John 11:15

15 and I am glad {for your sake} that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

John 11:15 Meaning and Commentary

John 11:15

And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there
At Bethany, before he died, or when he died; because he might have been prevailed upon through the solicitations of his dear friends, Mary and Martha, and through tender affection to Lazarus, to have prevented his death, by rebuking the distemper, and restoring him to health, or to have raised him immediately as soon as he was dead; and in either case the miracle would not have been so illustrious, nor have been such a means of confirming the faith of his disciples, as now it would be:

to the intent ye may believe;
more strongly, that he was the Son of God, and true Messiah:

nevertheless, let us go unto him;
to Lazarus, to the grave where he lies: the Syriac version reads, "let us go there"; to Bethany, where he lived, and died, and now lay interred.

John 11:15 In-Context

13 (Now Jesus had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was speaking about {real sleep}.)

14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus has died,

15 and I am glad {for your sake} that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

16 Then Thomas (the one who is called Didymus) said to his fellow disciples, "Let us go also, so that we may die with him."

17 So [when he] arrived, Jesus found he had already [been] four days in the tomb.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "for the sake of you"