Abraham Rejoiced To See His Day

Abraham Rejoiced to See His Day

Jesus was in the midst of an interaction with the Pharisees that would end with their taking up stones to throw at him when he said something they couldn’t make sense of: “Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).

But how could Abraham have seen Christ? And why did he rejoice? Perhaps it was when God told Abraham that his wife, Sarah, would give birth in her old age: “Abraham bowed down to the ground, but he laughed to himself in disbelief. ‘How could I become a father at the age of 100?’ he thought” (Genesis 17:17).

Sarah laughed too when she heard God’s promise. She was long past the age of having children. So she laughed silently to herself, saying, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?” (Genesis 18:12).

The idea of Sarah having a baby was laughable to Abraham and Sarah. But God had the last laugh. Sarah gave birth to a son they named Isaac, which means “laughter.” Sarah declared, “God has brought me laughter. All who hear about this will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6).

When Abraham held his son Isaac in his arms, he rejoiced. If God could give him a son in his old age, then all the promised blessings still to come were surely in the process of being realized. But Abraham’s rejoicing must have been even greater when, on Mount Moriah, the angel called out for him to withhold the knife, and his son was given to him a second time. Hebrews 11:19 says, “In a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.”

Abraham rejoiced because he realized that salvation would come through the offspring of the promise, his son Isaac. He rejoiced because he realized that God does the impossible. He looked forward to the day when the true son of Abraham, the Father’s beloved Son, Jesus, would—for the joy set before him—endure the Cross and come back to life again like his own beloved Isaac had.

Just as Abraham looked forward to your day and was glad, we look back and are glad—thankful for the promise fulfilled, the sacrifice provided, the life resurrected. We also look forward to your day—the day when you will return in glory—and we are glad.