A prayer of Jesus
Father, I Thank Thee (at the Tomb)
Lazarus had been dead four days, and his tomb was a cave sealed with a stone in Bethany, near Jerusalem. Martha and Mary had met Jesus with grief, and He had wept. A crowd of mourners stood watching, some doubting He could have prevented this death. Jesus ordered the stone taken away, over Martha's protest about the smell. Then, before He called the dead man out, He lifted up His eyes and prayed aloud, in the hearing of them all.
“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”John 11:41
What he prayed
He said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. Notice that He gave thanks before the miracle, for a prayer already answered, though Lazarus still lay in the grave. Then He said something remarkable, that He knew the Father always heard Him, and that He was speaking these words aloud not for His own sake but for the crowd standing by, so that they might believe the Father had sent Him. His prayer was, in part, for their benefit, a window opened deliberately onto the unbroken communion He shared with the Father. It was thanksgiving and testimony at once, confident that the request was already granted, spoken so that others watching would come to believe.
What it teaches us about prayer
This prayer teaches us the confidence of a child who never doubts he is heard. Jesus thanks the Father before there is anything visible to thank Him for, because the answer was settled in the asking. It stretches our small faith toward a bolder trust that God hears. It also shows that prayer can be a witness. Jesus prayed aloud on purpose, letting others see His fellowship with the Father, so that faith might be kindled in them. Our prayers, too, can testify. And it reveals that thanksgiving need not wait for results. We can thank God in the assurance that He has heard, even while we still stand before the sealed stone of an unanswered situation, trusting the One who raises the dead.
What it reveals about Jesus
At the tomb Jesus shows Himself to be both truly one with the Father and the Lord of life. His prayer reveals a communion so constant that being heard is never in doubt, the fellowship of the eternal Son. Then He proves His words by calling a four-day-dead man out of the grave with a shout, a sign that the resurrection and the life, as He told Martha, was standing in front of her. This miracle points ahead to His own resurrection and to the day He will call all His people from their graves. The One who thanked the Father at the tomb of Lazarus would soon be laid in a tomb Himself, and would walk out of it, having conquered the death He here commanded to release its prey.
Questions people ask
Why did Jesus thank God before raising Lazarus?
Because the answer was already secured in His communion with the Father, so He gave thanks before any visible result. He also said plainly that He prayed aloud for the crowd's sake, so they would believe the Father had sent Him. His thanksgiving was both genuine confidence that He had been heard and a deliberate testimony, letting bystanders glimpse the unbroken fellowship between the Son and the Father just before the miracle confirmed it.
Does John 11 mean Jesus needed to pray to perform miracles?
Not out of any lack of power, for He raised Lazarus by His own word of command. He tells us the prayer was chiefly for the crowd, to reveal that He acted in unity with the Father who sent Him. His works and the Father's will were never separate. The prayer displayed that harmony openly, so that those watching would believe, rather than supplying something He otherwise lacked.