August 3, 2026
James 5: 13-15 "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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 up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." ESV
MacAuthur says this sickness is not physical but is the sickness of sin and it's conviction of the Holy Spirit. But it is not the elders who are forgiving or healing it is God and it is the elders who are standing in the gap for these. The anointing is symbolic of medicine with the praying being the power of God being sought. Realizing that it is God that does the healing. Either by his power alone or in His using man and the meds he has, it is still God who forgives and heals.
