Grammatical
and logical analysis of “John 8: 56”.
Your father rejoiced to see
my day, and he saw it and was glad.
Jesus revealed that he was Abraham.
By that statement, Jesus revealed that he was Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation. Maybe some people do not agree with the meaning given here. Maybe they think as Christian, they do not have to believe in reincarnation. However, let us get something straight: This is not about beliefs. This is an open-minded discussion about the Truth.
We are going to consider the meaning of that sentence from a grammatical point of view. We have to notice first that intentionally, Jesus did not want to make himself clear. Why?
Probably because his listeners were not ready to accept the truth that he wants to tell them. If they were, they would have understood his intentionally twisted statement.
Why weren’t the Jews able to understand the truth?
For the same reason, 2000 years after, billions of Christians have not found out the meaning this important verse of the New Testament. That means there are several degrees of awareness. Something may seem very clear, but to realize it, people need to know they know they know it.
This is about how human mind works. When an amount of information enters the brain, the previous one is cleared. Therefore, the common people do not have the possibility to manage simultaneously a given string of information.
For example, we all know that the true God always keeps his promises. We also know, according to the Bible, that God has promised the world to Abraham. In the other hand, we have learned that one day a Messiah shall come and he shall possess the world with full power on it. However, these three ideas will not be present at the same time in anyone’s mind. Therefore, not anyone can point out the logical consequence of these three ideas: The Messiah is Abraham. In 2000 years of Jewish history, only Jesus did. After 2000 years of Christianity, no one did.
Actually when Jesus says: “ Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad”, he is very clear. People do not understand because they do not have some kind of ideas in mind at that moment. They do not have enough memory, enough imagination for that.
A grammatical matter.
Now, let us break up the famous quotation of John 8: 56 for better understanding. “Abraham your father rejoiced to see my day”. When Abraham “rejoiced”, he has not seen “my day” yet. Then the action related to “rejoiced” and the one related to “see my day” refer to two different periods. This is very important to notice and to keep in mind.
By the way, behind the grammatical issue, there is an historical one. Jesus seems to allude to an event that has not been reported by the Bible. Can one be sure of that?
In normal life, why do people promise something to their fellows? Because they cannot give that thing immediately for various reasons. But in the future they will. It is a matter of honor. In the Bible, what will this future mean to Abraham?
According to Jesus, this future is what he called “my day”. What did Jesus mean by “my day”? Surely, it was a subtle way to say “my time”. Anyway, all the days in Jesus’ life belong to a specific period. So there is no doubt about it: Abraham was alive at the same than Jesus!
For the ones who still do not understand, Jesus emphasized: “He saw it and was glad”. Then, 2000 years ago, Abraham was in flesh and blood, so alive that he could have human feelings.
What about common Christian doctrines?
Christian doctrines do not teach that Jesus was Abraham. The New Testament never told that in an explicit way. Common Christians only believe that Jesus is God. Maybe they are right. But they don’t know why. Theologians can write scholar books to expose what they think Christian doctrine is. However, none of them can answer this elementary question: God has formally promised the world to Abraham, why should he give it to Jesus or someone else? Nevertheless, the most common Christian is compelled to find an unquestionable explanation to this situation. Otherwise, he is hiding for the truth. He is jeopardizing his eternal salvation.
The heart of the matter.
Be cautious with the ones who come to teach about God or Jesus. Finally, be cautious about yourself and what you call God. Although monotheism is generally accepted in the western world, people have very different conceptions of God. Only one conception is right. The one that considers God as an absolute or perfect being. Unfortunately, people tend to create for themselves a God who looks like them, who is as reckless, as fool and as incoherent as they are. This attitude has a name in the Bible: idolatry.
Do you believe that the God of the Bible is going to betray Abraham? Is that your conception of a perfect being? If so, you cannot be an admirer of the true God.
The one who is not with The God of
Abraham is against him. Therefore, you
can be soon in big trouble. HIS justice is coming your way.