Main point: 11:14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 11:15 and I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe.
Jesus was not cruel when He said this regarding the death of Lazarus. His love about Lazarus and his family was repeated in this passage. “the one you love is sick” v.3, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus” v.5, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep” v.11.
In v.14-15, the waiting period was planned by Jesus so that Lazarus had died and the disciples would witness the resurrection power of Jesus. In other words, the suffering of one person (Lazarus) might not be explained. However, with the big picture, we could see it is for the benefit of ours.
(NET) So that you may believe. Why does Jesus make this statement? It seems necessary to understand the disciples’ belief here in a developmental sense, because there are numerous references to the disciples’ faith previous to this in John’s Gospel, notably 2:11. Their concept of who Jesus really was is continually being expanded and challenged; they are undergoing spiritual growth; the climax is reached in the confession of Thomas in John 20:28.
Reflection: On one hand, I learned to have peace no matter if I am able to explain the suffering I see. One the other hand, how should I learn to expand my horizon to look over my own suffering and to see how that could benefit others? Or the other way around, what could I learn from other people’s suffering? Do I learn more about God from other people’s experience? Of course, we can rejoice when we see that through praying to God someone is healed. How about if God chooses to delay or not heal at all? I remembered Pastor Fong, who died of muscular dystrophy disease many years ago. Before he had deteriorated he told his wife and us that God has 3 ways of hearing prayer: complete healing of his body through the doctor, healing him miraculously (take the disease away), or complete healing of his person (take him home to heaven). He would be at peace with all 3 choices.
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