John 11:4, commentary and pictures

When He heard of Lazarus's illness, Jesus declared that its end would not be death but the glory of God and the glorifying of the Son of God. He remained where He was for two days after the message from Bethany reached Him, and Lazarus grew worse and died while the sisters waited and prayed for Him to come. He stayed away by divine wisdom and not from lack of love, allowing Lazarus to pass under the dominion of death and lie in the grave so He could conquer Satan and gain the victory for the sisters, for Lazarus, for Himself, and for His disciples. The tarrying gave undoubted proof of divine power in a crowning resurrection miracle that answered the disciples' doubts, united them to Him in unbreakable faith, and revealed the Father to believers and unbelievers. That raising was Christ's crowning miracle and final test to the Jews, leading many to believe and glorify God while priests and rulers were hardened in unbelief, and in performing it Jesus knew He must pay the ransom on Calvary and taste death for every man.

Words and Historical Setting

This sickness was not to end in death as its final outcome, though Lazarus did die, but to serve the glory of God and the glorifying of the Son of God through a victory that would reveal divine power. The delay puzzled the disciples, who wondered whether He would save His followers in trial and whether they had misunderstood His mission. He was glad He had not been there, that the disciples might believe when the illness and death became the setting for that revelation.

The word was spoken when news of Lazarus’s sudden illness reached Jesus away from Bethany. Lazarus lay sick in the quiet home where Jesus had rested, a firm believer who loved Jesus and was loved by Him. Martha and Mary sent only a simple confiding word of his sickness, for faith and love made them trust He would understand and relieve them without urgent demand. They expected Him to come and heal him. He knew what was happening in Bethany and could have stopped death, yet He did not come at once.

After the messenger left, Lazarus grew rapidly worse and all efforts for recovery failed. Jesus remained where He was for two days instead of going at once. The sisters counted the days and hours until He should come, anxiously watched distant travelers hoping to see Him, constantly prayed for Him to come and save their brother, and waited through two sorrowful days. When the messenger returned without Jesus but bearing the assurance, their hearts failed them, for their brother was already wrestling with the destroyer and soon closed his eyes in death before Jesus arrived.

The message had given the sisters hope that he would live, so his death brought disappointment that was sustained by Christ’s grace. At the grave Jesus wept with Mary and Martha, showing His compassion for the bereaved and His power to help in grief. He brought their dead brother from the grave and gave their buried brother back to them, filling them with joy by God’s omnipotent power and bringing glory through the Son of God.

Glory Revealed Through Delay

Jesus deliberately stayed away for two days after hearing the news and let Lazarus die and be laid in the tomb, guided by divine wisdom and acting according to God's plan for what was best, not from lack of love or interest in the family. Health and strength were in Himself, so in His immediate presence as Lifegiver disease was always rebuked, He could not witness suffering without bringing relief nor disease or death without combating it, and had He been present Satan would have had no power over Lazarus and death would have been unable to strike him. His tarrying was not from less love, and He felt every pang of sorrow the sisters endured while their faith was severely tried.

The death was permitted so that Lazarus might pass under the dominion of death and be laid in the grave, the enemy being suffered to exercise power for a time. Jesus did this that He might drive Satan back as a conquered foe and combat Satan's power, gaining thereby a victory for the sisters, for Lazarus, for Himself, and for His disciples. He knew the sisters would be severely tried as they looked upon their brother's dead face, but that through this struggle their faith would shine forth with greater power.

The delay was designed to give undoubted proof of divine power by a crowning resurrection miracle that would give clear evidence and convincing proof of divinity. It was meant to answer the doubts already rising among the disciples whether they had been deceived and whether He could be the Christ if He did not save Lazarus whom He loved, to unite them to Him in a faith that could not be broken, and to strengthen their faith in Him as the Saviour. That work in raising one whose body had seen corruption revealed the Father to believers and unbelievers.

Through the resurrection the last and crowning evidence was given to the Jews that Jesus is the Son of God, demonstrating His character as Saviour and Lifegiver shortly before His entry into Jerusalem. It became undeniable evidence to Nicodemus that Jesus was the Messiah. The crowning miracle drew a large, enthusiastic crowd to where Jesus was staying, with many who had come to the feast wanting to see Him, and it led many to believe in Jesus and caused many to glorify God. Lazarus's life itself became a testimony to Christ's divine power and identity as Son of God, and the raising stood as Christ's crowning miracle and the final test given to the Jewish nation, while those who had repeatedly rejected light remained hardened in unbelief and the priests, rulers, and Pharisees had their hatred aroused anew.

That glorifying of the Son led to the cross, for when Jesus raised Lazarus He knew He must pay the ransom on Calvary and taste death for every man. He wept at the grave at the thought that He could not save everyone Satan had laid low in death but only the many who would come back to loyalty to God.

Power and Present Application

The sickness that ends in resurrection belongs to a ministry of compassion and divine power that broke the slumber of the dead, healed the sick, restored sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and speech to the dumb, fed the hungry, comforted the sorrowful, walked upon the heaving billows and silenced their roaring by a word, cast out devils who in departing acknowledged Him to be the Son of God, and held thousands entranced by words of wisdom. That raising of the dead was part of His mission and divine work, and like His life as a carpenter and His death on the cross it served to lift humanity to a new and perfect life. Yet that life of self-denial, purity, suffering and devotion met persecution and insult, being driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, rejected by His own people at Nazareth, condemned to death without cause at Jerusalem, and driven with His few faithful followers to temporary asylum in a strange city, unable to reach hearts blinded by prejudice and insane hatred who resolutely rejected the light He labored to bring them.

Lazarus had been dead four days and his body had seen corruption when Christ called him from the tomb, and with the widow's son at Nain and Jairus's daughter this shows His power over death. That work in raising him gave convincing proof of His divinity and revealed the Father to believers and unbelievers. At His return His voice will call the dead in Christ to glorious immortal life, and they will be with the Lord forever. Lazarus himself, though restored to life for the glory of God, was not made immortal but remained subject to death and decay. This contrasts with the faithful who were raised at Christ's resurrection to everlasting life.

Sickness and recovery are to be considered in relation to God's glory and the glory of the Son of God. Life for the sick should not be demanded without regard to whether living on will honor God, for one restored to health may turn from God and live in ways that dishonor Him. God knows whether the person would glorify Him or turn away, so prayer may ask for recovery and trust that God can restore, but it must commit the request to God's will and glory. So the affliction of Brother Wilson was treated as not ending in death but as sickness from which he was expected to recover, that God's name would be magnified.

Life-threatening collapse from self-sacrificing labor for the sick is likewise not unto death when God preserves life. Even after days and nights of nursing without rest and going miles on horseback into places no carriage can reach, utter exhaustion may bring a long sleep like death that human help cannot break. God does not permit it to end in death but revives the worker to continue, though the effects of exhaustion are felt for some time.