John 11:15-16

11:15 and I am glad ¹  for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. ²  But let us go to him.” 11:16 So Thomas (called Didymus ³ ) ⁴  said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go too, so that we may die with him.” ⁵ 

John 14:31

14:31 but I am doing just what the Father commanded me, so that the world may know ⁶  that I love the Father. ⁷  Get up, let us go from here.” ⁸ 

[11:15]  ¹ tn Grk “and I rejoice.”

[11:15]  ² sn So that you may believe. Why does Jesus make this statement? It seems necessary to understand the disciples’ belief here in a developmental sense, because there are numerous references to the disciples’ faith previous to this in John’s Gospel, notably 2:11. Their concept of who Jesus really was is continually being expanded and challenged; they are undergoing spiritual growth; the climax is reached in the confession of Thomas in John 20:28.

[11:16]  ³ sn Didymus means “the twin” in Greek.

[11:16]  ⁴ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[11:16]  ⁵ sn One gets the impression from Thomas’ statement “Let us go too, so that we may die with him” that he was something of a pessimist resigned to his fate. And yet his dedicated loyalty to Jesus and his determination to accompany him at all costs was truly commendable. Nor is the contrast between this statement and the confession of Thomas in 20:28, which forms the climax of the entire Fourth Gospel, to be overlooked; certainly Thomas’ concept of who Jesus is has changed drastically between 11:16 and 20:28.

[14:31]  ⁵ tn Or “may learn.”

[14:31]  ⁶ tn Grk “But so that the world may know that I love the Father, and just as the Father commanded me, thus I do.” The order of the clauses has been rearranged in the translation to conform to contemporary English style.

[14:31]  ⁷ sn Some have understood Jesus’ statement Get up, let us go from here to mean that at this point Jesus and the disciples got up and left the room where the meal was served and began the journey to the garden of Gethsemane. If so, the rest of the Farewell Discourse took place en route. Others have pointed to this statement as one of the “seams” in the discourse, indicating that the author used preexisting sources. Both explanations are possible, but not really necessary. Jesus could simply have stood up at this point (the disciples may or may not have stood with him) to finish the discourse before finally departing (in 18:1). In any case it may be argued that Jesus refers not to a literal departure at this point, but to preparing to meet the enemy who is on the way already in the person of Judas and the soldiers with him.