Why do we anoint the sick with oil?

The hebrew word for Messiah means anointed one. Christ means anointed one. The reason Jesus is called the anointed one is he received the fullness of The Holy Spirit. We receive the anointing in measure but he received without measure.
Apart from the oil , the anointing is misunderstood. The oil is the symbol for the Holy Spirit.
This is where the expression the anointing originated in Pentecostal circles. When the strong presence of The Holy Spirit manifested it was termed the anointing refering to the anointing of oil meaning the anointing of the Holy spirit upon us.
It is also tied to holiness. It has biblical precedent in sanctification.

Isa 10:27 And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.

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1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

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Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

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Act 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

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2Co 1:21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;
2Co 1:22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

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Mat 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
Mat 25:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
Mat 25:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
Mat 25:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

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Some more scriptures about the anointing and the oil.

maybe when praying in a big crowd, you can tell which ones you have prayed for.

Jim and Yit~ thank you, I find this interesting.

I think it signifies which one of the congregation are vegetables. I usually toss my vegetables with a little olive oil.

Danny

JimB said:

Seriously, though, I wonder what you think. Is anointing the sick with oil just a meaningless ritual we perform or does it have real, significant meaning?

~Jim

Mercy triumphs over judgment. ~James 2.13​

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When the high priest was anointed in the Old Testament, he was anointed:

On his right ear: so that through the power of the Holy Spirit he could hear God speaking to him

On his right thumb: So that through the power of the Holy Spirit, God would be the one working through him

On his right big toe: So that through the power of the Holy Spirit, God would be the one leading and guiding him.

The right side was symbolic of the spiritual side of the person.

Some Scriptures that come to mind that I find relate to this...

John 6:44

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

1st Corinthians 15:10

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."

Romans 8:28-30

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."

JimB said:

Seriously, though, I wonder what you think. Is anointing the sick with oil just a meaningless ritual we perform or does it have real, significant meaning?

~Jim

Mercy triumphs over judgment. ~James 2.13​

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I think it's similar to water baptism...the water represents our new birth in the Holy Spirit...and the oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit's healing...people can be prayed for and healed without it, just like folks can be saved without being baptized...but we do it because it's a Biblical command.

JimB said:

(We never did come to a conclusion in this thread, so I am bumping it to give it another shot.)

The way I have seen the practice of anointing the sick with oil it looked more like a ritual than anything else. One church where I ministered had to wait 10-15 minutes while they located the misplaced bottle of oil before the “elders” got around to praying for the sick. Another church, before praying for the sick, lifted the bottle of oil to the sky and prayed that God would anoint the anointing oil as though there would be some transubstantive virtue in the oil after they prayed for it.

Is that the purpose James meant when he instructed the elders to anoint the sick with oil before praying for them? When we begin to practice these sorts of ritual, isn’t that a form of godliness that denies the power thereof?

Surely this act is not a meaningless ritual. If not, then what is the purpose or meaning of this act?

~Jim

It isn’t what a man doesn’t know that hurts him as much as what he knows that just ain’t so. ~Will Rogers​

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Well Mark 6:13 doesn't mention any commissioning, just anointing with oil and healing the sick. The disciples were not anointed with oil by Jesus were they?

But the bible also says there was a whole lot more done by Jesus and the apostles than was written down. Maybe the oil was used more times than was written of. So I don't tend to question James' words to do it.

Only ones now days who have a problem with oil are the ones who believe Christians shouldn't pray for the sick any more.

JimB said:

One explanation I have heard, that makes a lot of sense to me is that “anointing” with oil in a religious ceremony signified that the person or object anointed was set aside, dedicated to the service of God—kings, priests, prophets, temple furnishings, etc. In biblical times, especially to the Jewish Christians to whom James addressed his epistle, they understood this so when a sick person was anointed by leaders of the church it served as a reminder signifying that the person’s healing was meant for the service to God.

What do you think of that interpretation?

(BTW, I heard that explanation in a Basic Youth Conflicts seminar back in the 70’s.)

~Jim

It isn’t what a man doesn’t know that hurts him as much as what he knows that just ain’t so. ~Will Rogers​

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Makes sense.

In Biblical times, I hear oil was used like a lotion. The Psalms say that God gave men oil to make their faces shine. Kings and priests were also anointed with oil.

I went to an evangelical church that had a team of elders. One of the elders liked to study the Bible in great detail. He said that he thought James said to anoint with oil because back then they believed that oil had medicinal properties, and he thought a modern application would be to give people an aspirin. That struck me as a rather liberal interpretation coming from him.

I thought about it later, and then I sent him an email. I said if the reason for anointing with oil was the medicinal value of the oil, why didn't he anoint with oil. If the Bible teaches it is good medicine, then shouldn't you use it.

I heard later the other elders were anointing with oil and he didn't feel comfortable with it. But he changed his mind and started doing it, too.

Jimb

Why would ritual= having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof?

If God's power is working in healing, and we believe it, how is that denying God's power? Where does the Bible condemn all ritual? Isn't baptism a ritual? Isn't the Lord's Supper?

I can't post the scripture because I'm posting from my phone...but I was reading Leviticus 14 earlier...it's the chapter on lepers...and one thing that the priest was supposed to do was to put oil on the unclean persons forehead to make them clean...this could be where annointing with oil comes from.

The oil brings a fragrance to the room. The fragrance of the Holy Spirit.

'spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense' Exodus 25:6

Furthermore it is possible that the fragrance of the oil has healing properties in itself.