No Good Options
Here’s what you need to understand about Jesus and Lazarus:
Jesus has just had to flee Jerusalem and take refuge out in the wilderness, beyond the Jordan River, because the people in Jerusalem tried to stone him. (See the immediately preceding chapter, John 10:31-39).
Then, he gets word that Lazarus, who lives right outside Jerusalem, is sick to the point of death. Here’s the problem:
If he goes to Lazarus, he will be going to his own death;
If he doesn’t go to Lazarus, then Lazarus will die.
It’s one or the other.
So, this is why John says:
“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “‘Let us go back to Judea.’
“‘But Rabbi,’” they said, “‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’”
He waits two days, but then decides to go anyway, knowing he’s going to his death.
Which prompts this reaction from Thomas:
“Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’”
At the Last Supper, Jesus will tell his disciples that the greatest love one person can show another is to lay down his life for him. With Lazarus, Jesus demonstrates the principle: he saves Lazarus, but ensures his own death.