.  It serves as a reminder, that He will indeed raise us up and it is for that day we must wait (regardless if God providentially permits healing in the mean time!).

James goes on to explain that the result is not contingent on the individual offering the prayer.  A lot of translations insert the word "earnestly".  The Darby translation surfaces the Hebraistic phrase  (proseuchomai proseuchē):

James 5:17

Elias was a man of like passions to us, and he prayed with prayer that it should not rain; and it did not rain upon the earth three years and six months;

This ancient highlighter used by Jewish writers uses the verb and the noun form of the verb together for emphasis,  Another example would be the phrase from the Garden of Eden "surely die" (Genesis 2:17).  

However, the passages to which James is referring (1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:36-38; 1 Kings 18:41-46) do not describe “fervent” or "ernest" prayers.  They instead record terse prophetic declarations and brief prayers that are very much in contrast to the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:25-29), whose fervency included frantic dance and self-injury.  

So rather than it being an expression of effort, it is one of exclusivity (see Meyer's NT Commentary).  The only thing he did was pray, and though being a man just like us, the effect of his prayer was very powerful. 

Folks, we are like Elijah, so pray.