Information Related to "And They Worshiped Him"
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Unlike meeting any other person who's ever walked the earth, when encountering Jesus of Nazareth a decision is made that affects one's every future outcome. All people, you included, will either accept Him or reject Him. You might ignore Him, but that is just indirect rejection. Jesus' ageless, piercing question of "But who do you say that I am?" (Matthew 16:15) is always before us. And He wants to see how we will respond.
Even our positive response like that of the disciple Peter -- "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16) -- is merely a starting point and not the finish line of our journey of life-altering acceptance of Jesus' beckoning of "Follow Me." The walk of faith encompasses an expanding awareness of whom we follow, as we become further convicted of His self-disclosure, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6).
This revelation is given new life, again and again, as we are confronted and molded through life's experiences toward one inevitable response -- our personal worship of Jesus Christ along with our Heavenly Father. Yes, the One the Father gave us as the centerpiece of His plan of redemptive salvation (John 3:16; Ephesians 1:10).
How then do we come to actively do this, acknowledging this One of whom the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Mathew 3:17) -- and thus express worship? Let's explore how Scripture integrates faith and worship regarding this One who was called both the Son of Man and the Son of God, as capsulized in the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 -- "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given ..." We will come to see that from His birth until now, Jesus is rightly worshiped and praised.
The original biblical Greek term most frequently translated into the English word "worship" is proskuneo, defined as "to make obeisance, do reverence towards" ( Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words ) -- showing deep adoration and submission.
To whom should this be directed?
In revealing to ancient Israel His mind and heart through the Ten Commandments, God specifically states in the First Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3). And He specifies in the Second Commandment against idolatrous images: "You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (Exodus 20:5). Later in Isaiah 42:8 He exclaims, "I am the Lord, that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another."
Why is God so adamant here? The all-powerful Creator is above the entire created realm. People -- and for that matter the spiritually created angelic realm -- do not possess the unique characteristics of God. Moreover, God is not dependent on other life forms for His continuing existence, having life in Himself, solely and completely.
It is God who creates, forgives sin, foretells the future, heals and raises the dead, and only God is deemed worthy of whole-hearted devotional reverence, homage or praise -- of worship!
All that said, do you realize that during His earthly ministry Jesus never forbade or refused people's worship of Him? This is unlike the angels who would hastily reply to any worship of them, "Don't!" (see Revelation 19:10; 22:8-9). How can this be?
The apostle John provides the answer in John 1. He states in verses 1-4: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made [created] through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life [inherent existence], and the life was the light of men" (emphasis added throughout). The apostle then solidifies who this "Word" is by stating in verse 14: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us [referring to Jesus, the Son of Man], and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."
So before anything else there were two who were both God, sharing the same glory. And One, the Word, became a human being -- God in the flesh who was still worthy of worship. In fact, God the Father has ordained "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father" (John 5:23).
Let's notice a few examples in the Gospels of Christ being worshiped while on earth and draw some personal lessons.
We begin with the wise men of the East who came from a distance following the starry GPS God provided to guide them to the King who had been born. "And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh" (Matthew 2:11).
Symbolically, the gold pointed to Christ's kingship, frankincense to His holiness and function as our High Priest, and myrrh, often used as a burial ointment, to His sacrificial death for us.
Now, in responding to the calling of "Follow Me," it remains for us to answer these questions: Are we, like the wise men, willing to go the distance? Are we willing to kneel -- not only on our knees but allowing our hearts to kneel before Christ and the Father? And will we give our best, whatever it may be -- spiritually, mentally, emotionally or in offering -- in personal worship of the One who was born to be our King?
Later during Christ's earthly ministry we discover Him being worshiped again and again. We see where "a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean'" (Matthew 8:2).
We further discover the disciples out in the midst of a stormy Sea of Galilee with Christ walking towards them (Matthew 14:22-31). And when He and Peter got into the boat (after Peter's faith lesson on water), "the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Truly You are the Son of God'" (Matthew 14:32-33).
Perhaps one of the most telling stories involving worshiping Jesus is found in the entirety of John 9. It's the story of a young man blind from birth being healed by Christ. His neighbors can scarcely believe it. Yet his rejoicing is dimmed by confrontation with the religious authorities of that day. His own parents distance themselves from him due to the pressure. And he is ultimately cast out of his "hometown congregation."
The newly sighted man has a gradually expanding perspective of who healed him. He first identifies Him as "a Man called Jesus" (John 9:11), and then under further examination by others declares, "He is a prophet" (John 9:17). But he has still further to go.
When the healed man is thrown out of the House of the Lord, the Lord of the House, as the Good Shepherd, searches and finds him. And Jesus asks him a question: "Do you believe in the Son of God?" (John 9:35).
Then the man "answered and said, 'Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?' And Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.' Then he said, 'Lord I believe!' And he worshiped Him" (John 9:36-38).
This story of the man who proclaimed, "I was blind but now I see!" (John 9:25, New International Version) grants us insight into how we grow in awareness as we stay the course on the path set before us.
Increasingly, we see that Jesus Christ is far more than a good man or another man of God, but is the Son of God, who was God in the flesh and is now returned to divine glory with the Father -- and that He is worthy of worship. He is unique -- utterly distinct from any other entity humanity elects to follow or worship.
His was a very real hand that extended to the leper and healed him. And it's the same sacrificial hand extended for healing us from the spiritual leprosy of our sins.
It's the hand extended to Peter in the stormy seas, raising him up with assurance of further opportunity to walk this walk, while calming the storm for the others in the boat. This same hand of the very Prince of Peace calms our own storms, around and within, as He reminds us, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).
This is the same One who knows exactly where we are when others have abandoned us, as with the newly healed man, and who as God along with the Father promises us, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5; see Deuteronomy 31:6). The risen Christ told His disciples before He departed from them, "And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
May our response be as theirs when He ascended to heaven: "And they worshiped Him" (Luke 24:52).
Our ultimate worship of Almighty God, both the Father and His Son, is a matter of the Spirit that arises not from terror-driven compulsion and appeasement, but from out-flowing love, gratitude and trust with amazement and awe.
And our fullest form of worship toward God the Father and Jesus Christ is not a momentary acknowledgment through choice words or bended knee, but a transformed Christlike existence in which far more than a knee bends. Our whole heart is molded into seeking our Heavenly Father's will and not our own.
Ultimate worship is giving our self away every day and, as the Father wills, submitting to Christ as the Lord of our life, allowing Him to sit on the throne of our hearts and guide us into becoming "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God" (Romans 12:1).
Surely such worship prompts our Heavenly Father to lean over to Christ at His right hand and say, "These are My beloved children, in whom I am well pleased."
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