This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it

 

 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

 

- John 11:1-16 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus spoke to them in the temple, the religious leaders took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  They answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods'"?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

 

  Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  This is the beginning of chapter 11, the setting for Christ's seventh and final sign in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus.  It is this sign which sealed the decision of the Jewish religious authorities to put Christ to death.  The raising of Lazarus traditionally celebrated in the Church on the day before Palm Sunday.  Bethany is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.  Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar" which means "God helps."  Mary and Martha and Lazarus are very close to Jesus; they are His friends and He loves them, as we will read repeatedly in this chapter, and as is apparent in other stories about them in the Gospels.  By the language here, we can see that they were clearly known within the early Church.  In the second verse here, John makes reference to Mary in an unusual way, for the story of her anointing of the Lord with fragrant oil, and wiping His feet with her hair, will occur in the next chapter (John 12:1-7).

Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  Let us note that Jesus gives a similar response here as He did regarding the subject of the sixth, previous sign in John's Gospel, the healing of a man blind from birth.  There His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  Here Jesus proclaims Lazarus' sickness to be for the glory of God,  that the Son of God may be glorified through it.  My study Bible comments that this message is sent back to Mary and Martha to strengthen them so that when Lazarus dies, they may take confidence in Christ's words.  It notes that the Son of God being glorified must not be understood to be the cause of Lazarus dying; it indicates rather that Christ will be glorified as a result of his death (which occurred from natural illness) and his being raised from the dead.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Christ delays so that Lazarus will be dead long enough that the corruption of his body will set in (11:39).  Therefore there will be doubt of this miracle, and the might and "glory" of the Lord will be seen by everyone, including those who come from Jerusalem to mourn with the sisters.

Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  In our readings from the previous chapters, we read of Christ's disputes with the religious leaders and their various attempts to seize Him and to stone Him (see John 10:29-39; yesterday's reading, above).   Once again, John returns to the language of light; Christ walks by the light of God, following the will of the Father in all things (John 5:30; 8:12, 28, 50; 12:35-36).

These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Jesus says that their friend Lazarus sleeps; compare to Acts 7:60, 1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6.

Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  My study Bible says that Thomas's statement is an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.  It adds that this also illustrates the path that all believers must take -- we die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24).  

 

In Monday's reading and commentary, we explored the themes opened up by Jesus' statement that a man blindness from birth was not due to any sins, but, as He responded to His disciples' question, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him."  It opened up issues of salvation for us to understand that Jesus would declare an obvious affliction to be an occasion for the manifestation of God's presence in the world.  In today's reading, as noted above, He makes a similar indication.  He declares to the disciples, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  The sixth sign in John's Gospel was the healing of the man blind from birth, and the disputes with the religious leaders following that healing have led already to their attempt to stone Christ.  But at this juncture, the affairs leading to Christ's seventh and final sign in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, set the stage for something even greater than healing a man blind from birth.  The circumstances under which this seventh and final sign will occur literally involve life and death, with the power of immortality featured as God's manifestation even in this world.  Jesus begins to set the stage for this final miracle of the Gospel by delaying His journey to Bethany upon hearing of the illness of Lazarus.  He is making certain, as my study Bible noted, that the corruption of Lazarus' body will have begun by the time He arrives at the home of Lazarus and his sisters, for Lazarus will have been dead for four days.  In our commentary on the healing of the man blind from birth, we commented extensively regarding Jesus' statement that the affliction of blindness was, in that case, an occasion for the manifestation of the glory of God.  It tells us something quite important about what kind of a Savior Jesus is, and what method of salvation is offered to us through Christ.  The Law and Prophets came before Christ, and of course there were all kinds of systems of pagan morality and laws and ethics in the ancient world.  But Christ comes with an entirely different message and power; His is the power not simply to separate good from evil, or truth from lies, but rather to take even what has been corrupted by evil in this world and use it as occasion for the glory of the God of love, of truth and beauty and goodness.  As He previously manifested God's glory through the blindness healed in the sixth sign John gave us, so Christ steadfastly begins the journey with a decisive delay, in order to more fully manifest the power and glory of the immortal God even in this world, even in response to natural human death, which St. Paul calls "the last enemy" (1 Corinthians 15:26).   This final sign will be that of the power of immortality which is a quality belonging to God, the extremes of life and death, corruption and incorruption.  It will lead us to the Cross, and give us a preview of the fullness of what kind of Savior Christ really is, who comes into the world to turn death to life, sadness to joy, mourning into comfort (Matthew 5:4).  Let us consider our Savior, as we continue with Him on the journey to Bethany through John's 11th chapter.