Why Does the Bible Talk about Laying Hands on the Sick?

In the Old Testament, laying hands on the sick for healing wasn’t common, but it does show up in certain areas, like commissioning leaders (Numbers 27:18-23) and placing people’s sin on a sacrifice by the priests (Leviticus 16:21). At one point, the prophet Elisha heals a man, Naaman, of leprosy. Elisha doesn’t touch the man, but Naaman expected him to, showing how it might have been common in some contexts (2 Kings 5:11). In the Old Testament, healing generally happened through a spoken word more than physical touch. But we can see with the priestly practice of laying hands on sacrifices that the Jews would have believed some spiritual power could be involved with touch. 

In this way, as the ultimate High Priest, Jesus regularly laid hands on the sick as part of his healing. In Luke 4:40, “He laid His hands on each one of them and healed them.” When healing Peter’s mother-in-law, he took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever was healed (Mark 1:30). Jesus also laid his hands on a blind man twice to heal him and restore his sight (Mark 8:22-25). Christ would often mix a command or prayer with touching to heal. Jesus also laid hands on children to bless them (Mark 10:16). His use of touch challenged or even broke religious rules. He touched lepers (Matthew 8:2-3) whom the Jews considered unclean. Jesus did this to show how he couldn’t catch their impurity, but they would receive his holiness and power when he encountered them. 

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/PeteWill

But laying hands on the sick wasn’t for Jesus alone. Mark 16 records the Great Commission, in which Jesus commands his disciples to go to all creation and preach the Gospel. And when they did, he promised miraculous signs would “follow” them. One of the signs was healing. “They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:18). Healing would show God’s power and the coming Kingdom of God, the Father’s rule and reign of love and life. 

Jesus raised up disciples during his ministry, teaching them to operate in the same power as he did, from the Father. Christ took the disciples along to show them his way, expecting them to later model their ministry after him. Jesus taught and declared the Kingdom of God, and healing always went along with his preaching. The miracles like healing revealed a supernatural, heavenly world engaging with the earth. 

At the commission in Mark 16, he called his disciples to continue his ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit. With the Spirit of Jesus, he desired healing to be part of preaching the Kingdom so people would repent and receive deeper, spiritual restoration and redemption. 

Photo credit: ©Getty/Halfpoint

Luke, the author of Acts, researched and recorded the founding and expansion of the early church. This book includes instances of healing and miracles through the Holy Spirit, twice involving laying hands on the sick to heal them, fulfilling Jesus’ words in Mark 16. 

For the first example, after Saul’s radical salvation on the road to Damascus, he’s left blinded. God sends Ananias to him. Ananias puts his hands on Saul, speaks over him, and God restores his sight. Acts records Ananias as a faithful disciple, and he follows Jesus’ words from Mark 16 to heal through the laying on of hands (Acts 9). 

Saul later becomes known as Paul, and we see him practice laying his hands on the sick in Acts 28. While shipwrecked on the island of Malta, Paul visits the home of a man called Publius, whose father is sick with dysentery. Paul prays and lays his hands on the father, and God heals him. When news of this event spreads, others bring their sick to Paul, and he heals them, too. These healings happen decades after Jesus’ commission to the original eleven apostles and show how the tradition continued. 

In a related example, Paul expresses to Timothy how the younger man received a spiritual gift from church elders laying their hands upon him (2 Timothy 1:6), revealing a connection to the priestly role from the Old Testament. Now all believers are priests in the Spirit (1 Peter 2:9). 

The laying on of hands continued after Jesus and was practiced by people decades after the church’s founding.

Photo credit: ©Sparrostock

James was Jesus's half-brother and a leader of the early church in Jerusalem. He wrote a letter to believers, encouraging faith in action and the practical nature and power of the Christian life. 

In James chapter 5, he finishes the letter with exhortations to live looking forward to Jesus’ return. He calls for patience in suffering, speaking truth not lies, and supporting each other in prayer. Then James gives specific instruction to minister to the sick. 

“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.” (James 5:14–15)

Though James doesn’t use the phrase, “laying on of hands,” his instruction to “pray over” and anoint with oil suggests touching the person, as we saw was common from the Gospels and Acts. While the Jews used oil to anoint many things, religiously and otherwise, James uniquely includes this with prayer for the sick. The anointing oil also referred back to the Old Testament priestly roles. 

James puts the responsibility on the elders of the church to respond to the sick. The early church had elders and mature leaders for the congregation, men known for wisdom and spiritual maturity. These elders were to lovingly seek healing through an appeal to God and acting as priests of the Spirit of God in the new covenant. James makes it clear how the prayer of faith—not the physical act of touch or the substance of oil—would bring healing. Praying for the sick happens in the faith community here, not in an evangelical context as we see with Jesus and Paul. 

Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Vasil Dimitrov

Psychological studies show how touch can reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and trigger the release of oxytocin, which some call the “bonding hormone.” As an example, a longer hug will release this oxytocin, which promotes feelings of trust and safety, obviously helping people who feel emotional. In addition, research from the University of Miami’s Touch Research Institute demonstrates how a comforting touch reduces cortisol (the stress hormone) and boosts the immune system. In hospital settings, simple touch (like a nurse holding a patient’s hand) has been linked to lowering pain and bringing more peaceful feelings. 

Interestingly, MRI studies also show how when someone gets a supportive, loving touch, it actives areas of the brain associated with reward and balanced emotions. Therefore, touch doesn’t just comfort us, it changes how the brain works and processes. 

Scientific studies don’t claim touch alone can bring miraculous healing, and neither does the Bible. God alone heals and does so through a variety of ways. But the science does support how touch gives a person a sense of care, being seen, and safety. God designed us for connection and community, so these studies shouldn’t surprise us. 

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/kieferpix

First, we should remember the practice of laying hands on the sick isn’t something added by denominations or later doctrines. It has roots in the Old Testament and specifically Jesus’ ministry. Empowered by Christ’s Spirit, the early church continued to practice and teach laying on of hands for healing. Jesus included it in his Great Commission, and therefore, it’s for all Jesus' disciples.

Second, Scripture never teaches an end to the practice, as if one day it will no longer be needed. Nowhere in the New Testament does Jesus or any apostle say healing or laying on of hands for the sick was only for biblical times. The Bible communicates this as a normal part of a Spirit-filled life, not a temporary cultural gift. 

Third, with laying on of hands and anointing of oil, we must remember the clear connection to the new covenant truth—we are a kingdom of priests through the inward Holy Spirit, the High Priest literally living within us individually and corporately. The Father has called us to serve, worship, and pray in his Son’s name. Through Christ, we have direct access to God without needing a mediator, a royal priesthood chosen to preach his goodness, including healing of others. 

Finally, we must respond intentionally. God doesn’t do things haphazardly but with full purpose. Therefore, we ask God for opportunities to pray for the sick and be willing to step out in faith. Many believers shrink back, thinking they won’t see results or God won’t heal. But Scripture says we act in love, not based on outcomes but for obedience. We don’t place faith in our touch or an oil. God alone heals. When we lay hands and pray in faith, however, we create space for God to move. He has chosen to work through his people. The results may vary, but if we never ask and step out, we will never see healing.

As we live out the practice of laying hands on the sick and praying with boldness and love, we will see more healing. Not because of our ability or power but because we act with the heart and ministry of Jesus to preach and demonstrate the heavenly kingdom available to those who will believe. 

Peace. 

Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Rawpixel