John 11:4-6

11:4 When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, ¹  but to God’s glory, ²  so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ³  11:5 (Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.) ⁴ 

11:6 So when he heard that Lazarus ⁵  was sick, he remained in the place where he was for two more days.

[11:4]  ¹ tn Grk “This sickness is not to death.”

[11:4]  ² tn Or “to God’s praise.”

[11:4]  ³ sn So that the Son of God may be glorified through it. These statements are highly ironic: For Lazarus, the sickness did not end in his death, because he was restored to life. But for Jesus himself, the miraculous sign he performed led to his own death, because it confirmed the authorities in their plan to kill Jesus (11:47-53). In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ death is consistently portrayed as his ‘glorification’ through which he accomplishes his return to the Father.

[11:5]  ⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author. It was necessary for the author to reaffirm Jesus’ love for Martha and her sister and Lazarus here because Jesus’ actions in the following verse appear to be contradictory.

[11:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “that he”; the referent (Lazarus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.