Wednesday 17th July
Read John 11:11-16
“After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’
12 His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’” (NIVUK)
The unflattering picture of the disciples presented throughout the gospel narratives bears the stamp of authenticity. Anyone writing this down after the events would seek to polish their reputations at least slightly. Yet regularly we read of their misunderstanding of Jesus’ words. Here Jesus uses a euphemism for death and their (justifiable) confusion presents a further opportunity for Jesus to teach them.
Jesus sought to prepare them for the darkness that will swallow them when He inevitably dies. He is glad that He was not there for Lazarus so that their faith can be strengthened (v14). They will now see that death is an enemy subject to Jesus also. Even this will not be enough at the time to strengthen them when He dies. They will still lose hope and hope is already in short supply.
Thomas never considers abandoning Jesus but he also knows that they go towards their own deaths if they stay with Him. A hopeless prospect opens before them. They only know in part but when He rises they will remember. We also still only partly know, yet we also share the hope Jesus offers. Love fulfilled.
“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-13) (NIVUK)
