Is it appropriate to worship Jesus? inquires a brother. Upon consideration, the biblical answer becomes surprisingly clear: Not only is worship of Jesus Christ appropriate, it is required.
Honor the Son
“For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him” (John 5:21-23 NKJV).
We understand that the Son is wholly dependent on the Father for such authority; it is not something inherent to him: “I can of myself do nothing… [the Father] has granted the Son to have life in himself and has given him authority…” (John 5:30,26,27 NKJV). There is nothing trinitarian here. It is clear, however, that because of the status and authority bestowed on the Son by the Father, we must greatly honor the Son, even as we do the Father.
“Honor” is a component of worship, but in this context we can go further and recognize it actually means to “worship.” Consider the following:
- “Honor” is used as a synonym for “worship” in Matt. 15:8-9: “…And honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me…” Their worship was only with their lips, by which they “honored” or “worshipped” God.
- Throughout his ministry Jesus was “worshipped” by many — Mt. 8:2 a leper; 9:18 a ruler; 14:33 the twelve; 15:25 a gentile woman, etc. – and Jesus never corrected these people from doing so.
- The authority to raise the dead and to pass judgment belonged to Jesus during his ministry — to Martha, Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25) and proved it by raising Lazarus from the dead; in other words, the Son had authority even then to give life. To the thief on the cross Jesus pronounced, “You will be with me in paradise,” pronouncing at that moment the eternal judgment of the penitent thief.
Accordingly, the Lord accepted worship without objection, even in the days of his mortality. Yes he was keenly aware of his own ongoing struggle with the propensity to sin within him (the “devil” he was to destroy). And he knew the battle was not over until, in victory, he could cry with a loud voice, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” But the status God gave him, even during his ministry, made it right to worship Jesus, even then.
The Lord’s acceptance of worship contrasts with Peter’s response to the worship of Cornelius: “Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man” (Acts 10:26). While, like Peter, the Lord was a mortal man during his ministry, he did not correct those who worshipped him because of his God-given status and authority. In fact, even one of the seven angels of Revelation admonished John when the apostle “fell down to worship before the feet of the angel… ‘See that you do not do that…” (Rev. 22:8-9). We are not to worship angels, but we are to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
Higher than the angels
If the Lord was appropriately worshipped in the days of his mortality, how much more should he be worshipped now? Hebrews 1 cites a series of Old Testament passages showing the currently superior status of the Son of God to angels.
After his death and resurrection, “when he had by himself purged our sins, [Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they… ‘Let all the angels of God worship him’… ‘God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions’ …To which of the angels has He ever said: ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool’?” (Heb. 1:3,4,6,9,13).
Showing that the gospel of Christ was superior to the Law of Moses, the apostle’s argument is based on the present status of the Lord Jesus Christ, not his future role as king of the millennial age. He is now at God’s right hand, he is now exalted over the angels, he is now worshipped by the angels. If the angels now worship the Lord, surely it is appropriate, indeed, essential, that we do so.
Worthy is the Lamb
The words of Revelation 5 are the basis for our anthem exalting and worshipping the Lord Jesus. While the fullness of the picture there portrayed is at the beginning of the millennium, the reasons for worshipping the Lamb are true now “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals, for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God ” The Lord is worthy now, he is the redeemer now.
Sometimes we become overly concerned with correcting trinitarian ideas and may lose sight of the present exalted status of the Lord Jesus Hear how the apostle puts the matter God raised Jesus from the dead and “set him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come And he put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church ” (Eph 1 20-22) Jesus Christ is first put over all things “in this age” and secondly will be over all things in the millennium Being at the right hand of God thus clearly speaks of a position of supreme power.
Peter adds his voice Christ “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to him” (I Pet 3 22) Angels are now subject to the Lord Jesus whom they worship, for he is worthy.
In praising this worthiness, the apostle Paul makes perfectly clear it has nothing at all to do with any trinitarian concept Note carefully Paul’s words Jesus “humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ” (Phil 2 8-10) Christ’s present exalted status did not exist before his obedient death, because it is dependent upon that obedience, it did not exist in some pre-existent state, it is not a restoration to some prior glory Thus the full truth about Jesus’ present right to be worshipped actually refutes the trinity.
He is our king now
We perhaps hurt our own appreciation of the Lord’s present status when we refer to him as a “coming” king He is our king now All his enemies have not yet been made his footstool, but to the ecclesia he is our everything, next to the Father Himself.
The Lord is our present king in that he is the one we serve and whose commands we implement above all others For this reason, contributors to the magazine may have noted we consistently change reference to “our coming” king” to simply “our king” as we seek to fully appreciate our Lord’s present status and authority over our lives.
Pray to Jesus?
While we are to worship the Lord now, that does not mean we are to address him instead of God in our prayers Jesus personally Instructs us in this regard when he says “whatever you ask in my name, that I will do If you ask anything in my name, I will do it whatever you ask the Father in my name He will give you Until now you have asked nothing in my name Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (John 14 13,14, 1623,24 also 15 16,16 26)
The proper protocol of prayer is to address the Father “in the name of Christ” By doing so, we guard against forgetting that all things are of God and reinforce in our minds that all things are worked out by God through the Lord Jesus (I Cor 8 6) This proper balance helps keep us in the right understanding of the glorious position of the Lord Jesus, while at the same time acknowledging all that he has and all that we have is of the Father.
There will be times, of course, within the spontaneous reflections of our own hearts, that we reach out personally to our Lord Jesus Christ This spirit of worship is entirely appropriate as we praise and appeal to our Savior, who is now head over all things to his beloved whom he redeems to himself.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One