John 8:56

“Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, etc.] Or “he was desirous to see my day”, as the Syriac and Arabic versions rightly render the word; or “very desirous”, as the Persic version: and indeed, this was what many kings and prophets, and righteous men, were desirous of, even of seeing the Messiah and his day: we often read of jyçmh twmy, “the days of the Messiah”: and the Jews, in their Talmud f405, dispute much about them, how long they will be; one says forty years, another seventy, another three ages: it is the opinion of some, that they shall be according to the number of the days of the year, three hundred and sixty five years; some say seven thousand years, and others as many as…”

“Abraham rejoiced to see my day, &c.--exulted, or exceedingly rejoiced that he should see, he exulted to see it, that is, by anticipation. Nay, he saw it, and was glad--he actually beheld it, to his joy. If this mean no more than that he had a prophetic foresight of the gospel-day--the second clause just repeating the first--how could the Jews understand our Lord to mean that He "had seen Abraham?" And if it mean that Abraham was then beholding, in his disembodied spirit, the incarnate Messiah [STIER, ALFORD, &c.], the words seem very unsuitable to express it. It expresses something past--"he saw My day, and was glad," that is, surely while he lived. He seems to refer to the familiar…”

“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, John 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…”

“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 18:1; and in the promise that in his seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Possibly he had likewise a peculiar revelation either of Christ's first or second coming. John 8:57”

“8:56 Like his opponents, Jesus appealed to Abraham. Rabbis taught that God had given Abraham prophetic insight, teaching him about the coming age of the Messiah.”

“rejoiced: Gen 22:18; Luk 2:28-30, Luk 10:24; Gal 3:7-9; Heb 11:13, Heb 11:39; Pe1 1:10-12 John 8:58”