Should We Worship Jesus As God?

[Guest]

I have a question about worshiping Jesus. Our pastor has said that God is primary and Jesus is secondary. In worship the name of Jesus is kept out of most of our songs on purpose because the leaders say that Jesus came to direct us to God and that we are to worship the Father. I'd appreciate it if you can help me understand. I know that this isn't correct, but how can I address this with the leadership?

[SERay]

Confused Pastor

Your pastor has been either motivated by liberal theology, or potentially some Gnostic writings that flip the positional values regarding spiritual matters. He also may be following the teachings of Dr. Victor Paul Wierwille of the Way International that denies the trinity and rejects Christ’s deity. Your pastor may be taking out of context such passages as Matthew 4:10 where Jesus said, "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." or Revelation 9:20 “Idolatry is forbidden because it constitutes worship of someone other than God.” But ultimately what has happened, he has fallen under the spell of a anti-Trinitarian position that negates the positional kingship of Christ as equal to God the Father.

A passage I find the repudiates the denial of Christ as God is John 14:8-9 "Philip said, 'Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.' Jesus answered: 'Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" Jesus was the self same as Father God!

The plain fact is, Jesus received the unique worship God deserves. He was often worshipped while He appeared on earth before His resurrection.

1. Matthew 8:2 - A leper came and worshipped Jesus. [9:18; 15:25; Mark 5:6]
2. Matthew 14:33 - After Jesus had calmed the storm, the disciples worshipped Him saying He was the Son of God.
3. John 9:38 - After Jesus had healed the blind man, He revealed Himself to be the Son of God (v35). The man said he believed, and he worshipped Jesus.

Note that such religious worship would have been blasphemy and should have been forbidden as it was in the case of Peter, the angel, etc., if Jesus had been just a man on earth. Acts 10:25,26 “Cornelius fell down to worship Peter. Peter forbade it saying that he himself was just a man. God deserves worship, but men do not.”

You can also read in scripture that created beings also worship Him after His resurrection.

1. Matthew 28:9,17 - After His resurrection, His disciples worshipped Him. [Cf. John 20:28,29]
2. Luke 24:52 - Even after He had ascended back to heaven, they worshipped Him.
3. Hebrews 1:6 - Angels are instructed by God to worship Jesus. Which is a powerful argument against ignoring Jesus in worship.

You may recall, that men were rebuked for worshipping men, angels, or created beings, but they were never rebuked for worshipping Jesus. Angels are even instructed by the Father to worship Jesus. The context of the above passages cannot fit the idea of obeisance to an earthly king or ruler. They refer to honoring Jesus as a religious authority - the very thing forbidden when offered to Peter, angels, etc.

Hence, Jesus accepted worship as an act of religious honor. The Scriptures, including Jesus' own teachings, would absolutely forbid this unless He possesses true Deity.

1. John 5:23 “ All men should honor the Son "just as" they honor the Father. To fail to give this honor to the Son is to fail to properly honor the Father.”
2. John 17:5 “Jesus prayed to the Father to ‘glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” Here, Jesus asks to be glorified together with the Father with the glory He possessed "with" the Father from eternity.

At the critical moment when His life was at stake, the high priest put the question to Him directly: "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" "I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." The high priest tore his clothes. "Why do we need any more witnesses?" he asked. "You have heard the blasphemy" (Mark 14:61-64).

Hope this helps your enlighten your quest for truth! Thanks for visiting discerningtruth.org