Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”
There was a Jewish tradition that Abraham saw the whole history of his descendants in the vision of (Gen 15:6) and that by faith he looked ahead to the coming of Messiah in the promise of (Gen 12:3).
Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
“Abraham rejoiced with the rejoicing of the law, he that cometh shall come, the branch with the joy of the law; Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, rejoiced with the joy of the law; he that cometh shall come, the branch with the joy of the law.” (Seder Tephillot, fol. 309. 1. Ed. Basil.)
We do know that by faith he looked ahead to the day of the Messiah (Heb 11:13). Jesus refers to Abraham as “your father” to indicate his relationship to these Jews and contrast their anger at the coming of this day with Abraham’s rejoicing. The word “rejoicing” is agalliao which means to exult, rejoice exceedingly, or be exceeding glad. As Morris points out, these Jews “were being false to their great ancestor.”
Hebrews 11:13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.