With content gleaned from Halley’s Bible Handbook (Zondervan, 2014)—the most popular Bible handbook of all time and available as one of more than 50 study resources with your membership in Bible Gateway Plus—Halley’s Study Bible (Zondervan, 2020) helps you understand the Bible through articles, study notes, charts, maps, and photos next to related Scripture.
[Sign up to receive the free email daily Bible verse in the NIV translation from Bible Gateway]
Here are examples of reference articles from the first chapter of the Gospel of John.
ETERNITY AND THE DEITY OF JESUS
John 1:1–3
These verses remind us of the opening words of Genesis. Jesus is called God and Creator. John is very positive that Jesus was a personality who existed from eternity, and that he had had a hand in the creation of the universe. Jesus is here called the Word. In Genesis we read again and again, “And God said.”
In John 17:5, Jesus is quoted as referring to the glory he had with the Father before the world existed. Thus Jesus is God’s expression of himself to humanity. He is God’s message to us.
JESUS: THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
John 1:4–13
Jesus said this again and again (8:12; 9:5; 12:46). It is one of the keynotes in John’s writings about Jesus (1 Jn 1:5–7). It means that Jesus, as light of the world, is the One who makes clear the meaning and destiny of human existence.
Verse 6 introduces John the Baptist, who was sent from God, not as the light, but as a witness to the light. All references to John in this Gospel refer to John the Baptist and not the author.
John’s Gospel emphasizes that membership in God’s family is provided to all who receive him and believe in his name (v. 12). Salvation is received through God’s grace and never through human works.
THE INCARNATION
John 1:14–18
God became a man in order to win humanity to himself. God could have made human beings with an instinct to do his will, but he chose rather to give them the power to decide for themselves their attitude toward their Creator. But God is Spirit, and we are hedged in by the limitations of a material body and have little conception of what a spirit is. So the Creator came to his creatures in the form of one of them to give them an idea of the kind of Being he is. God is like Jesus. Jesus is like God.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Halley’s Study Bible on Genesis 1, 11, and 14]
JOHN’S TESTIMONY
John 1:19–34
After brief statements about the deity of Jesus and his pre-existence and incarnation, John’s Gospel, passing over Jesus’ birth, childhood, baptism, and temptation, starts with the testimony to the deity of Jesus given by John the Baptist to the investigating committee from the Sanhedrin.
The Prophet (v. 21) was a descriptive title of the Messiah and was generally understood as such by the people in Jesus’ day (6:14).
Note John’s profound humility in his devotion to Christ (v. 27)—he did not consider himself worthy even to untie Jesus’ shoe—a servant’s job. This is so noteworthy that it is recorded in all four Gospels (Mt 3:11; Mk 1:7; Lk 3:16). What a powerful statement to the world if all Christians could exhibit the same humble adoration of the Lord!
Lamb of God (v. 29), a descriptive title of Jesus used only here and in v. 36. John is foretelling that Jesus will be the sacrifice that atones for the sins of the world.
SON OF MAN
John 1:51
This was Jesus’ favorite name for himself. It occurs about 70 times in the Gospels: 30 times in Matthew, 5 in Mark, 25 in Luke, and 10 times in John. It was used in Daniel 7:13–14 and verse 27 as a name of the coming Messiah. Jesus’ use of it to refer to himself may have amounted to a claim that he was the Messiah.
On the other hand, it suggests that Jesus rejoiced in his experience as God in human form, sharing the life of humankind. He carried the title with him to heaven (Ac 7:56; Rev 1:13; 14:14). Ezekiel was addressed about 90 times as “son of man” (Eze 2:1,3,6,8, etc.), implying the lowliness of man compared with God.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, Halley’s Bible Handbook: A Classic, Relevant, and Handy Resource]
Publisher of the NIV Halley’s Study Bible is HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.
See what you’re missing by not being a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now!
Loading ...