“What does John 8:56 mean?”

Sunday, April 02, 2017

This past week we had a gentleman call after watching our TV program. He wanted to know what Jesus meant when He stated, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad,” (John. 8:56). To answer this question, we need to get more of this passage’s context to see why Jesus even brought up Abraham.

Earlier in this chapter, Jesus told people they would be His disciples if they would abide in His word. Moreover, they could know the truth and the truth would set them free (verses 31-32). After Christ said this, the Jews stated, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone,” (verse 33). Therefore, they could not understand why they needed to be freed.

After our Lord explained to them their spiritual condition, they responded again and said that Abraham was their father (verse 39). Christ simply argued that if they were Abraham’s children, they ought to do the works of Abraham. The Jews responded that God is their Father (verse 41). This of course prompted the Lord to say that if they were of the Father they would also love His Son Jesus (verse 42).

The discussion with the Jews went from bad to worse when they accused Jesus of having a demon (verse 48). In defending that accusation, Christ told them that He did not have a demon and honored His Father. Additionally, whoever kept His word will would never see death (verse 51). The Jews then brought up the death of Abraham and the prophets. They thought Jesus must be wrong because those individuals were faithful yet died (verse 52).

It was here that our Lord brought up the question at hand. Why did Jesus say that Abraham rejoiced to see His day and was glad (verse 56)? These Jews knew that Jesus wa not even 50 years old (verse 57), so how could he argue that Abraham had seen Jesus on the earth?  This brings us to a great saying that our Savior uttered. “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was I AM,” (verse 58).

The reason Abraham saw the day of the Lord was by faith. The promise was given to him that through his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3). Abraham and others embraced the promise and walked by faith. The Hebrew writer recorded that Abraham and others back then received the promise having seen them afar off and were assured of them, and embraced them (Heb. 11:8-13).

Now let’s make the connection with the faithful today. In writing to the church at Galatia, Paul wrote, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” (Gal. 3:27-29).

The Jews did not have a closer connection with Abraham than with all the faithful of today. If anything, they lacked that connection with Abraham while they rejected Jesus. After all, you must listen to and abide in Christ’s teachings in order to be an heir to the promises given to Abraham.

Another fact that many Jews failed to grasp was that the promises were made to Abraham before Israel was even a great nation. The law of Moses came 430 years after Abraham (Gal. 3:16-17). This reinforces the promise that “all nations” would be blessed, which was the very thing many of the Jews were unwilling to accept. May we accept all as God’s children and follow Christ today.

                                                                                               Chuck

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