Passage
He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.”
John 11:11 (WEB)
Nearby Context
John 11:9 Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
John 11:10 But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him.”
John 11:11 He said these things, and after that, he said to them, “Our friend, Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.”
John 11:12 The disciples therefore said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
John 11:13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he spoke of taking rest in sleep.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "said", "things", "after", "friend", "lazarus", "fallen", and "asleep". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "things", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 10's "But if a man walks in the..." into verse 12's "The disciples therefore said Lord if he...", so "said" and "things" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "said" and "things" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.