Your father AbrahamAbraham is a central figure in the Jewish faith, regarded as the patriarch of the Israelites. His covenant with God is foundational, promising him descendants as numerous as the stars and the land of Canaan. This reference to Abraham establishes a direct link between Jesus and the Jewish heritage, emphasizing continuity in God's plan.
rejoiced that he would see My day.
This phrase suggests that Abraham had a prophetic vision or understanding of the coming of the Messiah. The joy Abraham experienced is indicative of his faith and anticipation of God's promises being fulfilled. This connects toGenesis 12:3, where God promises that all nations will be blessed through Abraham, pointing to the coming of Christ.
He saw it and was glad.”
This implies that Abraham had a spiritual insight or revelation about the future work of Christ. The joy and gladness reflect the fulfillment of God's promises.Hebrews 11:13-16 speaks of the patriarchs seeing the promises from afar and welcoming them, indicating their faith in God's future redemption plan. This also highlights the timeless nature of God's covenant, transcending generations.
Persons / Places / Events
1.
Jesus ChristThe speaker of this verse, asserting His pre-existence and divinity by connecting Himself to Abraham.
2.
AbrahamThe patriarch of the Israelites, who is said to have rejoiced at the prospect of the Messiah's coming.
3.
The Day of ChristRefers to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah, which Abraham anticipated with joy.
Teaching Points
The Joy of AnticipationAbraham's joy in anticipating the Messiah serves as a model for believers to find joy in the promises of God.
Faith in God's PromisesAbraham's faith in God's promises, despite not seeing their fulfillment in his lifetime, encourages believers to trust in God's timing.
The Continuity of God's PlanThis verse highlights the continuity of God's redemptive plan from the Old Testament to the New Testament, showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham.
The Pre-existence of ChristJesus' statement affirms His divine nature and eternal existence, which is foundational to Christian belief.
Rejoicing in SalvationJust as Abraham rejoiced in the promise of Christ, believers today are called to rejoice in the salvation that Jesus brings.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of John 8:56?
2.How does John 8:56 demonstrate Jesus' eternal existence and divine nature?
3.What does "Abraham rejoiced" reveal about faith in God's promises?
4.How can we emulate Abraham's joy in anticipating Christ's work today?
5.Connect John 8:56 with Genesis 12:3 regarding God's promise to Abraham.
6.How does understanding John 8:56 strengthen our faith in Jesus' identity?
7.How does John 8:56 affirm Jesus' pre-existence and divinity?
8.What does "Abraham rejoiced to see My day" mean in John 8:56?
9.How does John 8:56 connect Jesus to Old Testament prophecy?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from John 8?
11.What did Jesus mean by 'Before Abraham was, I am'?
12.How were Old Testament saints saved before Jesus?
13.What did Jesus mean by 'your father the devil'?
14.How were Old Testament saints saved before Jesus?What Does John 8:56 Mean
Your father AbrahamJesus addresses men who prided themselves on descent from “your father Abraham” (John 8:39). By choosing that title, He:
• Affirms Abraham’s historicity (Genesis 12–25).
• Acknowledges Abraham as the covenant head through whom “all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Genesis 12:3).
• Gently reminds His listeners that true kinship with Abraham is measured by faith-filled obedience (Romans 4:11-12;James 2:21-23).
rejoicedAbraham’s life is marked by repeated moments of God-given joy:
• At the initial promise of a son and a Savior (Genesis 15:5-6).
• When God renewed the covenant and named Isaac (Genesis 17:17).
• At Isaac’s birth, when Sarah declared, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of it will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6).
In each event, joy springs from trust that God will keep His word and send the promised Redeemer (Galatians 3:8).
that he would see My day“My day” points to the climactic appearance and saving work of Christ—His incarnation, atonement, resurrection, and kingdom glory (John 8:58;Luke 17:24). Long before Jesus walked the earth, the Spirit allowed Abraham to look ahead:
• The covenant promise of a singular “offspring” through whom blessing would flow (Genesis 22:18;Galatians 3:16).
• Assurance that God Himself would provide the lamb (Genesis 22:8, 14), foreshadowingJohn 1:29.
He saw itHow did Abraham “see” Christ’s day?
• By faith—“These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and welcomed them from afar” (Hebrews 11:13).
• Through a prophetic preview on Mount Moriah when the substitute ram pictured the future Substitute Son (Hebrews 11:17-19).
• Possibly through divinely granted vision, as when the LORD appeared inGenesis 18 to announce Isaac’s birth—the same pre-incarnate Christ now speaking inJohn 8.
and was gladThe culmination of Abraham’s anticipation is unrestrained gladness. His joy:
• Celebrates God’s unwavering faithfulness (Psalm 105:8-10).
• Foreshadows the “inexpressible and glorious joy” believers share in Christ today (1 Peter 1:8-9).
• Stands in stark contrast to the hostility of Jesus’ audience, revealing that true children of Abraham mirror his delight in the Messiah (John 8:40).
summaryAbraham, the patriarch of Israel, looked far beyond his own era. By faith he glimpsed the redemptive “day” of Christ, rejoiced in advance, and welcomed it with gladness. Jesus’ statement inJohn 8:56 affirms that the gospel promise is rooted in the earliest pages of Scripture, fulfilled literally in the person of Christ, and received with joy by all who, like Abraham, believe God’s word.
(56)
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day.--They had asked in scorn if He were greater than their father Abraham (
John 8:53). .His words have shown that He was. He now, with the thoughts of
John 8:39 still present, contrasts the exultation of him whom they claimed as father, when he saw from afar the Messianic advent, with their rejection of the Messiah who is actually among them. Abraham realised the fulness of the promises made to him, and believed in the Lord that the blessing should be fulfilled to his seed. He, too, had kept God's word, and in the true sense had not seen death (see
Genesis 15:1-6;
Genesis 22:18). The words, "My day," are used, as in
Luke 17:22, for the manifestation of Christ on earth.
And he saw it, and was glad.--This is the historic fulfilment of the joy which looked forward to the day of Christ. Our Lord reveals here a truth of the unseen world that is beyond human knowledge or explanation. From that world Abraham was cognisant of the fact of the Incarnation, and saw in it the accomplishment of the promise which had brought joy to shepherds watching their flocks, as the Patriarch had watched his; there came an angel, as angels had come to him, and a multitude of the heavenly host, exulting in the good news to men. In that joy Abraham had part. The truth comes as a ray of light across the abyss which separates the saints in heaven from saints on earth. As in the parable, where Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom, the rich man is represented as knowing and caring for his brethren on earth, so here the great Patriarch is spoken of as knowing and rejoicing in the fact of the Incarnation. The faculty of reason cannot explain how it is, but the faculty of faith can receive the truth that there is a "communion of saints," and finds in it a comfort which robs separation of its bitterness, and a power which strengthens all the motives to a holy and devoted life. (Comp.Luke 16:19-31;Hebrews 12:1.) . . .
Verse 56. - Christ then proceeds to the allegation that he was greater than Abraham, and exclaims,
Abraham, yourfather, exulted (a word is used of tumultuous joy,
Luke 1:47) - triumphantly rejoiced
that he should see my day (so Revised Version, margin). Winer translates the
ἵνα ἴδῃ in the same way, though that translation really means "exulted in the knowledge that he should see." The "rejoiced to see," of the Authorized Version and Revised Version, implies that, when he thus exulted, he had seen, which is not exactly compatible or consistent with the following clause. If Canon Evans's theory of the use of
ἵνα in the New Testament in the sense of "the contemplated result" be sound, we have a sufficient translation in "
exulted that he would or should see"my day. In
Luke 17:22 we hear of "one of the days of the Son of man." All those days seem gathered together in the expression, "my day," and can only mean the whole day of his manifestation as the incarnate Word - the day in which, through himself, God had visited his people. When did Abraham exult with so lofty an expectation and desire? Many times in solemn vision and by heavenly voice and holy promise Abraham was led to believe that in himself and in his seed all the nations of the world would be blessed (
Genesis 15:4;
Genesis 17:17;
Genesis 18:10;
Genesis 22:18). This promise made him young again. He staggered not at the promise of God. His faith was counted for righteousness. He believed that God could and would do what seemed impossible. That which he rejoiced that he should see was the day of Christ, the revelation of the Father, and the way of life proffered to all nations. He anticipated a fulfilment of the promises to such an extent that he rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. So far thee is little difficulty. Our imagination easily pictures Abraham in the sacred tumult of a blessed hope concerning that which was eventually realized in the Messianic glory of the Lord Jesus. But our Lord added,
He saw it, and was glad. And the interpretations of this clause are very conflicting. Calvin asks whether this does not contradict
Luke 10:24, "Many kings and prophets desired to see the things which ye see, and yet did not see them." And he adds, "Faith has its degrees in beholding Christ. The ancient prophets beheld Christ at a distance, but not as present with them." We are reminded by others of
Hebrews 11:13, "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen and greeted them from afar." Consequently, the only vision of the day of Christ vouchsafed to Abraham was the far off prophetic glance. This interpretation ignores the difference of two clauses, "exulted that he would see," and "saw it, and was glad." This second clause is supposed by Hengstenberg and others to refer to the vision of the angel of the Lord, the Logos (
Genesis 18.), or to the revelation of the vicarious death and resurrection of Messiah in the sacrifice of Isaac (so Chrysostom and Erasmus). Others, again, have laid emphasis on the "birth of Isaac" as the fulfilment of promises previously made to his faith. Isaac was regarded as "heir of the world," and the embodiment of the Messianic hope. He was the child of promise, of the Spirit rather than of the flesh. This view has been urged by Hofmann, Wordsworth, Westcott. The proper sense was, doubtless, that, since the Lord became incarnate, Abraham's exulting hope has been realized; that which he desired and rejoiced in anticipation to see has now dawned upon him. This becomes an emphatic revelation by our Lord in one palmary case, and therefore presumably in other instances as well, of the relation and communion between the glorified life of the saints, and the events and progress of the kingdom of God upon earth. A great consensus of commentators confirms this in terpretation - Origen, Lampe, Lucke, De Wette, Godet, Meyer, Stier, Alford, Lange, Watkins, Thoma. It is objected that this kind of information about the invisible world is contrary to the manner of Christ, and would stand alone. This objection, however, ignores, and especially in the case of Abraham, other references by our Lord to the same idea and fact. The parable, so called, of the rich man and Lazarus, introduces Abraham as having been acquainted, during their lifetime, with the condition of the two dead men (see
Luke 16:22-25). And when our Lord, in conflict with the Sadducees, would prove from Scripture and the language of Jehovah in the "passage concerning the bush" that the dead rise, he said, "Since God called himself the God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he was not the God of the dead, but of the living;" therefore Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were living, and not dead (
Luke 20:36-38). In like manner, Moses and Elijah are represented as conversing with Jesus concerning the decease (
ἔξοδον) he was about to accomplish (
Luke 9:30, 31). St. Peter (
1 Peter 1:12) declares that the angels desire to look into the mysteries of human redemption. St. Paul tells us that the principalities and powers in heavenly places receive fresh illustration of the manifold wisdom of God by and from the Church on earth (
Ephesians 3:10). So that the idea is one in harmony with many other lines of Divine revelation. Abraham rejoiced at the advent of Christ. He has seen it, and been gladdened. The angels sang their praises at the birth of Christ, and rejoiced over one penitent sinner (
Luke 15.). The patriarchs also rejoice that the promises which they handed down to the generations that would follow them have been fulfilled. The 'Midrash' declares, says Wunsche, that Abrabam saw the Law giving on Sinai, and rejoiced at it. Westcott says the "tense" is decisive against this joy of Abraham in Paradise. But the aorist simply calls attention to the effect at once produced upon the consciousness of Abraham as soon as he became aware of the day of the Son of man. Rabbinical ideas of the knowledge communicated to Abraham concerning the career of his descendants, confirm and illustrate this interpretation; while the light thus cast upon the darkness of the grave expounds the great statement, "He that continueth in [keepeth] my word shall not see death."
Parallel Commentaries ...
Greek
Yourὑμῶν(hymōn)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771:You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.fatherπατὴρ(patēr)Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3962:Father, (Heavenly) Father, ancestor, elder, senior. Apparently a primary word; a 'father'.AbrahamἈβραὰμ(Abraam)Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 11:Abraham, progenitor of the Hebrew race. Of Hebrew origin; Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch.was overjoyedἠγαλλιάσατο(ēgalliasato)Verb - Aorist Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 21:To exult, be full of joy. From agan and hallomai; properly, to jump for joy, i.e. Exult.to seeἴδῃ(idē)Verb - Aorist Subjunctive Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3708:Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear.Myἐμήν(emēn)Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative Feminine 1st Person Singular
Strong's 1699:My, mine. From the oblique cases of ego; my.day.ἡμέραν(hēmeran)Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 2250:A day, the period from sunrise to sunset.He saw [it]εἶδεν(eiden)Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3708:Properly, to stare at, i.e. to discern clearly; by extension, to attend to; by Hebraism, to experience; passively, to appear.andκαὶ(kai)Conjunction
Strong's 2532:And, even, also, namely.was glad.”ἐχάρη(echarē)Verb - Aorist Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5463:A primary verb; to be 'cheer'ful, i.e. Calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation, be well.
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NT Gospels: John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my (Jhn Jo Jn) 
