In this pericope John stressed Jesus' deliberate purpose in allowing Lazarus to die and the reality of his death.
11:1-2 "Lazarus"probably is a variant of "Eleazar"meaning "God helps."379The Synoptic writers did not mention him, which is probably why John described him as Mary and Martha's brother. These sisters appear in John's Gospel for the first time here, but they appear in all the Synoptics that preceded the fourth Gospel (cf. Matt. 26:6-12; Mark 14:3-9; Luke 10:38-42).
The Bethany in view is the one about two miles east of Jerusalem (v. 18), not the one in Perea to which the writer referred earlier (1:28). John's further description of Mary in verse 2 alludes to the event he would narrate in 12:1-8. Perhaps he believed that his original readers would have heard of this incident already (cf. Matt. 26:6-12; Mark 14:3-9), or he may have just been tying his two references to Mary together.
11:3 The title "Lord"(Gr. kyrie) was respectful and did not necessarily imply belief in Jesus' deity. Obviously Jesus had had considerable contact with Lazarus and his two sisters, so much so that the women could appeal to Jesus' filial love (Gr. phileis) for their brother when they urged Him to come. They also believed that Jesus could help their brother by healing him (cf. v. 21; Ps. 50:15). They must have realized that Jesus was in danger anywhere near Jerusalem (v. 8).
11:4 Jesus meant that Lazarus would not die in the final sense, though this sickness did prove fatal. His immediate death would result in resurrection and the revelation of Jesus as God's Son (cf. 9:3). In this Gospel, God's "glory"is usually a reference to His self-revelation rather than the praise that comes to Him (cf. 1:14-18; 5:23; 12:28; 17:4).380Ironically this miracle displayed Jesus' identity as God's Son, but it also led to His death that was the ultimate manifestation of His identity and glory.
11:5-6 John dispelled any doubt about Jesus' true love (Gr. agape) for this family. His delay did not show disinterest but divine purpose (cf. 2:4; 7:3-10).
11:7-8 Jesus' decision to return to the Jerusalem area in Judea seemed foolhardy to the disciples who reminded Him that the Jews there had recently tried to stone Him (10:31, 39). They obviously did not yet appreciate the Father's protection of His Son until His appointed hour nor the inevitability of Jesus' death.
11:9-10 The Jews and the Romans commonly regarded the daylight hours as 12 and the nighttime hours as the other 12. Literally Jesus was referring to the daylight hours. Metaphorically the daylight hours represented the Father's will. Jesus was safe as long as He did the Father's will. For the disciples, as long as they continued to follow Jesus, the Light of the World, they would not stumble. Walking in the night pictures behaving without divine illumination or authorization. Living in the realm of darkness (i.e., evil) is dangerous (cf. 1 John 1:6).
"When there is darkness in the soul, then we will stumble indeed."381
11:11-13 Jesus explained further why He needed to go to Bethany. Sleep was a common Old Testament metaphor for death (e.g., so and so slept with his fathers; cf. Mark 5:39). However the idea that people would awake from this sleep, while revealed in the Old Testament (Dan. 12:2), was not the common perception of the outcome of death. Normally people thought of those who fell asleep in death as staying asleep. Thus the disciples' confusion is understandable as is John's clarification of Jesus' meaning. The New Testament writers commonly referred to death as sleep for the Christian because our resurrection to life is a prominent revelation and is sure (cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). That Jesus was not teaching soul sleep should be clear from Luke 16:19-31.382
11:14-15 Apparently Jesus was glad that He had not been present when Lazarus died because the disciples would learn a strong lesson from his resurrection that would increase their faith. The sign that Lazarus' death made possible would be the clearest demonstration of Jesus' identity so far and would convince many people that He was God's Son.
11:16 This is the first reference in the Gospels to Thomas saying something. John described this member of the Twelve (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13) further as the one called the twin. The name "Thomas"evidently comes from the Hebrew tomand the Aramaic tomaboth of which mean twin. "Didymus"is the Greek equivalent of "twin."We do not know for sure who Thomas' twin brother or sister may have been. Usually Peter was the spokesman for the Twelve, but here, as later, John presented Thomas as speaking out (cf. 14:5; 20:24-29; 21:2).
"We do not know whose twin he was, but there are times when all of usseem to be his twin when we consider our unbelief and depressed feelings!"383
Most Christians tend to think of Thomas as a doubter because of His unwillingness to believe in Jesus later (20:24-29). However here his devotion to Jesus and his courage stand out. He did not understand how safe the disciples would be going up to Bethany since they were with Jesus who was walking in obedience to His Father (vv. 9-10). He did not understand that the death that Jesus would die was a death that His disciples could not participate in with Him (cf. 1:29, 36). Nevertheless he spoke better than he knew. John probably recorded his exhortation because it was a call to disciples to take up their cross and follow Jesus (cf. 12:25; Mark 8:34; 2 Cor. 4:10).
