BIG IDEA:
THE EFFECTIVE PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN CAN RESTORE THE WEAK PERSECUTED BELIEVER AND LOVING INTERVENTION CAN RESCUE SINNING UNBELIEVERS
INTRODUCTION:
John MacArthur: [I am following his view of this passage rather than the majority position that focuses on healing of the physically sick.] The passage raises a number of difficult interpretive questions. What kind of suffering does James have in view in verse 13? What type of sickness is in view in verse 14? Why are the prayers of the elders different from those of other believers (vv. 14–15)? What is the anointing with oil described in verse 14? Does the prayer of faith (v. 15) always restore the sick? How does sickness relate to sin (v. 15)? What type of healing is in view in verse 16? Why does James insert an illustration about rain (vv. 17–18) into the middle of a discussion of healing?
The theme of verses 13–18, then, is prayer, which is mentioned in every one of those verses. James’s exhortation to prayer embraces the prayer life of the entire church. Individual believers are called to pray in verse 13, the elders in verses 14–15, and the congregation in verse 16. This section also reflects James’s compassionate pastoral care for his suffering flock; his main focus is on the casualties of the spiritual battle, the persecuted, weak, defeated believers.
As the context and the content of this section make clear, the subject is not physical illness or healing. Instead, its concern is with healing spiritual weakness, spiritual weariness, spiritual exhaustion, and spiritual depression through prayer, as well as dealing with the suffering and sin that accompanies it. To insert a discussion here on physical healing would be incongruous. Nothing in the preceding or following context would prepare James’s readers for that. But a section on how to help the casualties of persecution through prayer fits perfectly into the flow of James’s thought. Specifically, James discusses the relationship of prayer to comfort, restoration, fellowship, and power.
George Guthrie: James has been concerned with appropriate Christian responses to trials from the very beginning (1:2–4), and here he emphasizes that difficulties are to be addressed with prayer. Perhaps, given the broader context, in which James has focused on oppression of the poor at the hands of the rich (5:1–6), he counters our natural human tendency to respond with hatred and even violence. Rather, we should respond with the godly posture of prayer, trusting God for justice and vindication (Davids, 192).
Dan McCartney: Both 5:7–11 and 5:13–18 are concerned with the Christian’s response to the suffering and stress of life, 5:7–11 focusing on the passive attitude of patience and 5:13–18 encouraging active prayer (thus drawing to conclusion the overall concern of the letter, first broached in 1:2–15, of the believer’s response to testing). Also note that both passages end with a brief description of an exemplary OT character’s manifestation of the virtue in view (Job in 5:11; Elijah in 5:17–18). Finally, note that in both sections the analogy of “rain” (implicit in 5:7; explicit in 5:17–18) is used to refer to the promised eschatological restoration, which must be patiently waited for in faith (5:7–11) and prayed for in faith (5:13–18).
Alternative View (dealing with Physical Sickness)
Craig Blomberg: The last passage in James has often been seen as the conclusion to this epistle, even though it reads more like the last topic of the letter body than a standard epistolary closing. If our proposals about James’s outline are on target, 5:13–18 fits very nicely as the final subsection of James’s unpacking his theme of trials and temptations.
Main Idea: Christians should deal with suffering, sickness, and sin by intercession with God and intervention in the lives of fellow believers. Sometimes sin will be one of the direct causes of suffering or sickness and sometimes it will not. When it is, confession becomes crucial. In all situations, prayer proves powerful.
A. Christians must always pray and, when necessary, confess their sins, in order to deal with suffering and sickness (5:13–18).
- Christians should respond to all situations of life with prayer (v. 13).
- Christians should respond to sickness with prayer and anointing with oil (vv. 14–15a).
- If the sickness is the result of sin, Christians should confess their sin in order to receive physical and spiritual healing (vv. 15b–16a).
- The prayers of righteous people are powerful, like Elijah’s (vv. 16b–18).
B. Christians must intervene in the lives of fellow believers who are sinning (vv. 19–20).
- Successful intervention (that which brings repentance) saves that person from the consequences of possible apostasy (vv. 19–20a).
- Successful intervention can bring forgiveness even when that person has committed many sins (v. 20b).
I. (:13-16) DEALING WITH RESTORING WEARY AND WEAK PERSECUTED BELIEVERS
A. (:13-15) Proper Response to Different Situations
Peter Davids: James, then, wants God remembered in all situations, good as well as bad. Turning to God in need is half the truth: turning to him in praise either in the church or alone when one is cheerful (whatever the situation) is the other half. God is not just an errand boy to help human need, but one who deserves worship and praise at all times (Phil. 4:4, 6; Eph. 5:20; 1 Thes. 5:16–18) and a person to whom one may relate no matter what the circumstance.
Alec Motyer: The word (kakopatheia, kakopatheō) is wider than the sufferings of sickness. Jeremiah suffered opposition, Ezekiel bereavement, Hosea marital breakdown. It is any ill circumstance which may come upon us, any trial, anything of which we or an onlooking friend might say “That’s bad”. Alternatively, life has other experiences in store for us as well. James asks, Is any cheerful? The word means, broadly, ‘to be in good heart’. It does not necessarily mean to be trouble free but to be buoyant, whatever the circumstances, to be happy in spirit. Here, then, in two words, are all life’s experiences, and each of them in turn can so easily be the occasion of spiritual upset. Trouble can give rise to an attitude of surly rebellion against God and the abandonment of spiritual practices. Equally, times of ease and affluence beget complacency, laziness and the assumption that we are able of ourselves to cope with life, and God is forgotten. James is fully aware of all this, for the persistence, throughout his letter, of the themes of trial, alongside warnings against allowing the heart to stray after riches, indicate his acquaintance with the full run of life, and his concern to armour us against its varied assaults.
His insistence, nevertheless, is that none of these things should move us. Neither suffering nor ease should find us without a suitable Christian response in prayer and song.
- (:13a) Pray When You Experience Suffering/Persecution/Abuse
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.”
John MacArthur: James addresses not those suffering from physical diseases, but those being persecuted, abused, and treated wickedly.
- (:13b) Praise When You Experience Joy
“Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.”
Daniel Doriani: Christian musicians ought to write songs that enable believers to take every joy and sorrow to God. Christian music rightly focuses on worship and praise, and each generation rightly desires to express its faith in its own “songs of praise.”
Dan McCartney: the cheerfulness is better understood as the experiencing of God’s goodness in ways that are desirable from a human point of view. At any rate, the appropriate response is not pride at one’s accomplishments (like the boastful merchant in 4:16) but gratitude that expresses itself in musical praise to God.
- (:14-15) Seek Elder Involvement When You Experience Severe Weakness
a. The Occasion
“Is anyone among you sick?”
John MacArthur: Here is the most misunderstood and disputed portion of this passage. At first glance it appears to be teaching that sick believers can expect physical healing through the prayers of the elders. But such an interpretation is out of harmony with the context. And as noted in the previous point, the suffering James has in view is evil treatment, not physical illness.
It is true that, apart from the present verse, astheneō is translated sick eighteen times in the New Testament (e.g., Matt. 10:8; 25:36, 39; Mark 6:56; Luke 4:40; John 4:46; Acts 9:37). But it is also used fourteen times to refer to emotional or spiritual weakness (Acts 20:35; Rom. 4:19; 8:3; 14:1–2; 1 Cor. 8:11–12; 2 Cor. 11:21, 29; 12:10; 13:3–4, 9). Significantly, in all but three (Phil. 2:26–27; 2 Tim. 4:20) of astheneō‘s appearances in the epistles it does not refer to physical sickness. Paul’s use of astheneō in 2 Corinthians 12:10 is especially noteworthy, since it there describes weakness produced by the sufferings of life—in a similar context as its usage in the present verse.
Translating astheneō “weak” here in keeping with its predominant usage in the epistles allows us to view this verse in a different light. James moves beyond the suffering believers of the previous point to address specifically those who have become weak by that suffering. The weak are those who have been defeated in the spiritual battle, who have lost the ability to endure their suffering. They are the fallen spiritual warriors, the exhausted, weary, depressed, defeated Christians. They have tried to draw on God’s power through prayer, but have lost motivation, even falling into sinful attitudes. Having hit bottom, they are not able to pray effectively on their own. In that condition, the spiritually weak need the help of the spiritually strong (cf. 1 Thess. 5:14).
b. The Initiative
“Let him call for the elders of the church“
George Guthrie: “Elders” (presbyteros, GK 4565) is one of four designations for the primary local church leadership role in the NT, the other three being “overseers,” “pastors,” and “leaders.” When used of this role, the last of these terms is only found in the NT at Hebrews 13:7, 17 (although it is used adjectivally at Ac 15:22), and “pastors,” referring to the position, only occurs as a noun at Ephesians 4:11. The words for “elders” and “overseers,” given their use in Acts 20:17, 28 and Titus 1:5–7, are synonymous, and these leaders are instructed by Paul to “be shepherds of,” or “pastor” (poimainō, GK 4477) God’s people (Ac 20:28). Consequently, the elders were the overseers or pastors of the church.
c. The Remedy
1) “let them pray over him”
2) “anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord“
C. Leslie Mitton: The use of oil, both by the disciples of Jesus (Mark 6:13) and as recommended by James, was supplementary aid for awakening faith. The healing work is done by God’s Spirit, offered freely to man’s need and appropriated by faith, but material aids may sometimes prepare the way.
Douglas Moo: It is best, then, to think of the anointing with oil as a symbolic action. Anointing frequently symbolizes the consecration of persons or things for God’s use and service in the Old Testament. And while chriō is usually used in these texts, James has probably chosen aleiphō because of the physical action involved. As the elders prayed, they would anoint the sick person in order to symbolize that that person was being ‘set apart’ for God’s special attention and care.
John MacArthur: It may well have been that the elders literally rubbed oil on believers who had suffered physical injuries to their bodies from the persecution (cf. Luke 10:34). Medical science was certainly in a primitive state and there were few trustworthy doctors. It would have been a gracious, kind act on the part of the elders to rub oil on the wounds of those who had been beaten, or into the sore muscles of those made to work long hours under harsh treatment.
Dale Allison: The Reformers and subsequent Protestants rejected extreme unction, arguing that neither Mk 6.13 nor Jas 5.14 is the mandate for a sacrament. The result was that most Protestant communions ceased to practice anointing for healing, which explains its absence from editions of the Book of Common Prayer between 1552 and 1892 — although the Non-jurors in the eighteenth century and the Tractarians in the nineteenth century urged a return to the practice, in large measure because of the passage in James. In recent times, with the older controversies mostly past, many Protestant groups have reintroduced anointing for the sick, for which Jas 5.14 is always the main proof text. . .
Our passage has also been prominent in inner-Protestant debates regarding the cessation of miracles. Charismatics and faith-healers have always found in James encouragement for their view that miraculous healings continue in the Christian dispensation. In the words of one advocate of miracles, 5.14-16 entails that ‘prayer for physical healing and God’s healing power is normal and to be expected in the life of the church’. By contrast, the so-called cessationists, who believe that all miracles of the sort that appear in the NT ceased in the fourth, third, or second century or with the end of the apostolic age, so that all subsequent reports of such should be disbelieved, have had to ask why, if miracles no longer happen, one should bother to heed James’ admonition to pray for the sick or anoint them with oil. One common response has been to distinguish between providential blessings and extraordinary miracles: while the latter no longer occur, one can still hope that ‘the ordinary operations of God’s general providence in nature’ may bring a special blessing. Other options have been to regard miracles of healing, which God still works, as fundamentally different than other miracles, such as prophesying and speaking in tongues, which God no longer bestows; or to hold that, while God may still (in an unpredictable fashion) respond to prayer, no individual has the gift of healing. B.B. Warfield, in attacking faith-healers, insisted that (i) Jas 5 does not exclude ordinary medicinal procedures; (ii) the text does not promise miraculous intervention and answers to prayer; and (iii) anointing is not a religious act; the oil is medicinal and perhaps symbolic (of the power of the Spirit), not imbued with supernatural power. In sum, then, ‘what James requires of us is merely that we shall be Christians in our sickness as in our health, and that our dependence then, too, shall be on the Lord’.
Craig Blomberg: Two main interpretations compete for acceptance.
- Some see the oil as symbolic, in the sense that the anointing of kings in the OT symbolized God’s presence with them. Moo discusses at length the uses of oil in the ancient Mediterranean world, both medicinal and ritual, and concludes that “anoint” here “refers to a physical action with symbolic significance…. As the elders pray, they are to anoint the sick person in order to symbolize that the person is being set apart for God’s special attention and care.” Note that the grammar in this clause indicates the need for prayer as the primary reason for the elders’ visit, represented by the main verb “they should pray” (προσευξάσθωσαν). The participle “anointing” (ἀλείψαντες) indicates concurrent but subordinate action. The oil is the symbol of God’s presence, but prayer is the mechanism for tapping into his power.
- Some scholars, however, understand the oil as a medicinal substance, though partial parallels in Jewish circles to ritual anointing for physical healing make this view less probable.
The descriptive phrase “in the name of the Lord” reminds us that the healing is done solely by the will and power of God.
Peter Davids: Thus one finds three actions in the healing rite: prayer, anointing, and the calling out of the name of Jesus. This is not a magical rite, nor an exorcism (cf. Dibelius, 252), but an opening to the power of God for him to intervene whether or not the demonic is involved. It is also interesting to note that this is not the special gift of an individual, unlike 1 Cor. 12:9, 28, 30, but the power of a certain office in the church (for which no NT passage suggests gifts of healing were a qualification). This exercise of eschatological power as a duty of office is something not present in the synagogue elders. Yet it was a power regularly exercised in the church during the first centuries of its existence (cf. Kelsey, 104–199).
Dan McCartney: James may have in the back of his mind a promise made in Isa. 61, one of the great messianic “eschatological reversal” texts of the OT. There Isaiah says that the Messiah is anointed in order to, among other things, “provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isa. 61:3 NIV). If James has this in mind, then just as in 1:2, suffering is linked with eschatological joy.
d. (:15) The Result = Prayer Offered in Faith Works Like a Charm
“and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick,
and the Lord will raise him up,
and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.”
John MacArthur: The blessed result of the elders’ comfort and ministry of intercession is that their prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. Again, sick is misleading and not the best translation of kamnō, which in its only other New Testament usage (Heb. 12:3) clearly does not refer to physical illness. As has been noted, James speaks here of a spiritual restoration of weak, defeated believers. Nor does sozō (restore) necessarily refer to physical healing; it is most commonly translated “save” in the New Testament. The idea here is that the elders’ prayers will deliver weak, defeated believers from their spiritual weakness and restore them to spiritual wholeness. Those prayers, of course, are but a channel for God’s power; it is the Lord who will raise up the weak. Egeirō (raise up) can also mean “to awaken” or “to arouse.” Through the righteous prayers of godly men, God will restore His battered sheep’s enthusiasm.
Warren Wiersbe: But what is ‘the prayer of faith’ that heals the sick? The answer is in 1 John 5:14-15 — ‘And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.’ The ‘prayer of faith’ is a prayer offered when you know the will of God. The elders would seek the mind of God in the matter, and then pray according to his will.
Craig Blomberg: Somewhere in our prayers we must find a balance between never expecting God to heal and requiring him to heal on demand. Trying to identify an exact definition of the “prayer of faith” is perplexing, but perhaps the best explanation appears already in 1:5–8, where we are instructed to pray “with the confident expectation that God will hear and answer the prayer.” Still, these commands also assume the proviso of 4:15 in which everything for which we hope remains contingent on God’s will. Thus Keith Warrington concludes that “the prayer of faith is best identified as knowledge of God’s will for a particular situation when no scriptural guidance is available.” Warrington nevertheless recognizes that such a knowledge of God’s will is often absent, in which case we are still to pray, but in a way that acknowledges God’s right to supersede our desires.
Peter Davids: In James it is clear that sin is not necessarily, though it may be, the cause of illness; ϰἄν, “and if” (BDF, § 374), plus ἦ πεποιηϰώς, the perfect subjunctive, indicate possibility, the perfect perhaps showing that the person has not been forgiven and so is in a state of guilt. The person would do well to follow the rabbinic advice (b. Ber. 5a) and examine himself. Should sin be the cause, the healing for which the elders pray will not end with the body. It will be a total healing and include the soul, the forgiveness of sins (as in Mk. 2:5; cf. Mt. 12:32; Lk. 12:10).
Daniel Doriani: [Some] Christians claim that everyone can be healed, if he or she prays with enough faith. Conversely, if anyone is not healed, they can blame his or her lack of faith. This teaching doubles the misery for the chronically ill. They suffer their original problem, and they suffer the stigma of insufficient faith.
B. (:16a) Confession of Sins to One Another Must Accompany Intercessory Prayer for One Another (where appropriate)
- Confession of Sins to One Another
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another“
Craig Blomberg: Catholicism elevated this procedure to a sacrament but limited it to a private encounter between church members and clergy. The Lutheran and Anglican/Episcopalian liturgies include a public confession of sins at the start of each service, followed by the pastor’s pronouncement of absolution. Still, neither of these practices is quite the same thing as going to the person against whom one has sinned to acknowledge one’s failure and seek forgiveness. Mt 18:15–18 lies in the background. When sin has estranged two parties, one of them needs to take the initiative to restore the relationship. If that fails, then other Christian helpers must be brought into the process. If at all possible, the confession should not be made any more or less public than the original sin. And “any confession should be offered in the presence of those who have been harmed by the sin or in the presence of the leaders of that community rather than a wider context, so that wise counsel may be offered.”
Thomas Lea: Roman Catholics have used this verse to justify confession of sins to a priest. It is important to note that this verse discusses confession and intercession among Christians and not between a believer and a priest.
John MacArthur: The Bible nowhere teaches that all sickness is the direct result of an individual’s sins. Spiritual defeat, however, is often both the cause and result of sin. When that is the case, the antidote is to confess those sins to God and obtain His forgiveness.
- Mutual Intercessory Prayer
“and pray for one another“
Dan McCartney: Corporate confession of corporate sins and prayer for one another heals the church’s wounds. This is particularly applicable to the situation described in 4:1–2 and 4:11–12 of mutual destructiveness that results from selfishness and judgmentalism.
- Goal
“so that you may be healed.”
George Guthrie: James, dealing with communities in which there was a good bit of social strife, points to vital Christian remedies for fractured relationships—open confession of sin and mutual prayer, which are actions that promote transparency, support, and unity. Consequently, the exhortations to confession and prayer are followed by “so that” (hopōs), a marker showing the purpose for something, and that purpose in the present case is expressed as “you may be healed.” The healing in mind is physical but points to a deeper spiritual healing of sin and broken relationships.
C. (:16b) Theme Emphasizing Effective Prayer
“The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”
II. (:17-18) EXAMPLE OF EFFECTUAL PRAYER OF ELIJAH
A. (:17) Elijah Was No Different Than Us
“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours“
Craig Blomberg: [James] sets up his illustration carefully, making it clear that Elijah was simply a representative human being rather than a larger-than-life hero, somehow holier than us. His ability to pray and obtain results did not stem from his differing from us in any way. Rather, Elijah was a fallen, stubborn person “just like us,” but one who on these occasions was in touch with the Spirit. Thus his prayers did not arise from arrogance or a selfish desire to prove a point; rather, they came from trust and confidence in God. By the expression “a man with the same nature as us” (ἄνθρωπος ἦν ὁμοιοπαθὴς ἡμῖν), James makes it clear that we have this same ability to pray powerfully.
B. (:18) Elijah Prayed and Got Results
- Prayed for No Rain
“and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain;
and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months“
- Prayed for Rain
“And he prayed again,
and the sky poured rain, and the earth produced its fruit“
Craig Blomberg: Elijah knew that he was acting within God’s will in both the initial pronouncement and the final prayer.
Alec Motyer: This is part of the wonder of the way of prayer. Those who by grace have been given the status of righteousness in God’s sight have been brought into the realm where effective prayer operates and have been given the right to exercise a ministry of prayer.
(:19-20) DEALING WITH RECONCILING UNBELIEVERS
A. (:19) Encouragement that Those Who Stray Can Be Rescued
“My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth, and one turns him back“
George Guthrie: Thus the truth does connote right belief concerning the gospel, but for James, of course, the truth is something that is ultimately manifested in right living (3:14). In the NT, the figurative use of “wandering” as wandering from right thinking and, therefore, into deeper levels of wrong living occurs at numerous points (Mt 22:29; 2Ti 3:13; Tit 3:3; 2Pe 2:15). So James speaks of wandering from the truth as a wandering into sin (Moo, 249; Johnson, 337).
John MacArthur: The concluding two verses describe a different group from the weary, weak, persecuted believers who need to be ministered to by the elders. To the ministry of restoring struggling believers James adds the ministry of reconciling the unsaved in the church. . .
“Strays” is from planao, which means “to wander,” “to go astray” “to apostatize.” It frequently describes the condition of the unsaved (Matt. 22:29; Titus 3:3; 1 Pet. 2:25). . .
In the New Testament the term sinner invariably describes those outside the kingdom of God (Matt. 9:13; Luke 15:7, 10; Luke 18:13-14; Rom. 5:8; 1 Tim. 1:15).
B. (:20) Encouragement that the Benefits of Saving the Perishing are Enormous
“let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way
will save his soul from death, and will cover a multitude of sins“
John MacArthur: Realizing the terrible fate that awaits unrepentant sinners should motivate believers to call to salvation those who stray from the truth. Nothing less than each person’s eternal soul is at stake – his most priceless possession (cf. Mark 8:36-37). Psuche (soul) refers to the whole person (the Septuagint uses it in Gen. 2:7), particularly the inner, immortal person who lives in the mortal body. . .
God has granted to all believers the ministry of reconciling wandering souls to Himself. When the evidence indicates a professed believer’s faith is not real, true Christians, knowing the terrible threat of eternal death that person faces, must make it their goal to turn him back from his sin to genuine saving faith in God.
Peter Davids: James, then, concludes with the purpose of his work. He does not discuss sins simply to moralize or condemn. He discusses sin to point out to erring community members the results of their behavior and to bring them to repentance. He hopes to save them from damnation and procure forgiveness for their sins. It is this apostolic goal he urges on his readers, and having encouraged them to follow in his steps and take up where he ends, he concludes the epistle (cf. 1 Jn. 5:21).
Daniel Doriani: These final thoughts of James unite several themes of his epistle. To pursue a sinner in order to win him to Christ is a proper response to a trial (James 1:2–12). It is a form of kindness to a brother (2:14–26), a proper use of speech (3:1–12), and it leads people to humble themselves before the Lord (4:6–10). James summons us to do the word and reap the blessings (1:22–25). One more time, James reminds us that sin leads to death, and that the gospel, the word of truth, saves the soul (1:15, 21).