Have we over-egged Jesus?

Much of the Christian Church worships Jesus. Nothing odd there, you may say. ‘Catholic’ manifestations of the Church venerate the ‘host’ – “this is the Body of Christ” – whilst the Charismatic Evangelicals put Jesus front and centre.

But when I read the Bible, I see little if any evidence of Jesus saying “worship me”. Rather, he appears consistently to direct his disciples and followers to worship God, often referred to as his ‘heavenly father’, or ‘Abba’.

It is true that Jesus does sometimes receive worship from others in the New Testament. For example:

• Matthew 28:17 – After the resurrection, “they worshipped him.”
• John 20:28 – Thomas declares to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!”

Such moments are not invited or demanded by Jesus, but neither are they rebuked by him.

This is significant. In Jewish tradition worship is reserved for God alone. Although Jesus’ teachings, actions, and acceptance of worship strongly imply his divine status, Jesus never says the exact phrase “I am God; worship me”.

There are verses which suggest that Jesus himself maintained a posture of reverence and submission to God the Father. We call that worship. Jesus worshipped God!

• John 4:22 – Jesus says, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know,” indicating his own worship of God.
• John 5:30 – “I can do nothing on my own… I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
• John 20:17 – After the resurrection, Jesus tells Mary Magdalene, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
And Philippians 2:6 reminds us of Jesus’ humility:
‘Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant.’

Yes, Christians believe in the divinity of Jesus – but that is in the context of The Trinity, never as a separate entity. There is no remit to ‘de-construct’ the Trinity into its constituent parts, like some modern chefs do to lemon meringue pie or Black Forest trifle! In his excellent little book ‘Practising the Presence of God’, Brother Lawrence addresses God as ‘they’. God in relationship. I find that really helpful, and a welcome alternative to the ubiquitous ‘Him’ which still abounds in Christian circles.

So, if Jesus did not call us to worship him, what did he call us to? Jesus invited people to:
• Follow him (Luke 9:23)
• Believe in him as the way to God (John 14:6)
• Love and obey him (John 14:15), but always in the context of glorifying God the Father.