Sickness for God's Glory?

John 11:4: "When He (Jesus) heard this, Jesus said, 'This sickness will not end in death, No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."



Chapter 11 of the Book of John is the story of the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This was an incredible act of Jesus as Lord to demonstrate His Sovereign power to bring physical life again to a man who had been dead for four days. This specific miracle was a demonstrative act of power by Jesus to display that He is the Resurrection and the Life for all who would believe in Him as Lord (11:25).



With the magnificence of the miraculous act, one can miss a rather subtle truth that lay within the text, namely that sickness can be used by God to bring glory to Himself. Now, let me be quick to interject that God is not a misanthropic deity that enjoys the pain and misery of His creation. As one can even see from Jesus' weeping at the sight of Mary's grief over the loss of her brother (11:35), that God is genuinely concerned with our losses. Even so, God also knows that He can use the unfortunate experiences of our lives to bring about greater good for the furtherance of His glorious kingdom. Jesus' delay in responding to the news of Lazarus' illness and Lazarus' subsequent death from that illness, would be used by Jesus to demonstrate His power, thus drawing the crowds into a personal relationship with Him as Lord. As Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the people knew that Jesus was no ordinary prophet, for only God could bring life back to the dead. John 11:45 tells us that many people "put their faith in Jesus." The religious leaders were so alarmed at the popular response to Jesus that they believed that Jesus needed to be killed; otherwise, they felt that "everyone would (eventually) believe in Him (Jesus)" (11:48).


We find a similar response from Jesus in the story of the man born blind in John 9. When the disciples asked Jesus whose sin was the result of this man being born without sight, Jesus said, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned . . . but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life" (9:3). Ultimately, the blindness was used by Jesus to demonstrate His power to heal this infirmity; and as with the raising of Lazarus, the healing of the blind man brought many to trust in Jesus as Lord. (See my June 25, 2008, blog "Causes of Pain and Tragedy" for more information on the topic).

As we read the story of Lazarus' victory over death, we celebrate the power of God over our most formidable foe; still, we better understand that God uses our misfortunes (e.g. sicknesses, tragedies, accidents, etc.) to bring glory to Himself and draw people into an intimate fellowship with Him. We are never promised immunity from life's painful experiences; what we are assured of is that God can use these tribulations to further His kingdom. Let us remember this truth as we traverse the painful paths that life often presents to us.