John presented a side of Jesus the other three Gospel writers did not cover well. Their works had long been published when John filled in the gaps by telling things from a different angle. Rather than sketch out the life of Jesus historically, John provides a decidedly non-chronological account which focused on Jesus’ character. In the process, he doesn’t recount so many of Jesus’ parables, though he often included some of the more puzzling illustrations Jesus used.
At the point where Jesus received news of Lazarus’ death, we know it was a period of time when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were actively seeking to arrest Jesus, and had recently tried to incite a mob to stone Him. Recall how Jesus had long worked to poke holes in the tightly closed system constructed by the rabbinic traditions. Jesus was about to present them with the ultimate challenge. He knew the timing of Lazarus’ illness was according to the Father’s plan.
Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” 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.” (John 11:3-4)
If you had read the previous 10 chapters of John’s Gospel before this, you would recognize the pattern. Jesus would be emphasizing something about the Kingdom of God by using symbolic language, comments which should not be taken literally. Saying Lazarus’s sickness was not unto death, Jesus was referring to the final end of the matter. The point was not to confuse, but to clarify: Bodily death was of no consequence to the Lord of Life. Lazarus’ body would indeed expire, but that’s not where the story ends.
And the reason was to glorify the Son. I can’t imagine anyone else on this earth who could say something like that about himself without arrogance. Yet, we can see from the context Jesus was not in the least arrogant, or pursuing glorification of His humanity. He was proceeding on a course which would verify the power behind the words He spoke. He was about to do something which would forever discredit the Pharisees’ claims against Him. They insisted they were defending the teachings handed down from Moses against any heresy and blasphemy.
Thus, He had to wait to ensure Lazarus was unquestionably dead. Those who have pondered the Gospel accounts will note we know of no one who died in the presence of Jesus. If Jesus had gone to see His close friend, Lazarus would not have died, and this important demonstration would be missing. When that wait was done, Jesus announced it was time to return to Judea. If the previous chapter is connected to these events, that would mean they had been staying on the East Bank of the Jordan, probably in Perea.
At this point, His disciples raised the issue of the very literal threat to His life. Was He going back so quickly after such a close call? Jesus’ answer has perplexed many ordinary believers.
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.” (11:9-10)
Again, He uses a common experience of daily living to express a spiritual truth. We might paraphrase it like this: “By choosing to live in the light of the Father’s revealed truth, I can always expect to get where I am supposed to be, regardless of the circumstances. If I take off on a path He didn’t choose, I am ignoring His revelation, and I am most certainly going to have problems.”
This incident with Lazarus was something God had decreed. It must happen in order for His glory to shine. That glory had to shine through the Son, and through the Son’s actions. To walk in fear of human plotting is to walk in darkness. Had He not already escaped more than one attempt on His life, because it was not His time to die? And when it came His time to die, no human effort would save Him. The murderous Sanhedrin were the Father’s problem. They would fail at anything He hadn’t planned. Jesus was not going to die until He and the Father agreed it was time.
His next comment on the road, about Lazarus being asleep, was not mocking the sorrowful occasion. He was trying to show them the situation was not permanent, because the Father had authority to change things to suit Him. Death was just another circumstance. That authority had been committed into the hands of Jesus. In this particular situation, the dead man would not stay dead, and it was best to simply see it as a temporary condition, like sleep. They were going to wake him up.
Later on, when the Holy Spirit came, they would see all this so very clearly. Not now. They were still operating on that old level, thinking Lazarus was asleep as the primary sign of recovery from sickness. It must have been so frustrating for the Master. He stopped and told them straight out His friend had died, and it was necessary he do so. That’s why Jesus couldn’t go heal him earlier.
But now they were going to him, and the world would never be the same. They still persisted in operating on the old level of understanding, the human level. At this point, we realize calling Thomas “the Doubter” is a complete injustice. Thomas is no doubter, one who can’t accept the truth; he’s a “show me!” kind of guy. Once he’d been shown, he was ready to go all the way to death with that knowledge. His comment was quite serious: If Jesus is going to join Lazarus in the grave, it was their duty to also die. Whatever was included in following Jesus, Thomas was not going to bail out now.
We might say Thomas was a little slower than some to recognize the light of truth when he saw it, but there’s no sin in being cautious. There’s no sense committing to something you can’t grasp. Once Thomas understood what was going on, and understood his part in it, he was content to go forward, come what may.
If Thomas is a Doubter, make me one too.
