This is one of those passages I can't read, much less read out loud, without fighting back tears. Seriously.
It's John's account of Christ raising his friend Lazarus from the grave:
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. "Take away the stone," he said."But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."Wow.
Back in John 1:1-6, we learn that Lazarus is Jesus' friend and that Lazarus was the brother of Mary (this was perfume Mary, not Christ's mother) and Martha.
We also find out that Jesus
already knows that Lazarus' sickness will not result in death.
In Verse 8 we're reminded that there's more than a few folks in Bethany eager to stone Jesus to death. Verse 11 relates Christ telling his disciples he's going back to Bethany "to wake him up" and Verses 14-15 reveal exactly what Jesus intends to do.
There's a little kicker in Verse 16, which describes how most of us would've reacted if we'd been standing beside Christ in the moment, listening to God's Son sharing His plan and imperiling our lives to preach the gospel.
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Christ hears Mary's scolding in Verse 32 and witnessed the peoples' doubts in Verse 33. We see his reaction in Verse 35.
Then things start happening fast.
Christ commands them to take away the stone from Lazarus' tomb, looks up and prays, Father,
I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"And Lazarus, four days in the tomb, came out.
Christ never had any doubt.
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Maybe seeking God in prayer to ask for material things, successful outcomes, personal advantages or painless deliveries from our problems is a habit we embrace without realizing
that giving us what we want might not at all be what prayer is all about.
What strikes me about Christ's prayer is that the thing He's expecting to happen is huge; the prayer itself is short (especially compared to the blessings we recite before dinner); He thanks God for hearing Him; Christ is praying not to receive anything for Himself or for
His benefit.
But the big thing is this:
Jesus never even asks God to raise his friend Lazarus from the dead. (Isn't it strange how we tell God in our prayers exactly what we want, and forget that He already knows exactly what we
need?)
And so with sinners, skeptics, critics and doubters standing around watching to see if He'd fail, what did Jesus pray for?
He prayed
that they may believe that you sent me.---
Did Jesus wrap up his prayer with an "Amen," shrug, scratch his head and start rushing away to beat the after-church crowd at Canaan's Cafe? Did he drop a $5 bill in the offering plate & promise to start tithing, pledge to stop looking at porn, agree to stop swearing, stop telling dirty jokes and to start going to tabernacle three times a week or promise to "start living right if God would just do this one thing?"
Well, that prayer was so short it sure looks like Jesus didn't pray the
right way ... the way
we pray ... offering to make God a deal and
sincerely promising to give up stuff we like to get something we want in return and adding a bunch of Thee's and Thou's in the middle to make our prayers sound convicted, reverent, righteous and holy.
So without all the details, extras, religious wrappers and add-ons, what makes us think God was even listening?
Because Scripture tells us the Father heard His Son's prayer, and Lazarus came out of the grave.
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.- John 14:13
