Bible Strands
John 11:15
and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to His disciples immediately after announcing Lazarus’s death. He addresses them at the moment they prepare to return to Judea following Thomas’s resolve to accompany Him.
The words — χαίρω (chairō) means "I rejoice," and ἵνα πιστεύσητε (ina pisteusēte) translates "in order that you may believe." Jesus states His gladness about His absence as a direct condition for their faith before commanding them to proceed to Lazarus.
The thread — The pattern of divine restraint serving a purpose for others appears in 2 Timothy 2:10, where endurance is tied to the elect receiving salvation. The linkage between spoken words and divine origin is mirrored in John 14:10.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to accept that delayed divine presence functions to establish belief rather than indicate abandonment. It demands immediate obedience to follow Christ into a situation of death despite personal risk.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
Cross-references
- 2 Timothy 2:10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of the elect, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
- John 14:10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own. Instead, it is the Father dwelling in Me, performing His works.
- Isaiah 54:15 If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- John 11:4 When Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
- John 11:35 Jesus wept.
- 1 John 5:13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
- Isaiah 65:8 This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
- John 2:11 Jesus performed this, the first of His signs, at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
- John 12:30 In response, Jesus said, “This voice was not for My benefit, but yours.
- John 17:19 For them I sanctify Myself, so that they too may be sanctified by the truth.