Jesus accepted worship as God The Christian quote a passage like the following in order to show that people worshipped Jesus as God and he accepted it (or didn’t reject it): -[Matthew 28:17] - When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. First, we have to understand what is meant by the word worship. Often in the original manuscripts the Greek word used for worship is pro·sky·neo. Unger’s Bible Dictionary says that this word literally means to ‘kiss the hand of someone in token of reverence or to do homage’. An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, by W. E. Vine, says that this word “denotes an act of reverence, whether paid to man or to God”. The context determines whether pros·ky·neo should be rendered revere or worship. Consider the parable Jesus gave of the slave who was unable to repay a substantial sum of money to his master. A form of this Greek word appears in this parable, and in translating it the King James Version of the Bible says that “the servant therefore fell down, and worshipped [form of pro·sky·neo] him [the king], saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all” [Matthew 18:26]. Was this man committing an idolatrous act? Not at all! He was merely expressing the kind of reverence and respect due the king, his master and superior. Another example is that Jacob bowed down seven times upon meeting his brother, Esau [Genesis 33:3], or when Joseph’s brothers prostrated themselves, or did obeisance, before him in honour of his position at the Egyptian court [Genesis 42:6]. Clearly, then, the word pro·sky·neo, rendered “worship” in some Bible translations, is not reserved exclusively for the type of adoration due to God. It can also refer to the respect and honour shown to another person. Moreover, if it can be shown that Jesus explicitly told people to worship God alone then it nullifies any of the above linguistic disagreements: -[John 4:21-24] - Jesus declared, Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. Here Jesus is telling a non-Christian that what she currently worships is a false deity and that in order to be a true worshiper she needs to worship the thing that Jesus worships, God almighty. He also tells the Devil (as a response to being invited to worship the Devil): -[Luke 3:8] - “And Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 02:09:57 +0000
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