‘The disciples therefore said to him, “Lord, if he is fallen asleep he will recover.” Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him”.'
John goes on to describe how confused the disciples had all been by this statement, once again the indication of an eyewitness. Who else would dare to suggest that the great Apostles could be so dimwitted? They are presented as assuming that Lazarus is asleep and recovering. So Jesus makes the situation crystal clear. ‘Lazarus is dead'. Note the fact that He knew of this fact, even though He had received no word. His awareness was beyond that of others. (Other examples of such awareness are, however, known. When my uncle was killed in France during the first world war, blown up without trace, my aunt in England awoke and cried ‘Jimmy is dead').
What a difference there was between the two statements, one speaking of ‘sleep' and the other of ‘death'. The former speaks of sleep and is thus one of hope in an awakening, the latter speaks of death and of seeming finality. Death is the last enemy, but for the Christian death has ceased to be an enemy, it has become the sleep of conscious peace. In the Old Testament the defeat of death has Messianic links (Isaiah 25:8-10).
‘For your sake I am glad I was not there so that you may believe'. This suggests that humanly speaking Jesus was sad that He had not been able to be there to prevent Lazarus' death and the heartache of the family. He longed that He could have been there to stop them grieving so. Yet He recognised one benefit as coming from it, the bolstering of the faith of the disciples and the family, and indeed of the world.
‘So that you may believe'. Does He mean believe in the raising from the dead, or in that fact the He is the Raiser of the dead? Or is He speaking of increasing faith? Any is possible, or perhaps all three. For the disciples already ‘believe'.
‘Let us go to him'. Now that His urgent work had been accomplished, He would hasten to help His friend.