Lazarus
So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, John 11:14 · Berean Standard Bible
So Jesus tells them plainly: 'Lazarus is dead.'
No more metaphors. The truth is stark. Their friend has died while Jesus was deliberately staying away.
Jesus drops the figurative language and states the reality directly.
Two words that would have hit the disciples like a punch: Lazarus is dead. And they're about to learn why Jesus waited.
Jesus abandons metaphor and speaks 'parrēsia' (plainly): 'Lazaros apethanen' (Lazarus has died)—the blunt declaration that dispels all confusion.
The shift from figurative to literal speech follows the Johannine pattern of progressive revelation. The plain statement prepares the disciples for both the emotional impact and the theological significance of what they are about to witness.
Jesus tells the disciples plainly and without metaphor that Lazarus has died.
Jesus drops the metaphor and speaks directly: Lazarus is dead. The plain truth sets the stage for the disciples to understand the magnitude of what Jesus is about to do.
12His disciples replied, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will get better.”
13They thought that Jesus was talking about actual sleep, but He was speaking about the death of Lazarus.
14So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,
15and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16Then Thomas called Didymus said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”
Read all of John 11 — Jesus weeps at a tomb. Then He calls a dead man out of it. The shortest verse in the Bible and the most powerful — separated by minutes.
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