Let Us Go Also

11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
John 11:11-16
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Let Us Go Also
When Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,” the disciples misunderstood. They thought He spoke of ordinary rest, not the sleep of death. But Jesus was leading them, and us, deeper into the mystery of life through death. To awaken Lazarus meant walking toward the tomb, toward danger, and ultimately toward His own cross. Thomas’s words, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him,” were truer than he knew. Discipleship means following Jesus into death, not necessarily physical death, but death to sin, pride, and self-reliance. In Christ’s journey to Bethany, we see His steadfast purpose to destroy death itself. At the cross, Jesus entered the tomb’s shadow not just for Lazarus, but for us. Because He went, we need not fear the sleep of death. Our Lord wakes His friends with the Word of resurrection: “I am the resurrection and the life.”