If Jesus Christ, who loved the Father, welcomed others to worship Himself as God, He must have believed He was one with the Father. And we should also worship Him. For God alone is worthy of our worship. He expects His followers to worship Him as their Lord and God.
Jesus received the worship reserved only for God
Worship only God
The first of the Ten Commandments that God gave Israel was “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3) This commandment did not mean that God was to have first priority among other gods. It ruled out having any other so-called gods at all.
Jesus resisted Satan’s temptation to have Jesus bow down and worship him by declaring what God had commanded. Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ’Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’ ” (Matthew 4:10).
Men and angels also knew and strictly observed the commandment. For a Jew to worship any other god but the true God, in first century Israel, was considered blasphemy. It simply wouldn’t be tolerated.
For example, when Cornelius fell down in reverence before Peter, he told him to get up. “Stand up” he said, “I am only a man myself” (Acts 10:26).
And after Paul healed the man who was lame from birth, the people of Lystra began to believe Paul and Barnabas were gods. The people tried to offer sacrifices to them, but they tore their robes, rushed into the crowd and urged them to stop, because they were just men like the rest of them (Acts 14:14-15).
The angel, who had given John the vision of the end times, stopped John from worshipping him because it was not right to do so (Revelation 22:8-9).
Jesus welcomed others to worship Him
By contrast, Jesus not only received worship from others, He welcomed it. There may have been times when people, who were asking Jesus for help, bowed down to him as a sign of respect, as they would do for anyone of importance. But there were numerous times when people clearly fell down to the feet of Jesus in worship of Him.
For example, the man born blind, who Jesus healed, believed in Jesus and worshipped Him (John 9:38). He did this even though he would have been subject to great personal risk of being excommunicated.
At another time, Jesus walked on water to reach the disciples, who were in a boat being tossed about by the waves. The disciples saw Jesus coming and were terrified, thinking He was a ghost. They cried out, and Jesus told them to take courage, it was Him. Once Jesus got into the boat, the wind calmed down and those who were in the boat, worshipped Him, saying, ”Truly, you are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33).
After Jesus’ resurrection, Thomas refused to believe the testimony of the other apostles who had been eye witnesses of the risen Lord. He told them, ”Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it” (John 20:25). Jesus later appeared to Thomas and invited him to do just what he had said. Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
Jesus knew He was worthy of worship
Worship is defined as “showing honor or reverence for a divine being or supernatural power.”1Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Copyright 2021 by Merriam-Webster Incorporated And we know Jesus claimed to be divine, the Son of Man and the Son of God. He claimed to be from God, and that He was sent to us by God the Father. And Jesus said He was in the Father and the Father was in Him.
We know Jesus prayed for the Father to glorify Him by empowering Him to do the work of the Father. He did this so He could bring glory to the Father.
Jesus never rejected the worship of others as you would expect Him to do if He didn’t deserve it. Instead, He welcomed it. Jesus expects His people to give Him the glory and honor that He is worthy of receiving. We do this through our true worship of Him.
Jesus is worthy of worship because He is the promised Messiah
Christianity began with Jewish followers of Jesus Christ, who only had the Old Testament Scripture as their Bible. “Jesus Christ, by word and deed, demonstrated himself as the fulfillment of the old covenant promises concerning the Messiah made to God’s people Israel. Hence, the Old Testament was the source book for early New Testament preaching and the apologetic of early Christianity preaching was essentially one of evincing Jesus as the Christ by appeal to this fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.”2Elwell, W. A., Editor (2001). Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible. Baker Academic. Page 842
Are you truly worshipping Jesus?
Jesus honored the Father though His willing obedience that led to His sacrifice for sin. Likewise, we worship and honor Jesus by showing our love for Him through obedience to His commands.
Worship involves every aspect of our lives, not just the songs we sing and the words we say. This would include knowing Him, communing with Him, serving Him, and trusting His promises to us.
Come to the wellspring of life
Ask yourself two very important questions. First, are you sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die? Secondly, are you certain why God should let you into heaven? If you don’t know for sure, you can settle that matter today. Visit my post, How to Begin Your Life Over Again and you’ll know where and how you’ll spend eternity.
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References
- 1Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Copyright 2021 by Merriam-Webster Incorporated
- 2Elwell, W. A., Editor (2001). Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible. Baker Academic. Page 842