We looked at this text the last time we were in James. Back then I explained
the main point of these verses. Today, we’re going back to look at a detail
that might be missed. Today, I want to take a look at this anointing with
oil. What is that all about? Why is it here at all? After all, the really
important thing is that the elders pray, right? This anointing is not really
necessary – or is it? What we have in our text is a symbol, a symbolic act,
to be more precise. There are symbols spread throughout the Scriptures. I
think that we tend to miss them. So, this morning we’re going to take a look
at this theme of the symbolic in the Scriptures. I have a specific
application in mind which we’ll get to at the end.
First, let me point out some symbols in the Bible. The first is a very
simple one. Think back to when Moses sees the burning bush. What happened
when he approached it? God spoke. And what did He say? ‘Do not come near;
take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is
holy ground.’ [Exodus 3:5] Moses wisely obeyed. A symbolic act. Wouldn’t it
have been good enough for God just to tell Moses about the holiness of the
situation? Did the removal of the sandals make any real difference? It must
have. If it wasn’t necessary, God wouldn’t have required it. It was a
second, complementary way of communicating the holiness of what was
happening. The physical-ness of the act is part of God’s way of
communicating to Moses.
Then, there’s what happened at Mt. Sinai. Moses leads the people of Israel
out of Egypt to meet with God. And God descends. But what an entrance! The
earth quakes. The top of the mountain is consumed in flames. There are dark
clouds hovering at its peak. Thunder booms. A trumpet blares. God is coming
to meet with Israel! Now, couldn’t He just have arrived – quietly?
Obviously, He could have, but He decided not to. He associated all these
symbols with His coming. Why? It’s all part of communicating to these people
something of the gravity of what is about to occur. God is coming. The
people need to feel the weightiness of such an event. Words alone just won’t
cut it. And so, along with the words there are the symbols. And the people
get the point. It says that they ‘trembled’. And so, in effect, they told
Moses, ‘You go ahead and you meet with God. We’ll stay down here where it’s
safe.’ [See Exodus 19]
Let’s look at one more example that’s a little different. During the
ministry of Samuel, the people of God were suffering under the oppression of
the Philistines. It was, of course, their own fault. They had broken God’s
covenant. So, Samuel calls them together to repent of their sin which they
do. The Philistines hear about this gathering of the Israelites, and so they
arrive to do battle. The people of Israel ask Samuel to intercede with God
on their behalf as they go out to fight their enemies. God hears Samuel’s
prayers and grants Israel a signal victory. The Philistines are routed. Now,
what does Samuel do? ‘Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah
and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, "Till now the Lord has
helped us."’ [1 Samuel 7:12] ‘Ebenezer’ means ‘stone of help’. That stone
was a symbol of what God had done in defeating the enemies of Israel. What
is different here is that this symbol isn’t created or commanded by God. It’
s Samuel’s idea. He established this symbol for the sake of the people.
There are a ton of other symbols in the Scriptures. There’s Jacob’s
anointing the rock where he slept and had his dream about the ladder into
heaven. There’s the Ark of the Covenant that resided in the Tabernacle.
There’s the rainbow after the flood. There are many symbols throughout the
text of Scripture. And we tend to miss what’s going on with them.
Now, there are those who see these symbols, but they say that such things
were only for the Old Testament era. They tell us that since the coming of
Jesus we don’t need to do that sort of thing anymore. There are some
problems with this. One is that we find symbols in the New Testament. One of
them is in our text. The symbolic is still with us. It is still to be a part
of the piety of the Church of this era. And that means that we are to
respond to the symbols that God has commanded as well as respond to God with
appropriate symbols that we create. The biblical theme of symbols continues.
So, what about our text? There is a symbolic act in it. What’s going on
here? The elders were to pray over the sick person. But at the same time
they were to anoint him with oil. Why? It all has to do with the point of
the elders being there. You’ll remember that I said that this text has to do
with the removal of church discipline. If you missed that sermon I can get a
copy to you. So, what’s with the oil? The anointing with oil is the symbol
of the work of the Spirit in this situation. I didn’t dream that up. We
understand the symbols of Scripture by examining them in the context of
other Scriptures. We have one example of anointing with oil when Samuel made
David king. ‘Now [David] was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome.
And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he." Then Samuel took
the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the
Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward.’ [1 Samuel
16:12-13] David is anointed. And what happens next? The Spirit acts. He
empowers David for kingship. In our text, the anointing with the oil is the
symbol that the Spirit is active in that situation. In this case, He acts to
restore the person to God, as well as to good health. Now, the question of
some is, ‘Do we really need the oil? Won’t the Spirit act without it?’ If we
didn’t need the symbolic act of anointing with oil it wouldn’t be in the
text. But it’s there. And it’s there for our sake. And that’s what the
symbols of Scripture are about. They are there for our sake. Words alone
aren’t enough. God knows that, so, for our sake, to be sure that we ‘get it’
, He includes the use of symbols. The meeting at Mt. Sinai would be very
different without the pyrotechnics. We needed all of that. The symbols drive
home the point of the words.
Now, this leaves one last thing to say about biblical symbols. These symbols
and symbolic acts are worthless unless there is faith. The symbols will do
no good unless we believe the words that the symbol is associated with. So,
going back again to Mount Sinai, the Israelites felt the earth shake. What
if they responded by saying, ‘It’s an earthquake! Run for your lives!’ and
didn’t think about God’s coming? That would mean that they didn’t get it.
They didn’t believe the message associated with the symbol that God was
coming to meet with them. Likewise, what if someone was being anointed with
oil and all he’s thinking is, ‘What a mess they’re making of my hair. I’ll
have to wash it extra well tonight’? A symbol is a prod to faith. It is an
encouragement to believe the word tied to it. It is God’s way of making it
easier to believe His message. You hear the words and you see the symbol.
Together they communicate God’s message to you.
Now, all of this leads us to the Lord’s Supper which we will be enjoying in
a few moments. Celebrating the Lord's Supper is a symbolic act. But what is
the message tied to this symbolic act? There are many, as I have been
showing you over the past several months. Today, I am going to focus on just
one. Listen to Jesus. ‘Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the
food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.’ …
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not
hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’ [John 6:27, 35]
Jesus is promising you that He will feed your soul. He will provide whatever
you need to flourish as a person, in this life as well as the next. That’s
what lies at the heart of eternal life. That’s what the Gospel is about.
That’s Jesus’ promise. The Lord's Supper is the symbol that He has tied to
that promise. ‘I will feed your soul.’ But notice this. It isn’t a promise
offered to the group as a whole. It’s a promise offered to you as an
individual. As you take the bread and the cup, Jesus is specifically making
His promise to you. It’s very personal. Is it automatic? Take communion
and – presto! – all is well? Absolutely not! You must believe the word tied
to the symbol. And if you do, even with the smallest faith possible, then
the promise is yours. The symbol, with the word, assures you. So, when you
ask yourself, ‘Do I have eternal life? Has Jesus promised me that I will
flourish in this life and the next?’, you can rest assured that this Gospel
truth is yours. You can point to the symbol with its associated message. ‘I
have taken the bread and the cup, the symbols of Jesus’ promise. So, the
reality is mine.’ Our God is gracious and very understanding. He knows all
about our weakness. That’s why He has granted us symbols, like the Lord's
Supper. Come, enjoy the Supper and be assured that the Gospel is truly
yours.
