Passage
Your father Abraham reioyced to see my day, and he sawe it, and was glad.
John 8:56 (GNV)
Nearby Context
John 8:54 Iesus answered, If I honour my selfe, mine honour is nothing worth: it is my Father that honoureth me, whome ye say, that hee is your God.
John 8:55 Yet ye haue not knowen him: but I knowe him, and if I should say I know him not, I should be a liar like vnto you: but I knowe him, and keepe his worde.
John 8:56 Your father Abraham reioyced to see my day, and he sawe it, and was glad.
John 8:57 Then sayd ye Iewes vnto him, Thou art not yet fiftie yeere olde, and hast thou seene Abraham?
John 8:58 Iesus sayd vnto them, Verely, verely I say vnto you, before Abraham was, I am.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "father", "abraham", "reioyced", "sawe", and "glad". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "father" and "abraham", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 55's "Yet ye haue not knowen him but..." into verse 57's "Then sayd ye Iewes vnto him Thou...", so "father" and "abraham" belong inside that flow. In John context, the local focus is the identity of Jesus, new birth, eternal life, and belief and unbelief.
A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "father" and "abraham" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.