Why Did Jesus Wait For Four Days Before He Went to the Home of His Friend Lazarus? John 11:11-21

Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus - John 11:11-21

11 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.” 17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus again uses metaphor as he says that Lazarus has "fallen asleep". Of course, he means that Lazarus has died.  Sleep was often a word used for death in Jesus' culture. But in the same way that Lazarus had fallen asleep and died, Jesus was going to wake him up so that he could live. 

But the disciples often missing the figurative language Jesus uses, are thinking of physical sleep, which will help him to get better. So Jesus, realizing they are not getting it, tells them quite plainly, "Lazarus is dead". There is no mistaking that statement. This gives Jesus the opportunity to frame what he is going to do when he gets to the home of Mary and Martha. Jesus states that because he had not gone there immediately, it would be a greater miracle for them to see when he does. And like all of the miracles, their purpose was to lead them to believe in Him. 

Despite the plain comments Jesus has made, the disciples led by Thomas somehow interpret Jesus to mean that they are all going to die with Lazarus. Thomas is translated "Didymus", in Greek, which means "twin". Church tradition has interpreted this to mean he looked like Jesus, though there is no evidence of this. Often Jews in Jesus' day had two names. Their Hebrew name was their formal name known in inner circles, and their Greek name was used more in their outer circles. (Barclay)

When Jesus arrived he found out that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. This is why we know that when Jesus found out about Lazarus, he had already been in the tomb for two days,  because they needed two more days to travel to Bethany. Some think Jesus waited for four days so there would be no question if Lazarus was dead or not. (Guzik)

There were a crowd of mourners that were there to comfort Mary and Martha, which set the scene for the sign Jesus was to perfom. Now we move into the part of the story where we see the different reactions of Mary and Martha. Though it is important to note how they were handling the grief of losing their brother, we have to be careful not to project too much into how their responses reflect how much faith they had in Jesus. Grieving the loss of a loved one does not indicate the level of one's faith. We will see later that even Jesus grieved the loss of his friend, even when he knew he was going to raise him from the dead. 

We know from a previous story that when Jesus came to their home, Martha was busy with all of the tasks and Mary sat at Jesus' feet and listened to his teaching. Jesus mildly rebuked Martha for being so focused and worried about so many things, and he remarked that Mary had focused on the right thing. In this case when Martha hears that Jesus has come, she runs out to meet him. 

"Martha honestly stated her disappointment in Jesus’ late arrival. She believed that Jesus was able to heal her brother while he was sick yet still alive. It’s possible that she didn’t even consider that Jesus was able to raise Lazarus from the dead now." (Guzik)

Martha shows great faith in Jesus by stating that if he had been there, her brother would not have died. She shows even greater faith when she says that she believes that Jesus could raise him from the dead even now. Remember her brother had been in the tomb for four days.

Why do you think the disciples were so clueless as to what was going on in this story? Why do you think Martha ran out to meet Jesus, while Mary stayed at home? Why is grief such an important part of the healing process for both believers and unbelievers? Though we have the sure and certain hope of eternal life as believers in Jesus, there is still a finality when someone we love dies? It is important to grieve as Christ followers, but we don't grieve as those who have no hope! (1 Thessalonians 4:13)