In chapter 11 of John's Gospel, Jesus and his disciples get word that Lazarus has fallen ill. On the way to Bethany, Jesus breaks the news to the disciples that Lazarus has "fallen asleep" (i.e., died). The disciples respond to Jesus that "If he has fallen asleep, he will be delivered (σωθήσεται)." Most translations render σωθήσεται as "he will recover," but two things in the context suggest that the author may have been alluding to something else. First, John has thus far only used σωζω as a means of discussing a future "rescue" by the Son (Jn 3:17; 5:34; 10:9). Second, since the verb is passive, the indication would seem to be that something or someone is going to make Lazarus "get better." In fact, the dominate number of uses of the passive of σωζω in the NT have either God or Jesus as the agent in mind who will "rescue" (eschatologically) or "heal" (in the "now") the recipient of the action (Acts 4:9, 14:9, and 27:31 provide the major exceptions, but even there it is through the power of God that the healing comes). After the disciples' statement, the reader learns that the disciples thought that Jesus was talking about actual sleeping (τῆς κοιμήσεως τοῦ ὕπνου), but what the Evangelist has done here is embed within the words of the disciples the thought that Jesus was really going to rescue Lazarus from death. σωζω customarily means "to rescue" or "keep safe from harm" (whether immediate or eternal danger) but can carry the idea also of "rescuing from illness" or "healing." Perhaps the disciples here spoke better than they knew. Though the Evangelist assures the reader that they did not understand what Jesus was going to do (and, to be frank, though they in all likelihood expected a resurrection in the eschaton, as Martha herself suggests (11:24), there was little reason for them to expect to get a "sneak peak" at it with their friend Lazarus), to "wake" Lazarus, by stating that he would be σωθήσεται, they reveal to the reader the truth of the event, that Lazarus would be rescued from death and be a "preview" of the eschatological resurrection. While Carson and Kostenberger see no double meaning here (Carson, The Gospel According to John, 410; Kostenberger, John, 331), Borchert (Borchert, John, 352), is open to the possibility, and in light of the previous uses of σωζω in John's Gospel, and the way in which the verb is used hereafter, it seems, however, that the author probably did have a double meaning in mind, though they make sure that the reader understands that the disciples did not know as well as they spoke. Lazarus would indeed "recover," but in a far different way than they imagined.
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