John 11:42Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

What then? you say. Did He not say, "not to do My own will" (Jn 6:38)? But this too was said in a hidden way, adapted to their weakness.

It was said for the same reason as the prayer. What then does "that Thou hast heard Me" mean? It means that I have nothing contrary to Thee.

These words, "that Thou hast heard Me," do not show that He lacked power. If that were so, it would involve not only weakness, but also ignorance.

For then, before the prayer, He would not have known that God would hear Him. But if He did not know, how did He say, "I go to wake him"?

He did not say, "I go to pray to the Father that He may wake him." Therefore these words do not signify weakness, but oneness of mind.

So also the words, "Thou always hearest Me." Either they must be understood in this way, or as spoken in accommodation to the Jews' opinion.

If He both knew and was not weak, then it is clear that He speaks humbled words so that, by their very depth of humility, you may be compelled to acknowledge their purpose.

They are not spoken according to what befits His dignity, but according to condescension.

What, then, do the enemies of truth say? They claim that Christ said, "Thou hast heard Me," not because of the weakness of His hearers, but to show His superiority.

But this would not show superiority. It would lower Him exceedingly and reveal that He is no more than a man.

Prayer is not proper to God, nor to the One who sits with Him upon the throne. Do you see that He prayed for no other reason than their unbelief?

By prayer and by invoking the Father He awakens Lazarus, so that He may not seem to be rising up against the laws of the Creator.

"I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I," He says, "knew that Thou always hearest Me." If You know, Lord, that the Father always hears You, why do You approach Him with what You already know?

"I know," He says, "that the Father always hears Me. But I said this for the sake of the people standing here, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

Did He pray for the dead man? Did He ask that Lazarus be raised? Did He say, "Father, command death to obey"?

Did He say, "Father, command Hades not to shut its gates, but quickly to return the dead man"? No. "I said this for the sake of the people standing here, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

Thus this action was not for the miracle, but for the instruction of those present. Do you see that the prayer was not for the dead man, but for the unbelievers present?

It was so that they might know, He says, "that Thou hast sent Me." They will say, "How can we know that He sent You?"

Listen, I beg you, with full attention. "Behold," He says, "I call the dead man by My own authority. Behold, by My own power I command death."

"I call God the Father My Father, and I call Lazarus out of the tomb. If the first is not true, let the latter not happen."

"But if God the Father is truly My Father, then let the dead man obey, for the instruction of those present."

Do you see that He Himself has no need of prayer, but does this because of the unbelief of those around Him? "Thou always hearest Me," He says.

Do not inquire exactly when, for however much we investigate, we are unable to understand this. He had all things by nature as Son.

Yet He mentioned the Father, rendering Him honor, in order to show those who did not know the complete agreement between the Father and the Son.

That He has no need of prayer is clear from the fact that He performed many other things without prayer. For example: “I say to you, demon, come out of him” (Lk 4:35).

Again: “I will; be cleansed” (Mt 8:3). Again: “Your sins are forgiven” (Mt 9:2), which is greater than all. And to the sea: “Peace, be still” (Mk 4:39).

Therefore the Lord prays so that those present may believe that He is from heaven and not an opponent of God.

For if, even with such works and with proofs from every side of His oneness of mind with the Father, they said that He was not from God, what would they not have said if He had done nothing of this kind?

He also justifies His taking upon Himself the form of prayer, so that we may not be scandalized. He says, "For the sake of the people I said this," and, "Thou hast sent Me."

He speaks because of Jewish suspicions. "I came not from Myself, as the false prophets did, but according to Thy good pleasure and will."

"I emptied Myself, taking the form of a servant, so that I might order life for all." Therefore the form of prayer was providential.

In appearance it suited Him who was with flesh, not the boundless and incomparable glory of the Godhead. For to ask and to receive is rather the sign of a servant, as is being subject to a master.

Yet Christ could do even this without incurring blame. Since He had resolved to be man, how could He refuse what is human?

The Son is shown to be truly perfect in all things, lacking none of the perfections. He is begotten from the essence (οὐσία) of God the Father and is filled with omnipotence and the glory befitting God.

All things are under His feet. There is nothing His power cannot do, for He "can do all things," according to the word of the Saint (Job 42:2).

Although all things are truly in His power, He asks from the Father, according to what is said (Ps 2:8), and receives "the nations and the ends of the earth."

He receives them as a glorious inheritance. But how He receives, and precisely when, we must examine.

This is truly useful and necessary. We must ask about the time in these matters and inquire into the conditions. We must make an exact investigation of the subject.

Therefore, when He became man, when He "emptied Himself" (ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτόν), as it is written (Phil 2:7), and when He humbled Himself to such a form, then it was fitting for Him to ask.

It was fitting for Him as man to do and say this. We affirm that this was appointed concerning Him by the Father.

For where did He show the form (σχῆμα) of abasement? Or how was He seen to be gloriously abased, except when He voluntarily endured something contrary to His divine glory?

He did so when He emptied Himself for our sake. In this way He grew weary from the fatigue of the journey (Jn 4:6), though He was the Lord of hosts.

In the same way He needed food, though He was "the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (Jn 6:33).

In the same way He suffered "death in the flesh" (1 Pet 4:1), though He is the One in whom "we move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

In the same sense it is said that He asked, though He is Lord of all.

That the Only-begotten was not first called to the Kingdom when He became man we can prove very easily. But it would not be far from folly to dispute at length about this.

For this reason we can only touch lightly upon your arguments. Do you think that the Lord asked on behalf of Lazarus and thus granted him life through His prayer to God?

You will never think this, if you remember what remains, the Lord's other words. He did not say only, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me."

He added further, "For the sake of this people standing here I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

From this you clearly see the reason for the prayer. Since the Jews were impious and bold, they slandered the Lord when He performed miracles.

They said that He performed what befits God through Beelzebul (Mt 12:24). Therefore He rightly turns aside their suspicion.

He shows that He does all things with the Father, as God. He did not come by His own will as those men, the false prophets, did.

When He wished to utter what did not befit God, He said, "For the sake of this people standing here I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me."

Thus, if it had not been necessary to correct the opinion of those standing there by showing that the miracle done for Lazarus was from above and from the Father, He would never have spoken such words.

He would not have said, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me." For He was the Will, Word, and Counsel of the Father, with all perfections.

What counsel, or what will, or what word of the One who begot Him did He ask, in order to receive the performance of any works?

The Father was in Him by nature, and He was in the Father, because He was of the same essence (οὐσία).

How, as though far away, did He ask from the Father? How could He be unable to drive grievous death away from one body?

He is the One who, in the beginning, formed man from inanimate matter and showed him to be living and rational.

Therefore we accept this interpretation, which is no error of faith. We do not receive it from people who speak foolishly, but from Scripture uttered by the Spirit, where there is nothing false or perverse.

The Son is perfect, as is His Father. The Only-begotten is wondrous, as is the One who sent Him.

He raises the dead just as the Father does, for the One who wept is also the One who raised.

We could say much about this, if you wished, and if it were evident that the seed of our word did not remain without sprouting in your hearing.

But even if you were to reject it, I would not cease sowing. On the words: “And when He had said this, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’”

He did this to fulfill all righteousness on our behalf, as He said to John (Mt 3:15), to reconcile His Father with us, to honor the Father as beginning and cause, and to show that He is not an opponent of God.

For when Christ said at the raising of Lazarus, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I knew that You always hear Me, but because of the people standing around I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me” (Jn 11:41-42), was it not entirely clear to all?

He said this to honor His Father as His beginning and cause, and to show that He is not an opponent of God. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 30.45. John Chrysostom, Homily 63 on the Gospel of John.

To the one who asked, "Who is He?" the angels, ministers of the resurrection, answered with the prophet's words: "Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle" (Ps 23:8).

Then Tartarus answered: "I know that the King of glory is exalted above all the heavenly powers in the heavens, and that all creation cannot withstand His will."

"But this one, as I see, is one of those from earth. He is made of dust, clothed in mortal flesh, and weaker in appearance than the rest. Soon He is to be handed over to the grave and to my power."

But the angels persistently replied: "He is the Lord of all, the King of glory, the Holder of the heavens, the Creator of the earth, the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of all."

"He is the Giver of the sentence of death, in which you rage. He will strike you on the head. He will destroy your power. By His sentence He will bring you to ruin."

"You were to catch the guilty, yet you entice the innocent. You seize the saints, and now you threaten even the Son of God Himself. Therefore return one man before you are forced to release all."

But Tartarus still did not believe what it had learned through the customary messengers. Regretting and filled with envy, it cried out to the heavens:

"O Lord, though I am the lowest of Thy creatures, and though I have been given over to gloomy servitude, yet I faithfully keep Thy commandments."

"I keep tireless watch, lest some transgressor be found wishing to change the age-old force of Thy judgment."

"But a Man has appeared who is called Christ. He presents Himself as Thy Son, rebukes Thy priests, censures Thy scribes, violates Thy Sabbaths, and abolishes Thy Law."

"He compels the return, into the bodies in which they lived wickedly, of souls taken from the flesh and now committed to my custody for punishment."

"His boldness, increasing day by day, has reached such a point that He has broken the fortifications of the netherworld."

"He is trying to seize Lazarus, already imprisoned in our jail, already bound by our law, already subjected to our power."

"Either come quickly to help, or, if He opens the doors, Thou wilt lose all those whom we have guarded for so long."

To this the Son answers from the bosom of the Father: "Father, justice requires that the prison hold not the innocent, but the guilty. Punishment should torment not the righteous, but the unrighteous."

"How long, for the guilt of one man, that is, for Adam's transgression, will this executioner cruelly and violently drag patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, confessors, virgins, widows, and those who keep purity in marriage?"

"How long will he drag people of different ages and both sexes, and even infants who know neither good nor evil?"

"Father, I will die so that all may be able not to die. Father, I will pay Adam's debt, so that in Me all who die in Adam for the netherworld may live for Thee."

"Father, according to Thy sentence I will shed blood. So greatly do I desire that Thy creation return to Thee. Let the redemption of the dead be the price of My blood, so precious to Thee."

In this the whole Trinity was agreed. It commanded Lazarus to come out, and Tartarus was ordered to submit to Christ and release all the dead.

Therefore the Son cries out, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me" (Jn 11:41). And the Apostle testifies that Christ is our advocate before the Father.

Thus, when He sits, He judges together with the Father. When He stands, He fulfills the role of advocate.

But the present miracle had to act decisively upon those among the people who were not yet finally spiritually blinded. It had to assure them of His messianic dignity.

This assurance concerning the greatest miracle, still only about to take place, as though it had already taken place, is the strongest proof of the divinity of the Lord Jesus.