{They cast out many demons and they anointed with oil}
(exeballon kai (886c)eiphon elai(9369)). Imperfect tenses, continued
repetition. Alone in Mark. This is the only example in the N.T.
of aleiph(9320)elai(9369) used in connection with healing save in  Jas
5:14 . In both cases it is possible that the use of oil (olive
oil) as a medicine is the basis of the practice. See  Lu 10:34 
for pouring oil and wine upon the wounds. It was the best
medicine of the ancients and was used internally and externally.
It was employed often after bathing. The papyri give a number of
examples of it. The only problem is whether aleiph(935c) in Mark and
James is used wholly in a ritualistic and ceremonial sense or
partly as medicine and partly as a symbol of divine healing. The
very word aleiph(935c) can be translated rub or anoint without any
ceremony. "Traces of a ritual use of the unction of the sick
appear first among Gnostic practices of the second century"
(Swete). We have today, as in the first century, God and
medicine. God through nature does the real healing when we use
medicine and the doctor.