But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not meant for death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
Parallel translations
- WEB But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.”
- KJV When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
- BSB When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
- NKJV 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.”
- NLT But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus says the sickness is not ultimately unto death but for God's glory and the glorifying of the Son. He reframes the crisis around God's purpose.
Overview
Though Lazarus will in fact die, his death will not be the final outcome but the occasion of a greater revelation of glory. Jesus foresees the raising that will display God's power and honor the Son. The verse teaches that suffering can serve the higher end of God's glory.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- John 11:40Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see God’s glory?”
- John 9:3Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.
- 1 Pet 4:14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified.
- John 5:23that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
- Mark 5:39–42When he had entered in, he said to them, “Why do you make an uproar and weep? The child is not dead, but is asleep.”
- John 17:5Now, Father, glorify me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world existed.
- 1 Pet 4:11If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
- John 13:31–32When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.
- John 2:11This beginning of his signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
- Phil 1:20according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will in no way be disappointed, but with all boldness, as always, now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death.
- John 8:54Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our God.
- John 17:1Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you;
- John 9:24So they called the man who was blind a second time, and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
- Phil 1:11being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
- John 12:28Father, glorify your name!” Then there came a voice out of the sky, saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
- John 17:10All things that are mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.
- Rom 11:11I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.
- 1 Pet 1:21who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 11:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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