Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. [Luke 10:38-42] It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, [Luke 7:36-50] whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” (John 11:1-3)
Jesus wasn't just some deity in human form, but He has feelings, just like we do. He had relationships with people, whom He loved. Now, one of those friends is sick to the point of death. How does Jesus respond? When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” (John 11:4-7)
Not the response most of us would give upon hearing of the terminal illness of a loved one, but Christ Jesus is the Son of God. But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men. The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 115:3, 16-18) And that's exactly what would happen through Lazarus sickness; “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You [John 10:31-33], and are You going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” (John 11:8-10) Night vs. Day! Basically Jesus is saying, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” (John 9:4-5) We all who have accept Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior have the light of the world in us, therefore ...you will walk safely in your way, And your foot will not stumble. (Proverbs 3:23) ...the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble. (Proverbs 4:18-19)
These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.” Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” (John 11:11-16)
Jesus finally spoke plainly that Lazarus is dead, but one of the disciples, Thomas is still worried that Jesus will be killed if they go back, saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” Even though the twelve disciples had been with Jesus for most of His three years ministry, they still didn't quite understand or even believe everything He told them. This should encourage each of us not to feel bad or doubt our belief in God, just because we may have some questions or doubts. We just need to pray, as a father did in the scripture, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Matthew 9:24)
Jesus had said to the disciples previously, Nevertheless I must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. (Luke 13:33) When the time would come for Jesus to die, it would be in Jerusalem, not in Bethany, where Lazarus was, therefore the disciples should not have worried about Jesus dying there. That's why Jesus went on to say, "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
Jesus had performed the miracle of raising people from the dead before (Luke 7:11-17; Matthew 9:18-26), but those miracles occurred soon after the person had died. People could have easily gone back and "rewritten history" and said that the person really wasn't dead yet. But there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that Lazarus was really dead by the time Jesus arrived...
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