Jesus Christ is worthy of worship Worship the Lord God and serve him only: Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” [Matthew 4:10]
God will not share his glory with anyone else:
“I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.” [Isaiah 42:8]
Do not worship any other God:
“For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” [Exodus 34:14]
God told the angels to worship his firstborn Son:
“For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a
Son?’ But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship Him.’”
[Hebrews 1:5-6]
The Son is our judge, and we must honor the Son in the same way that we honor the Father:
“For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
[John 5:22-23]
The wise men worshiped Jesus, and scripture does not rebuke them:
“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him…. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.”
[Matthew 2:1-2,11a]
When John worshiped an angel, the angel rebuked him and told him to worship God:
“Now I, John, saw and heard these things.
And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
[Revelation 22:8-9]
When Cornelius worshiped Peter, he refused to be worshiped:
“As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, ‘Stand up; I myself am also a man.’”
[Acts 10:25-26]
Jesus did not rebuke the disciples when they worshiped him:
“Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they
worshiped
Him;
but
some
doubted.[Matthew 28:16-17]
Jesus accepted the worship of a leper:
“And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’ Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, ‘I am willing; be cleansed.’ Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”
[Matthew 8:2-3]
Jesus accepted the worship of a ruler:
“While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.’ So Jesus arose and followed him, and so did His disciples.” [Matthew 9:18-19]
After Peter walked on water, Jesus accepted the worship of the disciples:
“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O
you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.’”
[Matthew 14:31-33]
Jesus accepted the worship of a woman:
“Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’”
[Matthew 15:25]
Jesus did not rebuke the blind man who worshiped him after he was healed. Jesus then implied that the man had also been healed of spiritual blindness: Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him. And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
[John 9:38-39]
The disciples worshiped Jesus, and when told to rebuke them he commended them instead:
“Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:
‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd,
‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’ But He answered and said to them, ‘I tell you that
if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.’” [Luke 19:38-40]
Every knee will bow to Jesus, and every tongue will praise him:
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[Philippians 2:9-11]
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