Worship is Reserved for Only One!

Worship is reserved for only One- and Yeshua received worship - why?

In Scripture, worship is reserved for only One.

The Shema declares:

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

And the command follows:

“You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:10, quoting Deuteronomy 6:13)

Many things in Scripture are NEVER negotiable - this is one of them. The Shema is the watchword of biblical faith. In Hebraic thought, worship is intimacy with the one and only God. It is not just admiration. It is complete surrender, and only He is worthy of our worship. It is only to our Creator that we bow the knee!

Knowing this fact, we find that throughout the Gospels, Yeshua (Jesus) is worshipped.

The magi fall before Him as a child:

“They fell down and worshipped Him.” (Matthew 2:11)

The word “fell down” literally means that they “prostrated” themselves before the child Yeshua.

Anciently, that was to truly worship. When Yeshua returns “every knee will bow” - literally all will prostrate themselves before Him.

The leper worships Him:

“And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean”. (Matthew 8:2)

The blind man healed in John 9 declares:

“Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped Him. (John 9:38)

The disciples in the boat, after the storm is calmed, proclaim:

“Truly You are the Son of God,” and they worship Him. (Matthew 14:33)

Yeshua NEVER rebukes them for their worship. He never redirects their reverence back to His Father. He never commands for them to stand up. Instead, He receives it! Why? Because He is worthy and He is God in fleshly form.

Contrast this with angels and apostles. In Revelation 19:10, John falls before an angel, and the angel responds:

“Do not do that! I am a fellow servant… Worship God!”

In Acts 10:25–26, Cornelius bows before Peter and begins to worship him, and Peter lifts him up:

“Stand up; I myself am also a man.”

But Yeshua does not lift them up. He lets them worship Him. Why? Because He is not merely a man - He is God in the flesh.

Thomas, the doubter, sees the risen Messiah and declares:

“My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28) Yeshua does not correct him. He affirms him:

“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

The apostles understood this. Paul writes:

“In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9)

John opens his Gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)

Peter declares: “Our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:1)

They did not worship a man. They worshipped the incarnate Word.

In Revelation, the worship of Yeshua reaches its crescendo.

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain…” (Revelation 5:12)

Every creature in heaven and earth declares:

“To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and power forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:13)

This is not dual worship. It is divine unity. It is the echad (one) of the Shema. The Lamb shares the throne. The Lamb receives the worship. The Lamb is God!

In Jewish tradition, worship is guarded. The Temple rituals, the priestly garments, the sacred name, all point to the holiness of God. And Yeshua walks into that holiness. He does not borrow it. No, He embodies it!

He is worshipped because He is worthy. He is not merely some messenger of God, or some created being who has a task to perform or took on incarnation only briefly - No, He was born incarnate and was worshipped at birth and will be worshipped for eternity. He is God revealed in flesh.

Yeshua said of Himself:

“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am united with the Father, and the Father united with me? What I am telling you, I am not saying on my own initiative; the Father living in me is doing his own works”. (John 14:9-10)

It disturbs me when I encounter so-called believers who deny the deity of Yeshua. How can they believe the Bible and not get this part straight? In my opinion, they fall into the same category as those who do not believe in His virgin birth. Some things are just not debatable.

Leisa