Posted by Bibleman [Bibleman] on November 08, 1999 at 02:41:08 {Nq8EnQ8RVAMSSTtTA17sslyACFuF8c}:
In Reply to: To Faithful JW posted by Farkel on November 07, 1999 at 13:07:53:
Hi Farkel,
This is a very good comparison! I didn't know the WTS was so adamant about this.
Here are a few more explanations, including one where Mark calls Jesus "My God" and more comments about the angels worshipping Jesus.
Still, you don't bring up a WTS complexity but one in the Bible. I'd just like to clarify one thing though that some may have missed. Jesus never stopped anybody from bowing down to him. And I noticed you again and again quoted that Jesus said it is to Jehovah alone you must render sacred service. BUT! This was not about Satan bowing down to Jesus. Satan didn't say, "Oh, Jesus [my brother and ex-husand now in the flesh] please let me bow down to you!" It was SATAN who wanted the act of worship. So these references to critically out of context. How so?
Because Satan and no other angel have been authoritized to be "worshipped" as part of worship to Jehovah, but Jesus has. So even when you are bowing down to Jesus, since it is god's arrangement, that is the same as giving "exclusive devotion" to Jehovah because he says to do this. So ultimately, even if Jesus is being worshipped, a Lord or even god, it is done at Jehovah's request and so you are still rendering sacred service to Jehovah. By recognizing the Son, you recognize the father.
My personal feeling is that the WTS has watered down the godship of Jesus Christ a bit, but ultimately they are correct that even the worship of Jesus as "Lord and God" still is relative to worship of the Creator. Therefore, in case someone thought there was a Biblical conflict here, there is not.
But this is one of the better "play on words" that I've seen! Thanks for bringing it up.
So to make this clearer with respect to Jesus telling Satan it is to Jehovah alone you must render sacred service, Jesus could appropriately have said: "So, Satan, it is to Jehovah alone you must render sacred service." Satan: "And so Jesus, I suppose when you come back in, (...ummm..let's see 529....minus 2520....plus 1..um!) 1992!, and you kick me out of heaven, then I'm supposed to worship you as part of worshipping Jehovah like the other angels? Is that it?" Jesus: "That's right! So you might as well start practicing now."
Here are the pertinent WTS quotes which "explain" why some scriptures say to worship Jesus and others say worship only Jehovah:
*** w94 6/1 31 "Jesus Christ Is Lord"-How and When? ***Although Jesus is now Lord of lords, he is never called God of gods. Jehovah remains supreme over all. In this way, Jehovah will be “all things to everyone.” (1 Corinthians 15:28) Jesus’ lordship gives him his rightful place as Head of the Christian congregation. Though we may see many powerful “lords” in high places in this world, we keep our confidence in the one who is Lord of lords. Yet, Jesus Christ, in his high and elevated position, still remains subject to his Father, “that God may rule over all.” (1 Corinthians 15:28, The Translator’s New Testament) What a fine example of humility Jesus has set for his disciples to follow, even as they acknowledge him as their Lord!
*** w92 1/15 23 What Do the Scriptures Say About "the Divinity of Christ"? ***
” And Thomas was not contradicting Jesus, who had sent His disciples the message: “I am ascending to . . . my God and your God.” (John 20:17, 30, 31) So Thomas did not think that Jesus was Almighty God. Thomas may have addressed Jesus as “my God” in the sense of Christ’s being “a god,” though not “the only true God.” (John 1:1; 17:1-3) Or by saying “my God,” Thomas may have been acknowledging Jesus as God’s Spokesman and Representative, even as others addressed an angelic messenger as though he were Jehovah.—Compare Genesis 18:1-5, 22-33; 31:11-13; 32:24-30; Judges 2:1-5; 6:11-15; 13:20-22.According to the Bible, then, Jesus had a prehuman existence as the Word. When on the earth, he was not a divine God-man. He was wholly human, though perfect, as Adam originally was. Since Jesus’ resurrection, he has been an exalted immortal spirit ever subordinate to God. Clearly, therefore, the Scriptures do not support the idea of “the divinity of Christ.”
*** w92 1/15 23 What Do the Scriptures Say About "the Divinity of Christ"? ***
Do Angels Worship Jesus?
CERTAIN translations of Hebrews 1:6 say: “Let all the angels of God worship him [Jesus].” (King James Version; The Jerusalem Bible) The apostle Paul evidently quoted the Septuagint, which says at Psalm 97:7: “Worship Him [God] all ye His angels.”—C. Thomson.
The Greek word pro·sky·ne'o, rendered “worship” at Hebrews 1:6, is used at Psalm 97:7 in the Septuagint for a Hebrew term, sha·chah', meaning “to bow down.” This can be an acceptable act of respect for humans. (Genesis 23:7; 1 Samuel 24:8; 2 Kings 2:15) Or it can relate to worship of the true God or that wrongly directed to false gods.—Exodus 23:24; 24:1; 34:14; Deuteronomy 8:19.
Usually pro·sky·ne'o given to Jesus corresponds with obeisance to kings and others. (Compare Matthew 2:2, 8; 8:2; 9:18; 15:25; 20:20 with 1 Samuel 25:23, 24; 2 Samuel 14:4-7; 1 Kings 1:16; 2 Kings 4:36, 37.) Often it is clear that obeisance is rendered to Jesus not as God but as “God’s Son” or the Messianic “Son of man.”—Matthew 14:32, 33; Luke 24:50-52; John 9:35, 38.
Hebrews 1:6 relates to Jesus’ position under God. (Philippians 2:9-11) Here some versions render pro·sky·ne'o “pay . . . homage” (The New English Bible), “do obeisance to” (New World Translation), or “bow before” (An American Translation). If one prefers the rendering “worship,” such worship is relative, for Jesus told Satan: “It is Jehovah your God you must worship [form of pro·sky·ne'o], and it is to him alone you must render sacred service.”—Matthew 4:8-10.
Though Psalm 97:7, which speaks about worshiping God, was applied to Christ at Hebrews 1:6, Paul had shown that the resurrected Jesus is “the reflection of [God’s] glory and the exact representation of his very being.” (Hebrews 1:1-3) So any “worship” the angels give God’s Son is relative and is directed through him to Jehovah.