In Mark 6:7-13 Jesus sends the twelve disciples out on an authorized mission. The word used for “send” in Mark 6:7 is apostello, which is a cognate of the word apostle. So the disciples are on an official mission as official representatives of the Messiah. Jesus sends them out two by two and gives them the power to expel demons, though verse 12 says their main task is preaching the gospel. Jesus instructs them to travel light, to not be fussy about food or accommodations, to shake the dust off their feet when people reject them, and to take some oil for healing. It's this final instruction that needs some explaining.

Mark 6:13 says “And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” We have to be careful with this passage because it is from this passage that the Roman Catholic Church argues for their sacrament of extreme unction. They also use James 5:14-15, which says, “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. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

What is the commonality of Mark 6:13 and James 5:14-15? In both verses, the call is to anoint the sick with oil. From these verses, the Roman Catholic Church makes their sacrament of extreme unction. When the situation is in extremis (as they say), that is, when they have a sick person in an extremely difficult situation, at the point of death, the priest takes the oil consecrated by the bishop and anoints the sick person with these words: “Through this holy anointing and through his most kindly mercy, may God pardon thee for whatever sins thou hast committed through seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, or tasting.” They think the oil gives the power of forgiveness of sins and healing of bodily sickness. In a word, they think the oil lends to the salvation of the soul. 

What do we Reformed Protestants say to this? Let us be clear: We assert that there is no deep mystical mystery in the oil. There is no sacramental power in the oil, which is to say there is no transfer of saving grace through the oil. This is readily seen throughout the New Testament by how much freedom the Lord and the apostles exercise in the matter of healing. For example, Jesus made mud from saliva to restore sight to the blind man in John 9:6; Jesus healed people by touching them in Matthew 9:29; Jesus healed others with just a word in Luke 18:42. In the same way the apostles healed some diseases by word (Acts 3:6), by touch (Acts 5:12, 16), and some by touching with handkerchiefs (Acts 19:12).

So, during the time of Christ and the apostolic age, the Holy Spirit empowered Christ and the apostles to perform divine healings. Oftentimes these healings were accompanied by a symbol. That symbol varied—oil, mud, touch, a handkerchief, or just a word. Does that mean the symbol used IS the instrument of healing? No. The mud and the oil are not the instruments of healing. The healing power doesn’t come from the symbol, whether that symbol is mud or oil. And speaking of oil, Psalm 45:7 reveals that through oil the Holy Spirit makes known his gifts to his people.

So, why did the apostles heal people by the method of anointing them with oil? Why did James tell the church to anoint sick people with oil when the elders pray for them? The reason is that when someone was healed by the apostles or elders, the healed person might be ignorant about the source of the healing. The apostles use a symbol—oil—so that the healed person, in their ignorance, might not give credit to the apostles. The language in James 5:15 says, anoint “him with oil in the name of the Lord.” When the apostles and elders prayed for the sick, they used the symbol of oil to signify that this healing was through the power of Jesus Christ.

When understood rightly, the command for the elders to anoint sick people with oil while praying for them is a pattern that should still be followed today. This may lead to a common question about healings in today’s era. The Lord doesn’t seem intent on dispensing miracles as he did during the apostolic age. Nevertheless, John Calvin says, “The Lord is indeed present with his people in every age, and he heals their weaknesses as often as he deems necessary.” And this he does, no less than in days of old, only without the outward, spectacular, manifest display of supernatural healing.

Bibliography

Calvin, John. Institutes of the Christian Religion. Edited by John T. McNeill, translated by Ford Lewis Battles (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1960), 1466f.