John 11:11-16

John 11:11-16 - Daily Devotion - 11 August 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 11 After He had said this, He told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.”12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get better.” 13 They thought that Jesus was talking about actual sleep, but He was speaking about the death of Lazarus.14 So Jesus 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 called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”REFLECTIONSWritten by Ken IpOne thing that stood out to me in this passage is how differently Jesus viewed death compared to the disciples. When Jesus said Lazarus had "fallen asleep," the disciples naturally thought he meant ordinary sleep. But Jesus was speaking as someone who has complete authority over death. To him, waking Lazarus from the grave was like waking someone from sleeping.I also found verse 15 both surprising and comforting. Jesus says, "for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe." At first, those words seem harsh, like he didn't care about Lazarus’s death. But he wasn't glad that Lazarus had died, he was glad that through this painful situation, the disciples would see something even greater about who he is. What looked like a delay wasn't a lack of love but rather part of God's plan to glorify Jesus and strengthen their faith.Maybe it’s something about living in an age of instant gratification but so often I want God to answer my prayers immediately, and when he doesn't, it's easy to wonder if he's forgotten or doesn't care. This passage reinforces what we saw in yesterday’s devotion, that God's delay does not mean he doesn’t care. Yesterday we were reminded that God’s plans are bigger than my plans. Today we see that his ultimate goal is centred on his Son. It’s that we would trust in and know Jesus more deeply. As Jesus later prays, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3).Father, thank you that you have power over death itself and that through Jesus we also have hope of resurrection. Forgive us when we are impatient with you and think we know better than you. Help us to trust you especially when your timing doesn't make sense to us. We ask in Jesus’ name, Amen. ABOUT THE AUTHORKen is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.