The Savior referred to Lazarus’s death as a sleep. Sleep is a fitting metaphor for death because all mortals must sleep, sleep is a temporary condition from which we wake, and after sleeping the body is renewed. Similarly, all mortals must die, death is a temporary condition that ends when we are resurrected, and in the Resurrection our bodies are made new.
It is likely that Lazarus had already died by the time Jesus was informed that Lazarus was sick. It was approximately one day’s journey from Bethany to where Jesus was in Perea (see John 10:40). By choosing to wait two days before departing and then traveling for one day, Jesus arrived in Bethany after Lazarus had been dead for four days.
“Decomposition was well under way; death had long since been established as an absolute certainty. … To the Jews the term of four days had special significance; it was the popular belief among them that by the fourth day the spirit had finally and irrevocably departed from the vicinity of the corpse” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:533).
When the Savior stated, “I am the resurrection, and the life,” He made a declaration about His divine identity and power. By this statement, Jesus taught that resurrection and eternal life are represented in His person. He is the source of resurrection and eternal life and the reason that these are possible for Heavenly Father’s children. As President Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained, “the keys of the Resurrection repose securely with our Lord and Master” (“Life after Life,” Ensign, May 1987, 10).
“He is the Resurrection and the Life. (See John 11:25.)
“This power to revive His own life was possible because Jesus Christ was God—even the Son of God. Because He had the power to overcome death, all mankind will be resurrected. ‘Because I live, ye shall live also’ (John 14:19.)” (“Jesus Christ: Our Savior and Redeemer,”Ensign, Nov. 1983, 7).
Jesus Christ provides life by enabling spiritual rebirth (see John 3:3–5) and by empowering others to live His way of life, which is the way to eternal life (see John 14:6). Those who are spiritually reborn and faithfully follow the Savior receive forgiveness of their sins, and their hearts are gradually sanctified from sin. If they continue faithful to the end of their lives, they will come forth in the “resurrection of life” (John 5:29), meaning they will have eternal life. All of this is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
“He was setting the stage, so as to dramatize for all time, one of his greatest teachings: That he was the resurrection and the life, that immortality and eternal life came by him, and that those who believed and obeyed his words should never die spiritually” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:531).
“The raising of Lazarus from the dead was one of the most remarkable miracles in history. Before this miracle occurred, the Savior had brought two individuals back to life: the daughter of Jairus (see Luke 8:41–42, 49–56) and the son of the widow of Nain (see Luke 7:11–17). However, the raising of Lazarus was different from these miracles and had important purposes, as explained by Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:
“‘With “our friend Lazarus” it was different. … Two reasons in particular stand out. (1) As our Lord neared the climax of his mortal ministry, he was again bearing testimony, in a way that could not be refuted, of his Messiahship, of his divine Sonship, of the fact that he was in very deed the literal Son of God; and (2) He was setting the stage, so as to dramatize for all time, one of his greatest teachings: That he was the resurrection and the life, that immortality and eternal life came by him, and that those who believed and obeyed his words should never die spiritually’ (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [1965–73], 1:530–31)” (New Testament Student Manual [Church Educational System manual, 2014], 236).
The raising of Lazarus from the dead was evidence that Jesus was literally the Son of God, a title Jews associated with the Messiah (see Psalm 2:7; John 11:41–42).