The Worship of Jesus in Matthew (Selected Scriptures)

How do we see the deity of Jesus through Matthew's use of "worship"?

The Worship of Jesus in Matthew (Selected Scriptures)

The deity of Jesus is taught several places in Matthew, but one simple and compelling fact can be extremely useful in defending that reality—Jesus accepted worship. As Jesus is revealed throughout the Gospel of Matthew, we see points of clarity in which He is worshiped. This is important evidence because it demonstrates that this was true from the beginning of the Church, that it was within Judaism, not pagan culture, and that it was normative for the early Church. Not once, but ten times, Matthew records Jesus being worshiped in his gospel account,

Matthew 2:1-2—“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, ²‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.’” (emphasis added)

Matthew 2:8—“And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, ‘Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.’” (emphasis added)

Matthew 2:11—“After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground [Lit prostrated; i.e. face down in a prone position to indicate worship] and worshiped Him....” (emphasis added)

Matthew 8:2—“And a leper came to Him and bowed down before [worshiped] Him, and said, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’”

Matthew 9:18– “While He was saying these things to them, a synagogue official came and bowed down before [worshiped] Him, and said, ‘My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.’”

Matthew 14:33—“And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘You are certainly God’s Son!’” (emphasis added)

Matthew 15:25 “But she came and began to bow down before [worship] Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me!’”

Matthew 20:20—“Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him.”

Matthew 28:9—“And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.” (emphasis added)

Matthew 28:17—“When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.” (emphasis added)

The most likely objection to these passages and their implications about the deity of Christ will probably claim that “worship” simply means a polite gesture, appropriately given to a lord or king, but not necessitating spiritual worship that is reserved for God alone. And, to be fair, a few of these passages do allow for the verb of “worship” to simply to mean “bowing down before” or obeisance, however, we need to examine all the testimony of Matthew in its totality on this point.

Jesus Himself, when He was simply asked to genuflect, or bow in acknowledgement, to Satan (Matthew 4:9), refused precisely because it is written that one should worship the LORD and serve Him only (Matthew 4:10). Obviously Jesus had a proper sensitivity and jealousy toward the worship of God alone. Yet, Jesus Himself accepted worship on occasions where His nature was revealed (Matthew 14:33), especially after the resurrection (Matthew 28:9, 17).

Furthermore, Jesus’s responses to this worship demonstrates that it was legitimate. Elsewhere in the New Testament, others reject the worship of men because it ought to be reserved for God alone (cf. Acts 14:12-18; Revelation 19:10; 22:9). Far from rejecting their worship, Jesus accepted it freely and declared, “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Then, He adds that all men are to be taught to observe all that Jesus commanded and baptized in the singular “Name” of the “Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (cf. Matthew 28:19-20). Lastly, Jesus gave the promise that He would be present with His people, even until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), echoing the introduction to Matthew where Jesus is said to be “God with us” (Matthew 1:23; cf. Matthew 18:20).

In summary, Biblical scholar Richard Bauckham explains the significance of “worship” in Matthew,

“Certainly the old view that the transition coincided with the movement of Christianity from a Jewish to a pagan Hellenistic environment is mistaken. Apart from involving an over-schematatized division between Jewish and Hellenistic Christianity and neglecting the continuing dominance of Jewish Christian leadership in the churches of the Gentiles mission in the New Testament period, this view founders on the fact that two of the New Testament works in which the worship of Jesus is clearest—Matthew and Revelation—remain within a thoroughly Jewish framework of thought. That the worship of Jesus did not result from Gentile neglect of Jewish monotheism, but originated within, and had to be accommodated within, a Jewish monotheistic faith, which passed into Gentile Christianity along with it, is of the greatest importance for the course of later christological development. 

….As for Matthew, the issue turns on his emphasis on proskunesis (‘obeisance, prostration before someone as an expression of reverence or worship’) paid to Jesus. Matthew uses the verb proskenein with Jesus as the object ten times (whereas Mark uses it in this way only twice, Luke only in 24:52 v. 1.). On five of these ten occasions, there is no synoptic parallel (Matt. 2:2, 8, 11; 28:9, 17). On three of them, Matthew supplies the word proskenein where Mark has the gesture but not this word (Matt. 8:2 par. Mark 1:40; Matt. 9:18 par. Mark 5:22; Matt. 15:25 par. Mark 7:25). On the remaining two occasions, Matthew supplies the word where the Markan parallel has not even the gesture (Matt. 14:33 par. Mark 6:51; Matt. 20:20 par. Mark 10:35). There are also two occasions where Mark has the word but Matthew omits it (Mark 5:6 par. Matt. 8:29; Mark 15:19 par. Matt. 27:30; Mark 10:17 par. Matt. 19:16). However, on these three occasions, the worship (by demons, the mocking soldiers, the rich young man) would have been considered less than adequate by Matthew. 

The evidence, therefore, suggests that Matthew uses proskunein in a semi-technical way for the obeisance that is due to Jesus, and emphasizes that it expresses the proper response to Jesus. It is true that the word proskunein, as well as the gesture it describes, could be used of reverence for human beings without any implication of idolatry (Matt. 18:26; Rev. 3:9; LXX Gen. 18:2; 19:1; 23:7, 12; 33:6-7; 1 Kgdms. 28:14; 3 Kgdms. 2:19; Isa. 45:14, etc.). But a large majority of Septuagint uses of the word refer to the worship of God or false gods, and the gesture had become highly suspect to Jews in contexts where the idolatrous worship of a human being or an angel might be implied (Add. Esth. 13:12-14 [cf. Esth. 3:2]; Apoc. Zeph. 6:14-15; Philo, Decal. 64; Legat. 116; Matt. 4:9; Luke 4:7; Acts 10:25-26; Rev. 19:10; 22:8-9; cf. also Mart. Pol. 17:3). Thus, whereas in Mark and Luke the gesture of obeisance to Jesus is probably no more than of respect for an honoured teacher, Matthew’s consistent use of the word proskunein, and his emphasis on the point, show that he intends a kind of reverence which, paid to any other human being, he would have regarded as idolatrous. This is reinforced by the fact that his unparalleled uses tend to be in epiphanic contexts (Matt. 2:2, 8, 11; 14:33; 28:9, 17). Combined with his emphasis on the presence of the exalted Christ among his people (18:20; 28:20), Matthew's usage must reflect the practice of the worship of Jesus in the church.” (Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel, pp. 130-131, emphasis added)