Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 11:4

"But when Jesus heard it, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby." — John 11:4 (ASV)

When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death,-

That was not to be the end of it; God had quite another purpose in view in allowing Lazarus to be sick: This sickness is not unto death,-

But for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

Jesus knew that Lazarus would die, but he also knew that his death would only be a kind of interlude; the great design of God was not to take Lazarus home at that time, but to glorify his Son in the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead.

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.

Our Saviour speaks in a different style from us. He should have said that the sickness was to death, but, ultimately, to the glory of God. But He who sees the end from the beginning speaks with a grandeur of style that could not be imitated by us. So the Lord speaks of things, not as they seem to be, nor even as they are in the present moment, but as they shall be in the long run. Not unto death, but that the Son of God might be glorified.