Note 6 at Joh 11:6: The use of the word "therefore" ties this statement about Jesus remaining where He was to His love for Martha, Mary, and Lazarus mentioned in Joh 11:5. He was not ignoring them, and He was not punishing them. It is certain that by the time this messenger found Jesus, Lazarus was already dead (see note 7 at Joh 11:6); therefore, nothing could be gained by rushing to Lazarus, and His delay would bring even more glory to God (see note 12 at Joh 11:17).

Note 7 at Joh 11:6: From Lu 13:22 until the account of Lazarus, Jesus had been giving various teachings as He was "journeying toward Jerusalem" (Lu 13:22). The starting point of this particular journey was "beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized" (Joh 10:40). This was probably "Bethabara beyond Jordan" (Joh 1:28, 3:26; and Jdg 7:24). Some sources say Bethabara was located on the opposite side of the Jordan River from Jericho and over twenty miles east of Jerusalem.

Since Jesus had been "journeying toward Jerusalem," He was probably not far from Bethany and certainly less than a day's journey (about twenty miles) away when Mary and Martha sent for Him. It probably took the messenger at least a day to find Jesus, and then Jesus spent two more days "in the same place where he was" (this verse). On the fourth day, He went to Bethany and found Lazarus had "lain in the grave four days already" (Joh 11:17).

By adding together His two-day delay and one-day journey to Bethany and then subtracting that from the four days Lazarus had been in the grave, it is certain that Lazarus was already dead by the time Jesus got the message. Therefore, His delay had no effect on whether or not Lazarus would have died. In fact, Jesus told His disciples, "I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe" (Joh 11:15), implying that if it had been possible to be there, He would not have let Lazarus die.

So we can conclude that Jesus did not delay His coming to Mary and Martha so that Lazarus would die. He also did not delay His coming so that He could work some virtue in Mary and Martha through their suffering (see note 2 at Joh 9:2). He simply took a negative circumstance that He did not cause or allow and worked it together for good (Ro 8:28).