John 8:56

"Abraham was hoping to see my day." He is the one about whom it was said, "The nations will be blessed by your seed." "He indeed saw and rejoiced," because he saw in the symbol of the lamb the salvation of all the nations. "You …

[Jesus] certainly proves [here] that it was not the Father that appeared to Abraham but the Son.

[Daniel 8:15] "And it came to pass that when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it." He beheld the vision by way of a picture or likeness, and he failed to understand it. Consequently, not everyone who sees comprehends what he has seen; it is just as if we read the Holy Scripture with our eyes and do not understand it with our heart, "...And behold, one stood before me who resembled the appearance of a man." Angels, after all, are not actually men by nature, but they resemble men in appearance. For example, three persons appeared as men to Abraham at the oak of Mamre (Genesis 18:1-2), and yet they certainly were not men, for one of them was worshipped as the Lord. And so the Savior also stated in the Gospel: "Abraham beheld My day; he beheld it and rejoiced" (John 8:56).

This is Isaac the co-heir of the promises and the blessings of God given to Abraham his father—who was a type of the sacrifice of the Lord Christ, since for three days he travelled on to death, and afterwards returned alive—who on his own shoulders …

If, then, those who were conversant with the ancient Scriptures came to newness of hope, expecting the coming of Christ, as the Lord teaches us when He says, "If ye had believed Moses, ye would have believed Me, for he wrote of Me;" and again, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad; for before Abraham was, I am;" how shall we be able to live without Him? The prophets were His servants, and foresaw Him by the Spirit, and waited for Him as their Teacher, and expected Him as their Lord and Saviour, saying, "He will come and save us."

He here calls day nought else save the time of His Advent wherein the Very Light beamed upon us and the Sun of Righteousness arose, the darkness relaxed that held us like a mist while the prince of this world yet tyrannized, darkening (so to speak) the whole world with his perversities, thrusting it down unto idolatrous error, diversely darkening the mind of each one. Therefore the Divine Psalmist too knowing as a day the thrice-longed-for time of His Advent, fore-uttered it in the Spirit, This is the Day which the Lord made, let us exult and rejoice in it. Otherwise, it is the custom of the holy Scripture to call the time for each work, day, as, For the day of the Lord of Hosts is upon every insulter and haughty one and they shall be abased, and again, What will ye do in the day of the assembly and in the day of the feast of the Lord? yea and the Psalmist says that in that day shall the thoughts of certain perish, donning again as day the time of the Divine and looked-for Tribunal, wherein will nought avail to the renowned of the world the deceit of their olden thoughts and the empty swelling of the brow at its wealth. Your father Abraham therefore (He says) exulted to see My Day and saw and rejoiced. And how or when we shall suppose that blessed Abraham saw the Day of our Saviour Christ, i. e., the time of His Advent with flesh? Not open to view is the utterance (for one cannot take it and just speak and explain it) yet considering well what belongs hereto (as we are able) we will say that God revealed His own Mystery just as to one of the holy Prophets. […]

(Hom. lv. 2) In answer then to their question, Art Thou greater than our father Abraham, He shows them that He is greater than Abraham; Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: he saw it, and was glad; he must have rejoiced, because My day would benefit him, which is to acknowledge Me greater than himself.

(Hom. liv. 2) They are aliens from Abraham if they grieve over what he rejoiced in. By this day perhaps He means the day of the cross, which Abraham prefigured by the offering up of Isaac and the ram: intimating hereby that He did not come to His passion unwillingly.

"He saw My day, and was glad." He showeth, that not unwillingly He came to His Passion, since He praiseth him who was gladdened at the Cross. For this was the salvation of the world. But they cast stones at Him; so ready were they for murder, and they did this of their own accord, without enquiry.

"And I keep His saying." Here they might, if at least they had anything to say, have refuted Him, for it was the strongest proof of His having been sent by God. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it, and was glad." Again, He showeth that they were aliens from the race of Abraham, if they grieved at what he rejoiced in. "My day," seems to me to mean the day of the Crucifixion, which Abraham foreshowed typically by the offering of the ram and of Isaac.

Therefore, he says, after my Father's testimony about me has been explained, now listen to what is in conformity with that [testimony] about me: I am certainly enough of Abraham's superior that he also wished and hoped to see the time when I would reform …

As if to say, He regarded My day, as a day to be desired, and full of joy; not as if I was an unimportant or common person.

Here He affirms that He is greater than Abraham. Above they were saying to Him: "Are You greater than our father Abraham?" Here He answers: "Yes, I am greater." He "was glad to see My day," that is, he considered it pleasant, desirable, and joy-creating, …

"Abraham, your father, rejoiced to see my day: he saw it and was glad," as at one greater than himself. Gregory says that he then rejoiced when he saw three men and worshipped one, Genesis 18: whence Luke 10: "Blessed are the eyes that see …

(Hom. xv. in Evang.) Abraham saw the day of the Lord even then, when he entertained the three Angels, a figure of the Trinity.

And it should be noted that the Lord saw them resisting Him with open hostility, and yet He did not cease to preach to them with repeated words, saying: "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it, and was glad." For Abraham saw the day of the Lord when, as a figure of the supreme Trinity, he received three angels as guests; and having received them, he spoke to the three as if to one, because although there is a number of Trinity in the persons, there is a unity of divinity in nature.

Then when he says, your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day, he gives his answer to the first question asked by the Jews: "Are you greater than our father Abraham?" He shows that he is greater for the following reason: Whoever …

He saw it - By faith in types, figures, and promises; as particularly in Melchisedec; in the appearance of Jehovah to him in the plains of Mamre, Gen. xviii, 1; and in the promise that in his seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day,....

Abraham rejoiced to see my day - Or, he earnestly desired to see my day; ηγαλλιασατο, from αγαν, very much, and ἁλλομαι, I leap - his soul leaped forward in earnest hope and strong expectation that he might see the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The metaphor appears to be taken from a person who, desiring to see a long-expected friend who is coming, runs forward, now and then jumping up to see if he can discover him. There is a saying very like this in Sohar Numer fol.

It expresses something past--"he saw My day, and was glad," that is, surely while he lived. He seems to refer to the familiar intercourse which Abraham had with God, who is once and again in the history called "the Angel of the Lord," and whom Christ here identifies with Himself.

There is one who demands it, and he also judges. I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will never see death." Then the Jewish people who had been listening to him responded, "Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, ‘If anyone obeys my teaching, he will never taste of death.’ You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?" Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless.

There is one who demands it, and he also judges. I tell you the solemn truth, if anyone obeys my teaching, he will never see death." Then the Jewish people who had been listening to him responded, "Now we know you’re possessed by a demon! Both Abraham and the prophets died, and yet you say, ‘If anyone obeys my teaching, he will never taste of death.’ You aren’t greater than our father Abraham who died, are you? And the prophets died too! Who do you claim to be?" Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory is worthless. The one who glorifies me is my Father, about whom you people say, ‘He is our God.’ Yet you do not know him, but I know him. If I say that I do not know him, I will be a liar like you. But I do know him, and I obey his teaching. Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see my day, and he saw it and was glad." Then the Jewish people who had been listening to him replied, "You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "I tell you the solemn truth, before Abraham came into existence, I am!" Then they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out from the temple area. We should observe, first, in this passage, what blasphemous and slanderous language was addressed to our Lord by His enemies. We read that the Jews "Aren't we correct in saying that you are a Samaritan and are possessed by a demon?" Silenced in argument, these wicked men resorted to personal abuse . To lose temper, and call names, is a common sign of a defeated cause. Nicknames, insulting epithets, and violent language, are favorite weapons with the devil. When other means of carrying on his warfare fail, he stirs up his servants to smite with the tongue. Grievous indeed are the sufferings which the saints of God have had to endure from the tongue in every age. Their characters have been slandered.

THESE Jews had claimed to be of the seed of Abraham and the Lord Jesus Christ admitted their claim as far as it was a valid one. It is always best, in argument, to concede as much as you can fairly grant to your opponent. Sometimes we take a few steps backward in order to get a firmer footing, that we may leap forward with greater sureness. In the case of these Jews, since they said Abraham was their father, the Lord Jesus admitted that they were his seed according to the flesh and therefore He said, "Your father Abraham."

THESE Jews had claimed to be of the seed of Abraham and the Lord Jesus Christ admitted their claim as far as it was a valid one. It is always best, in argument, to concede as much as you can fairly grant to your opponent. Sometimes we take a few steps backward in order to get a firmer footing, that we may leap forward with greater sureness. In the case of these Jews, since they said Abraham was their father, the Lord Jesus admitted that they were his seed according to the flesh and therefore He said, "Your father Abraham." Very much might be spoken in honor and commendation of Abraham. He was a princely man, well worthy to be called "the father of the faithful," for, though all Believers have a certain beauty about them because of their faith, yet Abraham stands head and shoulders above the rest of them—at least, above those who lived before the Incarnation of Christ. Much, therefore, might be said in his favor, but there is no word of commendation which could possibly exceed this utterance of Jesus, our Lord, to the quibbling Jews in Jerusalem, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day: and he saw it, and was glad." Let this stand as the very crown jewel among all the gems that make up Abraham's crown, that he saw the day of Christ through the mist of2,000 years or thereabouts, and so saw it that his heart was gladdened at the sight! There may be many good things that might be truly said of you, dear Friends, but the best thing that ever can be said of you is, "They saw Christ's day, and were glad." Whatever else you do not see, if you see this, all is well with you! Blessed, indeed, are your eyes if you can, by faith, behold the Lamb slain for sinners and so behold Him as to be saved by His death.

Your father Abraham - The testimony of Abraham is adduced by Jesus because the Jews considered it to be a signal honor to be his descendants, Joh 8:39. As they regarded the sayings and deeds of Abraham as especially illustrious and worthy of their imitation, so they were bound, in consistency, to listen to what he had said of the Messiah. Rejoiced - This word includes the notion of desire as well as rejoicing. It denotes that act when, compelled with strong desire for an object, we leap forward toward its attainment with joy; and it expresses: 1. The fact that this was an object that filled the heart of Abraham with joy; and, 2. That he earnestly desired to see it. We have no single word which expresses the meaning of the original. In Mat 5:12 it is rendered “be exceeding glad.” To see - Rather, he earnestly and joyfully desired that he might see. To see here means to have a view or distinct conception of. It does not imply that Abraham expected that the Messiah would appear during his life, but that he might have a representation of, or a clear description and foresight of the times of the Messiah. My day - The, day of the Messiah. The word “day,” here, is used to denote the time, the appearance, the advent, and the manner of life of the Messiah. Luk 17:26; “as it was in the days of Noah so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.” See Joh 9:4; Mat 11:12. The day of judgment is also called the day of the Son of man, because it will be a remarkable time of his manifestation. […]