John 11:16Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

So they all feared an attack from the Jews. But Thomas feared more than all the others, and therefore said, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." Some say that he truly wished to die, but this is not correct. His words express fear more than anything else. Yet he was not rebuked for this, because Christ at that time condescended to his weakness. Later, however, he became stronger than all and was invincible. This is what is wonderful: the apostle who was so weak before the Cross, after the Cross and after believing in the Resurrection, appears more ardent than all the others. Such is the power of Christ. The one who did not dare go with Christ to Bethany later crossed almost the whole world without seeing Christ, and moved among savage peoples ready to kill him.

When the Lord had said this and had shown the disciples the necessity of His going into Judea, Thomas, who was more afraid than the others, said, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." These words express not courage, but fear and faintheartedness. To hold back his fellow disciples as well, he reminds them of death and deliberately adds, "Let us die." It is as though he were saying: Let us go, foolish and senseless as we are, unconcerned for our salvation and life, in order to die with Him. Let Him set little value on His life. Must we therefore also be imprudent? Such words befit a timid man. But look at him later. As an apostle he was slain for the truth.

Thomas's speech reveals good will, but also contains timidity. It proceeds from a disposition beloved of God, yet it is mixed with little faith. He does not wish to remain behind, and he persuades the others not to remain. Yet he thinks they will have to suffer at the hands of the Jews, even if He Himself does not wish this, because of the Jews' murderous disposition. He does not attend to the Savior's almighty power, which was needed most of all. Christ's excessive long-suffering in bearing the Jews' attacks had made them fearful. Therefore Thomas says that it is not fitting to be separated from the Teacher, even if clear danger lies ahead. In a certain mocking manner, Thomas said this: "Let us go," that is, "let us die." Or he speaks this way: if we go, we shall undoubtedly die. Yet let us not refuse suffering, for it is not fitting to love life in this way. For if He raises the dead man, fear is superfluous, since we have One who can raise us after death.

Thomas's words seem to indicate courage, but in fact they testify rather to his timidity and unstable faith. He did not believe that the disciples would avoid stumbling, for he supposed that all the disciples would be killed together with the Teacher.

Yet Jesus Christ did not reproach Thomas, condescending still to his weakness. Thomas was called Didymus, Διδυμος, meaning "twin," because he was a twin and truly had been born together with a brother.

A swift utterance! Two feelings are expressed in it: ardent love, since he carefully urges the others to go to death with the Teacher, and timid faintheartedness, since he treats as practically present what had not yet happened. Yet let us not think that the one who strengthened us in faith by his unbelief came to such fear. Let us suppose that fearlessness, not timidity, inspired these words in him. For it is very likely that, from warm and tender love for his Teacher, he felt something worthy of such devotion to Him. If, he says, we have received from Him the power to work signs, and other gifts by which we surpass many, what should we not endure? How could we leave Him when He is led to death, Him who has raised us to such glory that we can even move mountains and do greater things?

After this Jesus Christ says to His disciples, "Lazarus, our friend, has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him." The disciples thought that the Lord was speaking of ordinary sleep. They understood the words "awaken him" to mean, "heal him." Since they did not want Christ to go into Judea, they say that if Lazarus has fallen asleep, this is a good sign. It shows that he will recover, and therefore the Lord need not trouble Himself with a journey to Bethany to heal the sick man. Then the Lord says to them plainly, "Lazarus has died." He adds, "And I rejoice for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe." That is, the Lord rejoices for the disciples that, by the will of God the Father, He did not heal the sick Lazarus.

Seeing Jesus' unbending resolve to go to Jerusalem to manifest death, one of the apostles, Thomas, surnamed the Twin, said, "What then are we to do? Shall we abandon Him? Let us also go, that we may die with Him." None of the apostles objected to Thomas, and they all followed Jesus.

From this conversation it is clear that the apostles were already beginning to believe in the possibility of their Teacher's death. But they did not understand that this death was for His glory, and that the Resurrection would follow it. Otherwise they would not have tried to dissuade Him from the journey to Jerusalem. They dissuaded Him because they had recently seen, in that same Jerusalem and in the temple, the Pharisees take up stones to kill Jesus.

"Let us also go," said the Apostle Thomas, who generally had little confidence in the possibility of resurrection from the dead, "that we may die with Him." It was as though he were saying: this whole undertaking is useless and dangerous, yet still let us go. And they set out on the way.

Thomas is Didymus, that is, "twin." He was probably known by this latter name in the Christian traditions for which the Gospel of John was originally written. This explains the addition of this name in his Gospel when Thomas is mentioned; cf. Jn 20:24 and Jn 21:2. He probably received this surname because he was actually a twin, and not in some allegorical sense. "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." Despite the Lord's calming and encouraging saying (Jn 11:9-10), Thomas saw in His resolve to go into Judea a path to his Teacher's death. He vividly expresses his fear, together with a desire to lay down his life with Him. If He goes to manifest death, shall we abandon Him? Let us also go to death with Him.

Verses 11-16. When Jesus said that Lazarus was sleeping and that it was necessary to awaken him, the disciples thought He was speaking of ordinary sleep. Yet among the Jews death too was called sleep: Sir 46:22; Sir 48:14; Jer 51:39; 1 Thess 4:13; Acts 7:60; Acts 13:36. "If Lazarus has fallen asleep, he will recover," the disciples said. The Hebrews used to say, "The sleep of a sick man is a sign of recovery." The Savior then said plainly that Lazarus had died, and added that He rejoiced that He had not been at his sickbed. Why? Otherwise love would have compelled Him, at the request of those He loved, to restore health to the sick man. But would that have been the same as restoring life to one who had died?

"Twin," ὁ Δίδυμος, is not Thomas's nickname, but the Greek translation of his Hebrew name, Toma. Toma means "twin." Why he was so named is unknown. There is a tradition that he had a twin sister, Lydia. In Eusebius' Chronological Canons there is an indication identifying Thomas with Judas of James. Some point out that Judas of James's words in Jn 14 are very similar to Thomas's character. Yet the Evangelist portrays Thomas so vividly that surely he would not have called him Judas. Indeed, in the Gospel of Mt 10:2-4 the name of Judas, not Iscariot, is absent from the list of apostles. But in the Gospel of Lk 6:15-16 both apostles, Thomas and Judas of James, are named among the Twelve.