LENT – WEEK 5  – FRIDAY

LESSON: GALATIANS 3:15-18

“Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” John 8:56

Christ here declares in opposition to the Jews that Abraham and the prophets still live and never died, but that in the midst of death they have life. But they lie and sleep in death. “Your father Abraham,” He says, “rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” The prophets also saw Him.

Where and when did they see Him? Not with bodily eyes, as the Jews understood Him to say, but with the vision of the faith which they had in their hearts. Abraham recognized Christ when He said to him, “By your descendants shall all the nations of the earth bless themselves” (Genesis 22:18). At that time, he saw and understood that Christ was to be born from his seed through a pure virgin and suffer for the whole world. He would not be cursed along with Adam’s children but remain blessed. He knew that his message would be proclaimed in all the world and bestow a blessing on the whole of mankind.

Christ’s “day” is the time of the Gospel, which is the light of this day which shines with Christ, the sun of righteousness, and lights up all the world.

This is a spiritual “day,” but it had a historical beginning in Christ’s time, which Abraham also “saw.”

SL.XI.572,13
AE 76,413

PRAYER: Open the eyes of our faith and understanding by Your Holy Spirit, O Lord, that with Abraham of old we always rejoice to have seen Christ’s day, the day of salvation, and are really happy and joyful in our knowledge of Christ. Amen.