Pain Relief - John 11:4

"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.'" Jesus received a message from Lazarus's sisters, Mary and Martha, that their brother and Jesus's dear friend was on his deathbed. They wanted Jesus to come and heal Lazarus so he wouldn't die. These words are Jesus's response to that message. After giving this response to the messenger, He stayed where He was for a couple more days instead of going to Lazarus. His response that the Son of God will receive glory from this event is similar to His response when questioned by His disciples about the man born blind in 9:1-5 before He healed him. Besides, Jesus had recently left Judea because they tried to arrest Him there, and now His friends were asking Him to risk coming back into Judea. But Jesus waited not because He feared arrest but because He wanted to demonstrate the Son of God's power over death! Jesus plainly states in this verse that the restoration of life to Lazarus would be for God's glory. In other words, what's significant about the whole story of Lazarus is not that he was raised from the dead, but that Jesus's ministry actually implemented God's redemptive plan and purpose for all humanity. Jesus came to planet Earth to conquer death, but He had to provide some pain relief until He put into effect a permanent solution for the problem of death. The resurrection of Lazarus was a foreshadowing of Jesus's own death and resurrection. His disciples had to understand and believe He was the resurrection and the life (vs. 25) before He actually became the resurrection and life. He needed them (and us) to "really believe" so they would be empowered to build His Church: "So he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe" (vs. 14). The same is true for us today. Our belief in the reality of resurrection and eternal life through Jesus Christ enables us to persevere in this present life and do His work until the day we actually receive the reality of resurrection and eternal life: "But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God" (1:12).