The Old Testament is clear that we are to worship God alone. Exodus 20:2-3 commands the children of Israel to worship Yahweh alone. With this principle in mind, consider the worship of Jesus in the New Testament as proof of His full deity. Would the faithful Jews who were strict monotheists had worship Jesus were He not God? Further, would not Jesus have been guilty of blasphemy had He received the worship of others if in fact He was not God?
We read of the worship of Jesus in New Testament passages such as Matthew 2:11; 14:33; 28:9; Luke 24:52; Hebrews 1:6; and Revelation 5:8. The passage, for example, in Matthew 14:33 is incredible if in fact Jesus is not God. Jesus was fully aware, as were the Jewish men in the boat, that people are to worship God alone. Jesus had even rebuked Satan in Matthew 4:10 by quoting from Deuteronomy 6:13 which calls us ascribe worship to Yahweh alone. Yet Jesus turns around and allows people such as these Jewish men in Matthew 14:33 to worship Him.
This is a strong point for accepting the biblical teaching of both the deity of Jesus Christ as well as the biblical teaching regarding the Trinity. Those who refuse to accept the biblical teaching regarding the Trinity or the full deity of Jesus must do something with the fact that God demands worship of Him alone but that Jesus accepted worship. We can do three things. We can reject the Trinity by being modalist (oneness Pentecostals, Arians), we can reject the full deity of Jesus Christ as being co-equal, co-eternal, and co-existent with the Father and the Spirit (Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons) or we can accept the biblical teaching of the Trinity and though we don't understand it, we accept it because the Bible teaches it. The center of biblical tension is that there is one God (Deuteronomy 4:35; 6:4; 32:39; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Chronicles 17:20; Psalm 83:18; 86:10; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6; 45:18; Mark 12:29; 1 Corinthians 8:4; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:5) and yet Jesus allowed people to worship Him. Jesus was either a blasphemer or He was God in the flesh (John 1:14; Romans 9:5; Colossians 1:15-18).
As a disciple of Jesus I worship and adore Him. I accept that Jesus is fully God and yet fully Man. My mind can't grasp this infinite God who became flesh and literally pitched His tent among us. I can't grasp the fact that Jesus from eternity came to walk in our world and in our time (Micah 5:2). I can't understand that Jesus was both God and man and that He lived a sinless life, died a vicarious death, rose again on the third day, and now He stands at the right hand of God to pray for me (Hebrews 7:25). I believe the Bible that there is only one God and yet there are three persons in the one Godhead: three Who's and only one What. I worship Jesus and long to see Him face to face. I rejoice that Jesus is God!
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Proofs of Jesus’ Deity: He Accepted People’s Worship of Himself
by The Seeking Disciple on Oct 19th, 2010
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