John 11:16

‘Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus (the twin), said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go that we may die with him”.'

The disciples were aware of the dangers threatening Jesus in Judea, and we learn that Thomas was full of foreboding, as indeed they all were, and now said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go that we may die with Him'. As ever he could only see the dark side, but this did not prevent him from being faithful. He would not desert Jesus however bad the situation looked. Perhaps his intervention indicates that Peter, who would normally have taken the lead under such circumstances, was not with them at this point. This would help to explain why the story is not recorded in the other Gospels (Peter was a main source of the synoptic material).

‘Let us also go that we may die with Him.' For Thomas, taking up the cross and following Jesus was a reality. He was ready if need be to die with Him. His failure at Gethsemane does not prove otherwise. Things were happening there which panicked them all. At that stage they had been caught up in the unexpected and were shocked at Judas' betrayal, and at the unexpected occurring in the middle of the sacred Feast. And besides dark forces were at work of which we know little.

John's main purpose in going into such detail is in order to bring out that what was to happen had a very deep significance. It was not just to be seen as something that happened. It was part of the revelation of Who Jesus was. It is not, however, wise to speculate too much on what Jesus' inner thoughts were. God did not see fit to make them known.

The Raising of Lazarus (John 11:17).

What is to follow was of huge significance, for this was not just one of many miracles, it was a deliberate acting out of the coming resurrection of the righteous. Here we see carried out on earth, for one man, what will one day be carried out by Jesus for all who are His. He is revealed as ‘the Life-giver'. Paradoxically this tremendous sign, which should have demonstrated conclusively to all precisely Who He was, became the means of increased antagonism from His enemies precisely because it was effective in that way. The truth is that whatever He had done would have been ineffective in changing their attitude. By this time His enemies were not seeking the truth about Him. They were preserving their own positions and seeking to destroy Him.

This was not, of course, the only example of Jesus raising the dead. We are specifically told of Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:22) and the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11), but Jesus' reply to John the Baptiser (Matthew 11:5) suggests that there were also others. There, however, they were not publicised. This one was unquestionably the most public and the most spectacular, simply because it occurred before crowds and near to Jerusalem.