Before Abraham Was Born

The argument in John 8 had gone on for some time before it reached Abraham. Jesus' opponents claimed Abraham as their father. Jesus replied that Abraham's children would act like Abraham, and they were trying to kill him instead. Then he said something that stopped the conversation. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.

They objected that Jesus was not yet fifty years old and could not have seen Abraham. His answer was: before Abraham was born, I am. He did not say I was. He used the name God gave Moses at the burning bush. They picked up stones.

The lesson is about what Abraham was really looking at. When he built altars in a land he did not own, when he laughed and then believed, when he climbed Moriah trusting God to provide the lamb, he was looking forward to something he could not name. Jesus says that something was him. Abraham's faith was not a vague optimism. It was directed at a promise, and the promise had a face.

When you read the Abraham story this week, you are not reading about a distant ancestor of a different religion. You are reading about a man who saw, from a great distance, the day you live in, and was glad.