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 

 

In our recent readings, Jesus has continued His disputes with the religious authorities in Jerusalem.  Chapters 7 through 10 were taken up mostly with events which took place at the autumn Feast of Tabernacles, but now the Gospel has moved to winter and the Feast of Dedication (or Hanukkah).  We are being taken through the final year of Christ's earthly life.  Yesterday we read that the religious leaders with whom He disputed took up stones again to stone Him,  after He told them, "I and the Father are one" (see Monday's reading).  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews 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.  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."   Today we begin chapter 11, in which the seventh of the seven signs in John's Gospel will take place, the raising of Lazarus.  It is the final year of Christ's earthly life, and the effects of this great sign will be profound indeed, including the response by the religious authorities.  Bethany, my study Bible says, is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.  Here, Christ sends back to Mary and Martha a message to strengthen them, so that when Lazarus dies, they will take confidence in Christ's words.  Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar," which means "God helps."  My study Bible explains that the Son of God being glorified must not be understood to be the cause of Lazarus' death.  Instead, it indicates that Christ will be glorified as a result of Lazarus' death (occurring from natural illness) and his being raised from the dead.  Note the similarity between Christ's response to His disciples' question about the man born blind from birth ("Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him" - see Thursday's reading) and His response to Martha and Mary regarding Lazarus' illness.

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." My study Bible explains that Christ delays in order for Lazarus to be dead long enough for the corruption of his body to set in (see verse 39).  In this way, no one could doubt the miracle, and the might of the Lord would be clearly seen by all.  

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."   Jesus again iterates that He is the light of the world (John 8:12, 9:5).  The disciples protest because of events which took place at the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah), which we read in yesterday's reading (see above). 

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.  Compare Christ's use of the word sleeps here to Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6.  

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."  My study Bible calls Thomas' statement an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.  It also illustrates the path that all believers must take -- that we die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24, 1 Corinthians 15:31).  

In today's reading, Jesus states that the "sickness of Lazarus is not unto death, but rather for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."  What is nominally a human tragedy becomes an occasion for the glory of God -- and that the Son of God may be glorified through it.  If we consider the events that will come as a result of the raising of Lazarus, we understand a deeper and more profound meaning to the term "glorified" for Christ, the Son of God.  The death of Lazarus will be the occasion that spurs on the religious leaders to put Christ to death, sending Him to His Passion and the Cross, the hour of glorification.  This occasion reminds us that what seems like a terrible tragedy by human standards may be the occasion for the glory of God -- and possibly more, an occasion for us to rise to God's vision for us and for our own lives.  It makes for a kind of exchange:  our visions and hopes in exchange for a life that God may have in mind for us, for a kind of glory that we can't get from our limited perspective or what a more earthly idea will build for us.  God's "long game" has different goal posts, different rules than our conventional lives and goals might encompass.  Who could imagine that the Cross -- the worst instrument of Roman punishment -- would come to symbolize the glory of God and the power to transform and transfigure even the worst event of human life, and power over life, death, and Resurrection?  It is the defeat of the final enemy, death -- and the power of evil in opposition to God.  So Jesus begins this journey with the illness of Lazarus and the seventh sign to come in the Gospel, the one that will lead the religious leaders to decide once and for all they must rid themselves of Him.  Let us consider Jesus' words when we are in the middle of our own crises, our own tragedies.  Is there occasion for the glory of God where you are?  Or for the glorification of the Son of God?  At the worst of times, we have occasion for prayer, for calling upon the most powerful force that transcends all things, to give us His light and show us a path we might not expect.  We may be asked to give up something precious to us, but what we seek is something deeper and greater and which pervades everything.  We just might wake up to something that is greater than our own preferences, better than our own ideas for the way things "should" be.