[Who Do You Say I Am? by Edward E. Stevens]
VI. Worshipping Jesus and Sharing God’s Glory
If Jesus was not God, then God violated His own statements about how jealous a God He really is. He repeatedly warned the Jews about not giving any glory to anyone else. God says He will not give His glory (worship) to anyone else (Josh. 7:19; Ps. 106:47; 115:1; Is. 42:8; 42:12; 48:11; 60:19; Acts 12:23; Rev. 4:9; 16:9; 19:7). Yet in the gospel of John (Jn 17:5) we hear Jesus talking about sharing in the Glory of the Father both before and after the incarnation; and in Revelation we see Him sitting on the throne with the Father and spoken of as if they were one (Rev. 21:22 – 22:5). No creature ever had that kind of power and authority. How could God send some creature to die for our sins and then reward him by sharing His glory with that creature for doing such a “worthy” job? “Worthiness” is worship. And worship is ascribing glory, and honor and power to someone. And that’s exactly the kind of worship both Jesus and the Father are given. (cf. Rev. 5) And God, Who is a jealous God, will not share His glory with another nor send a creature to do this atoning work for Him. If we miss the significance of this, we miss the whole point of God’s plan of redemption. God has to do it Himself or someone else will get the credit for it. If anyone else does it they will get the credit, and God says He will not give His glory to anyone else. He is our only savior. (Isa. 43:11) Since only God can get the glory for it, He has to be the One who does the work of saving mankind.
Giving glory and honor and credit (like Rev. 5) for salvation from sin and death is “worship.” Worship implies the Deity of the person worshipped. In fact, the whole reason for worship is to recognize, exalt and adore a Deity. So it is no wonder that most unitarians do NOT worship Jesus, since they do not consider Him to be God. They see the inconsistency in worshipping someone who is a created being or anything less than God. Surprisingly though, some unitarians say they do worship Jesus. They worship Him because NT scriptures (such as Heb. 1:6 and Phil. 2:10) say to worship Him. If Jesus is a created being, they would obviously be breaking the commandments by worshipping Him. So, they either have to find some way to keep Jesus from being a created being (such as a demi-god), or they have to redefine or redirect their worship through Jesus to the Father. This idea (worshipping Jesus as a demi-god) is obviously not an option for Trinitarians or unitarians (or for any other monotheists). The Jehovah’s Witnesses saw through the problem of worshipping Jesus decades ago and edited their New World “Translation” to redefine (mistranslate) any references to Jesus being worshipped. They realized the problem this creates if Jesus is not God but is worshipped. So, instead of worshipping Jesus, they simply “pay homage” to him as unto a king. Others just redirect the worship so they can still worship Jesus, but when they are challenged by Trinitarians about the inconsistency of it, they simply say, “Well, I am not really worshipping Jesus, I am just worshipping God through Jesus.”
This idea of worshipping God through Jesus may sound reasonable at first. But it won’t do for several reasons. First of all, it puts God in the position of sharing His worship and glory with some other being. Secondly, it contradicts the OT revelation about not worshipping anyone but Yahweh. And, in order for it to be true, we would expect to find not only a lot of references to God being worshipped through Jesus, but absolutely no references to Jesus being worshipped independently of the Father. What we find is just the opposite. Most of the references to Jesus being worshipped are of the independent worship type, and there are several of them, far too many to allow for the idea that it was just worship of God through Jesus. But there is more. The most devastating evidence for this “worship through Jesus” theory is found in the type of worship that is given to Jesus. Not only is Jesus worshipped independently of the Father, but He is given exactly the same kind of worship that the Father is. A good example of this is found in Revelation chapters 4 and 5. Here we clearly see both He who sits on the throne (the Father) and the Lamb receiving not only worship, but exactly the same kind of worship. In view of Yahweh’s statements about not sharing His glory and worship with another (Isa. 42:8; et al), this has strong implications. With the Lamb seated at the right hand of the Majesty on High and receiving the same kind of worship, the implication is clear. Jesus must be a personal manifestation/revelation of God Himself. Jesus is the one and only real Son of the Father, with all the fullness of Deity residing in Him, and all the power and glory the Prince Son of the King Yahweh would naturally have. Otherwise, God has violated His own word not to give/share His glory and worship with any other being.
Scripture (Heb. 1:6 and others) actually commands all God’s angels to worship Jesus, not just God through Jesus. And Scripture shows Jesus Himself being worshipped (Matt. 14:33; 28:9,17; John 9:38; Rom. 14:18; Col. 3:24; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 5:11-14), and not just God through Jesus. In fact, Jesus Himself says such worship can only be done to God Himself. (Matt. 4:10) God doesn’t tell His creatures to worship Him through anyone else! In fact, He says just the opposite. And we see both people and angels worshipping Jesus, and Jesus accepting their worship without ever once saying, “Now be sure you don’t worship me, but worship the Father through me. And furthermore, you must not worship God at all unless you go through me to do it.” (cf. John 14:6) Can you imagine any created being (angel or man) bold enough to tell us to worship God through them? Such would be blasphemy of the highest sort unless they are also God. It would be exalting oneself to a position of not only being equal with God, but actually being over God and controlling our worship of Him. So even if someone only claims to be worshipping God through Jesus, they have put Jesus in a position that no being outside of God should be in (equal to or greater than God). If Jesus is not God, then worshipping God through Him would violate the intent of the commandments regarding idolatry. God said so clearly that we should have no other gods between us and Him. God alone is to be worshipped, and not through anyone or anything else. And God cannot contradict Himself by commanding us to do something that would violate His previous revelation to us in the OT. So if the NT commands us to worship Jesus, and if Jesus accepted that worship without ever rebuking or redirecting it to God, the only logical conclusion we can draw is that Jesus must be God. God has clearly said He will not give His glory to another. (Isa. 42:8) But if Jesus is being worshipped, then God’s glory is being shared with another, unless He is God.
God doesn’t tell His creatures to worship Him through anyone else! In fact, He says to worship Him only (directly and exclusively – cf. Deut. 5:6-9; 6:13-15). In these and other similar OT passages, Yahweh taught the Israelites:
• A strict monotheism (one God and one God only).
• They could not worship anyone but Yahweh (and Jesus showed that He was aware of this by stating it in Matt. 4:10).
• They were to stone anyone who taught them to follow after, serve or worship anyone or anything else but Yahweh. To worship or serve anyone else was considered idolatry. (cf. Deut. 13)
It would have been extremely difficult to get the Jews to worship Jesus if He was not God. Yet, Jesus was worshipped by them, and He accepted that worship without ever once saying, “Now be sure you don’t worship me, but worship the Father through me.” Worshipping God through Jesus would be idolatry, since it would be setting up an image to represent God. Can you imagine any created being (angel or man) bold enough to tell us to worship God through them? Or, can you imagine Yahweh sharing His glory with a created being (or another god) by allowing us to worship Him through that created being (or other god)? Where is the passage which says we are to do this? Even if unitarians are only worshipping God through Jesus, they still have put Jesus in a position that no being outside of God should be in (sharing His glory). And God doesn’t share His glory with any other being. God said very clearly that we should have no other gods or images between us and Him. God alone is to be worshipped, and not through anyone or anything else. And God cannot contradict Himself by commanding us to do something in the NT that would violate His previous revelation to us in the OT. So if the NT commands us to worship Jesus, and if Jesus accepted that worship without ever rebuking or redirecting it to God, the only logical conclusion we can draw is that Jesus must be God. Otherwise the NT teaches the very thing that Deut. 13 prohibited and condemned.
Could OT Jews Worship Anyone But Yahweh?
To worship Jesus even though He is not God, creates a lot of dilemmas. It is bad enough to deny His Deity, but then to worship him anyway is not only a contradiction in logic but easily classified as idolatry (worship of a created being). Can you imagine a faithful Jew in Jesus’ day who recited the Shema (Deut. 6:4) three times every day, being told to worship Jesus in spite of the fact He is not Yahweh God? Unthinkable! It would be garment-rending time for whoever heard it, and stoning time for whoever suggested it. Before a Jew would worship Jesus he would have to absolutely be convinced that Jesus is Yahweh (their one and only God).No Jew in Jesus’ day would have worshipped Jesus without believing He was Yahweh God. And Jesus could not have accepted their worship in view of His clear understanding of the “Shema” unless He was making a claim to Deity.
The NT examples and commands to worship Jesus would directly contradict the OT prohibitions against worship of anything or anyone other than Yahweh, unless Jesus is Yahweh. The Jews would have pointed to Deut. 13:1-11; 17:1-7; Ex. 22:20 and a host of other OT passages which warn them against worshipping anyone or anything but Yahweh. Most of the OT worthies such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego were willing to lay their life on the line to avoid worshipping anyone or anything but Yahweh. These saints would have rent their garments at just the mere thought of it. It contradicts everything Yahweh had revealed to them throughout their history. The only conclusion possible to keep the OT and NT in harmony is to assume that Jesus (whose name means “Yahweh is Salvation”) is in fact Yahweh. The Jews were commanded to kill anyone among them (even if they were in their own immediate family) who taught them to worship anyone but Yahweh. It was not just a matter of casting them out of their synagogues. They were commanded to stone them to death (Deut. 13:1-11). Those OT saints would never for a minute listen to anyone teaching them to worship someone other than Yahweh. This was a radically sensitive issue for them, and one which they took extremely serious.
But, unitarians treat it as a non-issue. They whine about Trinitarians not bothering to harmonize their proof-texts with the rest of Scripture, but I have yet to see the unitarians deal squarely with the dilemma created for a faithful OT Jew by telling him to worship Jesus if He is not Yahweh. It is the unitarians who dance around the scriptures and play at this thing called harmonizing. They are the true experts in scripture-twisting. Beware dear brother and sister in Christ: anyone who denies the Deity of Christ has forsaken and blasphemed the God Who manifested Himself in the flesh to pay the price He Himself required for our reunion with Him. He bought us back from Death and Hades with His own blood, not the blood of some lesser being that He created and commissioned to do His work for Him. We were saved by God, not by some uniquely created being who has a position somewhere between God and the highest angel or created being.
The OT statements about only worshipping Yahweh leave no other option for NT saints except to believe that Jesus is Yahweh. To believe otherwise automatically puts them in direct opposition to the OT revelation and under the penalty of death. All of this goes to show that the issue of Jesus’ Deity is in the realm of essentials for justification and fellowship. The Jews were commanded to treat the issue of worshipping only Yahweh with the utmost seriousness. It was on pain of death to violate this. It was not just an opinion issue. Unitarians today need to take notice of this. The Deity of Christ is an essential of our faith. There can be no freedom to differ on this issue. If we don’t believe in Christ’s Deity, we are outside Christ and outside salvation.
God & Jesus Share Same Kind of Worship?
Jesus knew that humans are not to worship anyone but God. (cf. Matt. 4:10; Lk. 4:8) Yet, all the angels were commanded to worship Him. (Heb. 1:6) Some would argue that the word “worship” in this text is only talking about the kind of homage paid to kings. That would be a legitimate way to interpret this text IF there were no passages either in the context or in the rest of the NT showing the exact same kind of homage/worship as given to God being given to Jesus also. But fortunately there are several texts which show that Jesus had the exact same kind of glory/honor/worship paid to Him that was given to God and exclusively reserved by God for Himself. I will give just one example here for brevity. There are others: (Rev. 5:8-14, emphasis mine, ees) –And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood {men} from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth." And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." And the four living creatures kept saying, "Amen." And the elders fell down and worshipped.
Notice the boldfaced statements above. To whom was this worship directed? Just to the Father? Or to both the Father and the Son? Jesus is not given just some lesser kind of homage than God. He is given exactly the same kind of worship that the Father is. This passage makes the Deity of Christ absolutely incontrovertible. God has clearly stated that He will not share His glory with another. (Isa. 42:8; 48:11) Since this passage shows Jesus receiving exactly the same kind of glory/honor/worship that only God is supposed to get, the implication is inescapable. Jesus must be God, or God has contradicted His Word by allowing and even commanding humans & angels to give His worship and glory to another. Jesus even claims to have the right to receive exactly the same kind of “honor” (or worship, or glory) that the Father deserves. (Jn. 5:23) And there are other NT passages which show Jesus receiving the same kind of glory, honor and worship that was exclusively restricted to God alone in the OT days. Jesus has to be Yahweh, or God has contradicted Himself and is really not “immutable” after all.