John Calvin Commentary John 8:56

"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad." — John 8:56 (ASV)

Your father Abraham. He grants to them, in words only, what he formerly took from them: that Abraham is their father. But he shows how futile is the objection drawn from the name of Abraham. “He had no other object,” says Christ, “during his whole life, than to see my kingdom flourish. He longed for me when I was absent; you despise me when I am present.”

What Christ here asserts concerning Abraham alone applies to all the saints. However, this doctrine has greater weight in the person of Abraham, because he is the father of the whole Church. Whoever then desires to be counted among the godly should rejoice, as he ought, in the presence of Christ, for which Abraham ardently longed.

Exulted to see my day. The word exult expresses intense zeal and ardent affection. We must now consider the contrast. Although the knowledge of Christ was still so obscure, Abraham was inflamed by such a strong desire that he preferred the enjoyment of it to everything that was considered desirable. How base, then, is the ingratitude of those who despise and reject him when he is plainly offered to them! The word day in this passage does not denote eternity (as Augustine thought), but the time of Christ’s kingdom, when he appeared in the world clothed with flesh to fulfill the office of Redeemer.

But a question now arises: How did Abraham behold, even with the eyes of faith, the manifestation of Christ? For this appears not to agree with another statement of Christ: Many kings and prophets desired to see the things which you see,
and yet did not see them (Luke 10:24).

I reply that faith has its degrees in beholding Christ. Thus, the ancient prophets beheld Christ at a distance, as he had been promised to them, and yet they were not permitted to behold him present, as he made himself familiarly and completely visible when he came down from heaven to men.

Again, we are taught by these words that, just as God did not disappoint the desire of Abraham, so he will not now permit anyone to yearn for Christ without obtaining some good fruit corresponding to his holy desire. The reason he does not grant the enjoyment of himself to many is the wickedness of men, for few desire him.

Abraham’s joy testifies that he regarded the knowledge of the kingdom of Christ as an incomparable treasure; and the reason we are told that he rejoiced to see the day of Christ is that we may know that there was nothing he valued more highly.

But all believers receive this fruit from their faith: being satisfied with Christ alone, in whom they are fully and completely happy and blessed, their consciences are calm and cheerful. And indeed, no one knows Christ rightly unless he gives him this honor of relying entirely upon him.

Others explain it to mean that Abraham, being already dead, enjoyed the presence of Christ when he appeared to the world; and so they make the time of desiring and the time of seeing different. And indeed, it is true that the coming of Christ was manifested to holy spirits after death, the coming for which they had waited throughout their lives. However, I do not know if so refined an exposition agrees with Christ’s words.