John 8:56

To see my day. An ancient Jewish tradition taught that in connection with the experience recorded in Gen. 15:9-21, Abraham received a revelation of the future. The Apocryphal book 4 Esdras (2 Esdras in English versions) contains the following: “Thou didst choose thee one from among them whose name was Abraham: him thou didst love, and unto him only didst thou reveal the end of the times secretly by night” (3:14, R. H. Charles ed.).

He saw it, and was glad. The Jews resent His applying Abraham’s vision of the future to Himself. Abraham had earnestly longed to see the promised Saviour, and when the revelation was given to him he rejoiced. By contrast the Jews, whose privilege it was to see the days of the Messiah in reality, were disturbed and angry.