Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.  But let us go to him."

From one perspective this sounds harsh.  Jesus is glad he was not there to heal Lazarus, in fact he deliberately did not go to him for two days after hearing of his illness knowing all would end for God's glory (John 11.4-5).

"I am glad... so that you may believe."  Faith is vastly more important than physical life for faith leads to eternal life whereas the end of physical life is the death of the body, not the soul.  "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more.  But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.  Yes, I tell you, fear him!"  (Luke 12.4-5)  Jesus teaches us that faith in him - the birth and growth of faith - is more important than anything.

Jesus said "so that you may believe" even though the disciples already did believe.  Earlier they openly professed this faith: "We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."  (John 6.69)  So maybe he meant so their faith would deepen.  Or perhaps not all believed.  Perhaps, too, he meant so that all of us may believe.  For the purpose of this reflection, however, let us link this statement of Jesus to the actual event about to occur: the raising of a dead man to life.  Furthermore Jesus will later say to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life.  Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?"  So when Jesus tells the disciples "so you may believe" may we not meditate on this as "so you may believe that I am the Resurrection and Life - I myself am Resurrection, I am Life."  Would this not be a deepening of that apostolic faith which professed itself as believing Jesus to be "the Holy One of God?"  It seems to be so, without doing the early faith of the apostles any injustice.  More importantly let us apply this meditation to ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to deepen our faith in the wondrous reality of who Jesus Christ really is.  Our faith can always go "further up and further in."

A final thought: look at how God permits seemingly terrible events to unfold and uses them to deepen our faith in him.  This teaches us to be patient in trials for the Lord can bring great good out of them.  It also shows us just how terribly important faith in Jesus really is.  Truly, I don't think we can fathom its importance.