Friday 3rd November
Read John 8:54-56
“Jesus replied, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’” (NIVUK)
Jesus makes many deliberate contrasts in response to their question of who He is. ‘My Father’, ‘your God’, ‘Your father Abraham’, ‘my day’… One can meditate on the passage at length and note them in detail. The point He is making through these many contrasts is startling. Abraham rejoiced at the mere thought of seeing Jesus’ day! They themselves are standing before Jesus and there is nothing but rebuke and anger.
Whatever Jesus means by ‘he saw it’ (and much ink has been spilled trying to work that out!), His point is very clear. The ‘day’ everyone looked forward to, the ‘day’ the promises to Abraham would be fulfilled, is the day God visits His people. The Jews thought that day would vindicate them and judge the nations who were oppressing them. They saw no evidence that their salvation would come in the form of this itinerant delusional teacher! Yet Jesus holds no doubts – His arrival, His presence, is momentous in every way. It is the defining moment in history.
As we approach Christmas and the celebration of Jesus arrival we do well to remember just how momentous that ‘day’ is and rejoice!
