God & Jesus
Does “worship” in the Gospels mean worship of God?
Several times in the Gospels people “worship” Jesus. For many readers that settles the question of who he is. But the English word “worship” has changed in meaning since 1611. This topic looks at how the King James Bible uses it.
1The question
When people “worship” Jesus in the King James Version, what does the word mean?
2What Christians believe
Christians answer that the context shows real worship. After Jesus calms the storm, the disciples worship him and say “Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33). After the resurrection the women hold his feet and worship him (Matthew 28:9).
Christians also note that apostles and angels refuse worship when it is offered to them (Acts 10:26; Revelation 22:9), while Jesus never refuses it. Hebrews says that God commands, “let all the angels of God worship him” (Hebrews 1:6).
3What the texts say
Worship given to Jesus
And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
The same word used of people
The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.
And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Worship refused
And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.
But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
4What scholars say
The Greek word behind most of these verses, proskuneo, means to bow down or kneel before someone. Standard lexicons of New Testament Greek show it used both for homage to kings and masters and for worship of God; the meaning depends on the setting.
The Hebrew Bible works the same way. In 1 Chronicles 29:20 the people “worshipped the LORD, and the king” in a single act of bowing, and no one thinks David was being treated as God.
Larry W. Hurtado (How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God?, 2005) argues that the decisive evidence is not this word but the pattern of early Christian worship, such as prayer and hymns to Jesus. Scholars agree that the word alone does not prove divine worship.
5The Islamic perspective
The Qur’an also knows bowing that is honour, not worship. God commanded the angels to prostrate before Adam, and Joseph’s family fell down before him (Qur’an 12:100). Neither made Adam or Joseph divine. Worship in the full sense belongs to God alone:
And when We said unto the angels: Prostrate yourselves before Adam, they fell prostrate, all save Iblis. He demurred through pride, and so became a disbeliever.
Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
Muslims read the Gospel scenes in the same way. The wise men kneeling before a child, and disciples bowing before their master, show deep honour. The worship that belongs to God, Jesus himself directed to God (Matthew 4:10).
6Objections and responses
“Peter and the angel refused worship, but Jesus accepted it, so he must be God.”
Response: Peter refused because Cornelius treated him as more than a man, and Peter answered “I myself also am a man” (Acts 10:26). But in Revelation 3:9 Jesus promises that others will come and “worship before thy feet” of the faithful in Philadelphia. The King James Version uses the word for honour to human beings even in Revelation.
“Hebrews 1:6 says all the angels of God worship the Son.”
Response: Hebrews is a later letter, not the words of Jesus. In the Qur’an the angels bowed before Adam at God’s command (2:34), which honoured Adam without making him God. Honour given at God’s command is still a way of obeying God.
7Conclusion
Both sides agree that the word translated “worship” in these verses can mean bowing in honour as well as worship of God, and that the setting decides. Christians see true worship of Jesus in the Gospels. Muslims see deep honour for a prophet, and keep worship for God, as Jesus taught.
Read 1 Chronicles 29:20, Matthew 18:26 and Matthew 14:33 together and ask what the word means in each.
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Related topics
Sources
- Bible, King James Version:Matthew 2:11Matthew 14:33Matthew 18:261 Chronicles 29:20Revelation 3:9Acts 10:25Acts 10:26Revelation 22:8Revelation 22:9
- Qur’an, translated by M. Pickthall:Qur’an 2:34Qur’an 1:5
- Larry W. Hurtado, How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? (2005)