Was Jesus Worshiped As God?

Was Jesus Worshiped As God?
Did He Accept This Worship?

God Alone Is to Be Worshiped
One of the distinctive characteristics of the Jewish culture and faith, (including the Jewish culture and faith of the first century) is the universally accepted understanding that God alone is worthy of our worship. This concept is first among the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:3-6
"You shall have no other gods before me.”You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [ generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Jewish believers have also been consistent in their understanding through the centuries that there is only ONE God (Yahweh). The Old Testament is clear about this truth. Yahweh is the only God that the Jews are to love, fear, worship and revere:

Deuteronomy 4:35
You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other.

Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Deuteronomy 6:13-16
Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

Deuteronomy 32:39
"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me.”

2 Samuel 7:22
"How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”

Isaiah 8:13
The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread…

Isaiah 43:10-11
"You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.

The New Testament Believers Felt the Same Way
Of course, Jesus also understood this constant and repeated message of the Old Testament. He often quoted the scriptures to express this same truth, affirming the existence of ONE God that we are to worship. Remember when Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the desert following His baptism? Satan offered Jesus ultimate worldly power in exchange for His worship. Look at what Jesus eventually tells Satan:

Matthew 4:10
Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

Jesus is not the only person from the New Testament who understood that God alone is to be the object of our worship. Over and over again you will find examples of people trying to worship something other than God, and being instructed to worship God alone. Look at what happened to John in the book of Revelation:

Revelation 22:8-9
I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!"

Even a Holy Angel, sent directly from God Himself, is not worthy of worship! And God’s special servants who appear as his apostles and messengers are also not to be the objects of our worship. Check out what Peter said to Cornelius when he tried to worship Peter in the book of Acts:

Acts 10:25-26
As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. "Stand up," he said, "I am only a man myself."

Peter knew better to accept the worship that belongs to God alone. And Paul and Barnabas also understood that God is the only true object of our worship:

Acts 14:11-15
When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you.”

See, the Jews of the Old and New Testament understood that God alone is to be worshipped. To worship something other than God is to be an idolater, and violates the very first commandment of God!

So Why Would They Worship Jesus?
That’s why it is amazing to see that from Jesus’ very first appearance on planet earth, He was worshipped as God! Now that single truth, the fact that those around Jesus worshiped Him in a culture that demanded and commanded worship of God alone, is a powerful evidence of Jesus’ deity. We either have to believe that thousands upon thousands of eyewitnesses and early believers (all of whom were much closer to Jesus than we are) were in rebellion to their culture and moral law, or were convinced by what they saw before them that JESUS WAS AND IS GOD. In spite of what the DaVinci Code would have us believe, Jesus has been worshiped as God from his first minutes on planet earth. Let’s begin by tracing the way that Jesus was worshiped as described in the Gospel eyewitness accounts of His life:

The wise men worshiped him from the moment He was born
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. (Matthew 2:10-12)

The leper worshiped Him at his healing
And behold, a leper came to Him, and bowed down to Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." (Matthew 8:2)

The synagogue ruler worshiped Him
While He was saying these things to them, behold, there came a synagogue official, and bowed down before Him, saying, "My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live." (Matthew 9:18-19)

The disciples worshiped him in the boat
And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:32-33)

The Canaanite woman worshiped Him
But she came and began to bow down before Him, saying, "Lord, help me!" (Matthew 15:25-26)

The mother of James and John worshipped Him
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Him with her sons, bowing down, and making a request of Him. (Matthew 20:20-21)

The blind man worshiped Him at his healing
Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" "Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him. (John 9:35-38)

The women worshiped Him at the empty tomb
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. (Matthew 28:8-10)

The disciples worshiped Him at the Ascension
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him (Matthew 28:16-17)

A Bold and Risky Position
Not only was Jesus worshipped as God, He clearly ACCEPTED this worship without trying to tell the people around Him that they were wrong to worship Him!! Hey, that’s risky business for sure. After all, the Old Testament scriptures warn us not to give God’s glory to another:

Isaiah 42:8
"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another”

Isaiah 48:11
“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; For how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”

And, in fact, the New Testament affirms this. Herod died due to the fact that He accepted praise as though He was God Himself:

Acts 12:21-23
On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man." Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

Over and over again, the Bible tells us that God alone is to be worshiped and to receive the Glory. Yet Jesus takes that glory upon Himself:

John 17:4-5
I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

That’s a very bold position to take. But Jesus’ life was a testimony to his deity (see more about that HERE) and the first eyewitnesses clearly believed that Jesus was God Himself.

The Apostles Called Him God
Not only did the first eyewitnesses worship Jesus as God, the apostles clearly wrote that Jesus is God as they penned the New Testament. Over and over again, the New Testament writers described Jesus as God Himself:

John Said That Jesus Is the Creator God Who Came to Us in Human Form
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men…The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-4, 14)

Paul Said That Jesus Possesses the Full Deity of God
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:9-10)

The Writer of Hebrews Said That Jesus Possesses the EXACT Nature of God the Father
In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

Paul Said That In Jesus, God Makes Himself Visible to Us
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15)

Paul Said That Jesus is Simply God the Father, Appearing in a Body
Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

Paul Said That God the Father Willingly Submitted His Power As the Man We Know As Jesus
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8 )

The Writer of Hebrews Said That Jesus is Called God by God the Father
But about the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever, and righteousness will be the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy." (Hebrews 1:8-9)

It’s pretty clear from the writings of the Apostles that they also believed that Jesus was GOD Himself. This is the origin of the Trinitarian God we have come to know as Christians. We believe in the trinity because there is no other way to reconcile the clear teaching of the Bible. According to the scriptures, there is only ONE God, yet according to these same scriptures, both God the Father and Jesus Christ ARE THAT GOD!!!

The Early Church Fathers Called Him God
Beyond the first eyewitnesses of Jesus and beyond the first apostles who were called to proclaim the truth to the unbelieving world, we can also look at the very earliest believers and church fathers to see even more evidence of the early belief that Jesus was and is God Himself. Look at the words of some of the earliest and most influential Christian believers:

Barnabas, companion of Paul (c. 70-130AD)
“He is Lord of all the world, to whom God said at the foundation of the world, ‘Let us make man after our image, and after our likeness.’”

Ignatius, Bishop of the Church at Antioch (c. 105AD)
“God Himself was manifested in human form for the renewal of eternal life”

Clement of Rome, Bishop of the Church at Rome (c. 150AD)
“Brethren, it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God – as the Judge of the living and the dead.”

Irenaeus, Bishop of the Church at Lyons, Modern Day France (c. 180AD)
“Thus He indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His advent was in Bethlehem… God , then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us.”

“He is God, for the name Immanuel indicates this.”

“How can they be saved unless it was God who worked out their salvation upon earth? Or haw shall man pass into God, unless God has first passed into man?”

Clement of Alexandria, Renowned Christian Teacher in Egypt (c. 195AD)
“O the Great God! O the Perfect Child! The Son in the Father and the Father in the Son… God the Word, who became man for our sakes.”

“Nothing, then, is hated by God, nor yet by the Word. For both are one – that is, God. For He has said, “In the beginning the Word was in God, and the Word was God.”

“The Word itself, that is the Son of God, is one with the Father by equality of substance. He is eternal and uncreated.”

Hippolytus, Leading Presbyter at the Church in Rome (c. 205AD)
“Although He endured the cross, yet as God He returned to life, having trampled upon death.”

Tertullian, Passionate Christian Apologist in Carthage, North Africa (c. 207AD)
“We who believe that God really lived on earth, and took upon him the low estate of human form, for the purpose of man’s salvation, are very far from thinking as those do who refuse to believe that God cares for anything… Fortunately, however, it is a part of the creed of Christians even to believe that God did die, and yet that He is alive forevermore.”

Origen, Famous Pupil of Clement of Alexandria (c. 225AD)
“No one should be offended that the Savior is also God, seeing God is the Father. Likewise, since the Father is called Omnipotent, no one should be offended that the Son of God is also called Omnipotent. For in this way, the words will be true that He says to the Father: ‘All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them.’”

“The Son is not different from the Father in substance.”

It’s pretty hard to argue the fact that the earliest believers worshiped Jesus as God. In fact, even outside observers who were pagan could see that the followers of Christ believed that Jesus was God. Pliny the Younger (61-112AD), also known as Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, was the governor of Bithynia (AD 112) and a Roman senator. When he wrote to emperor Trajan asking for guidance on how he should treat the Christians in his province, he said that Christians were “meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, when they sang in alternate verse a hymn to Christ as to a god, and bound themselves to a solemn oath, not to do wicked deeds, never commit fraud, theft, adultery, not to lie nor to deny a trust…” It’s clear from even this pagan reference that the first believers worshiped Jesus as God.

William Lane Craig, in his book, “Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics”, writes, “Studies by NT scholars such as Martin Hengel of Tubingen University, C.F.D. Moule of Cambridge, and others have proved that within twenty years of the crucifixion a full-blown Christology proclaiming Jesus as God incarnate existed...the oldest Christian sermon, the oldest account of a Christian martyr, the oldest pagan report of the Church, and the oldest liturgical prayer (1 Corinthians 16:22) all refer to Christ as Lord and God.” That’s pretty powerful. From the earliest of times and from the earliest of believers, comes the observation and proclamation that JESUS IS GOD.

So What Does All This Worship Prove?
It’s pretty clear from the Gospels, and the writings of the very first believers, that Jesus was considered GOD Himself by those who watched Him, listened to Him and knew Him best. And this belief on the part of the first believers is a significant proof that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be. Remember that the earliest Christians were Jews themselves! To worship someone other than God the Father, the same God they knew from the Old Testament, was a critical and powerful sin, violating the very first of God’s commandments. It was not something you did lightly. It was risky business, and required more than a hunch or a good feeling. These early Jews acted on the EVIDENCE in front of them, and only when they were sure that Jesus WAS and IS the God of the Old Testament, were they willing to risk the condemnation of their peers to step out and worship Jesus as God. And the first believers, most of whom died for their faith, certainly gave their all to the worship of Jesus. Remember that these were monotheistic Jews! Their faith in Christ as God, confirmed the early truth (supported by many other proofs that we’ve already discussed) that Jesus was God Incarnate.