Mark 6:13 Meaning: Why Oil? The Meaning of Anointing the Sick

The Greek verbs in this verse are in the imperfect tense: they were casting out, they were anointing, they were healing. This means the apostles did these things repeatedly, as they went from place to place. The word for anointed is aleiphō, a common word for rubbing oil on the skin. It is not the same word used for consecrating priests or kings. This was everyday oil, like what you might keep in your kitchen. The word for healed is therapeuō, which originally meant to serve or care for someone. So the apostles were serving the sick, using oil as a gentle, soothing sign that God was at work. The oil did not heal by itself. It was a tangible way to say, God sees you, and He is here to restore you.

Christians have read this verse in different ways. Many Protestant commentators, like Matthew Henry and John Wesley, emphasize that the healing came from God in response to faith, not from the oil itself. The oil was a symbolic act, like the imposition of hands. The Catholic and Orthodox traditions see a connection with the sacrament of anointing the sick, based also on James 5:14. They view the oil as a channel of God's grace, blessed by prayer. Both readings agree that the real power belongs to God. What changes is how we understand the role of the physical element, as a symbol or a means of grace. Both traditions seek to honor Christ as the true healer.

Some people read this verse and assume the apostles were simply using olive oil as medicine, and that the healing was natural. In fact, every commentator from the supplied sources agrees that the healing was miraculous. The oil was not a cure but a sign. Barnes notes it was "like the imposition of hands", a visible gesture pointing to the invisible power of God. The miracle is that God healed through ordinary touch and ordinary oil, not that the oil worked on its own.

This week, consider how God might use simple, ordinary things to bring His healing into your life or someone else's. It might be a meal brought to a friend who is sick, a hand on a shoulder during prayer, or a quiet word of hope. You do not need a special title to be an agent of God's restoration. The apostles carried no elaborate supplies, just oil and the authority Jesus gave them. What is in your hand today? A phone call, a visit, a jar of soup? Use it. Trust God to work through what feels small. He is the one who heals; you just get to show up.