Identity Crisis - Things Only God Could Receive

During Jesus' earthly ministry, there were times when people would relate Jesus in completely unnatural ways. Certain people would say and do things that would not make sense if Jesus were merely a man.

Today, let's look at three things that were given to (or targeted at) Jesus, that should only be given to God alone. It's important to realize, never once did Jesus ever correct these people!

Perfect Praise

Matthew 21:15-16 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant and said to Him, "Do you hear what these are saying?" And Jesus said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, 'Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise'?"

During the triumphant entry to Jerusalem, the kids that saw Jesus riding into town were dancing and praising Him...crying out "Hosanna to the Son of David!" Now, praise by itself is not something that is directed only toward God. We praise our kids, our pets, our spouses, and our coworkers all the time. Praise simply means "to speak well of."

However, this praise that the children were giving to Jesus was not merely praise to man. If you look at the passage of scripture that Jesus quoted, you can see that this was praise directed at God.

Psalm 8:1-2 "Oh LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength..."

Jesus called what these children were saying "perfect praise" - and then quoted this scripture to back that up. But in this scripture, the praise is directed at Yahweh! Although the people standing around heard this as praising a man, Jesus received it as if it were directed at God Himself.

Worship

Unlike praise, worship is only rightfully given to God alone. No created thing can ever be rightfully worshiped; including animals, stars, idols, or people. Yahweh alone is worthy of our worship...and anyone who worships something (or someone) else is guilty of idolatry.

And yet, when we read the scriptures, we constantly see Jesus receiving worship!

The wise men traveled for two years to worship Jesus. Imagine Mary and Joseph's surprise as they watched wealthy, noble men fall on their faces in front of their toddler and worship Him!

Matthew 2:11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Many people who had needs would come to Jesus and worship Him before they asked for help.

The leper in Matthew 8:2 - "And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.'"

Jairus, in Matthew 9:18 - "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.'"

The demoniac in Mark 5:6 - "When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him."

In John 9:38, we see a man who was healed from a lifetime of blindness. Look what this man did when he saw Jesus.

"Then he said, 'Lord, I believe!' And he worshiped Him."

I'm sure you remember Thomas' declaration when he saw Jesus after His resurrection. But Thomas was not the only disciple that worshiped the resurrected Lord! In fact, all of Jesus' disciples worshiped Him after He rose from the dead!

Matthew 28:17 - "When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted."

Luke 24:52 - "And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy..."

Twice in the book of Revelation (19:10 and 22:8) we see the apostle John start to worship an angel. But whenever he did, the angel would immediately stop him. Why? Because angels - as magnificent as they are - do not deserve or receive worship. But look at what happened on the night that Jesus was born:
Hebrews 1:6 "But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'" Consider this: Angels will not receive worship from any man, but every one of them worshiped a newborn baby!

Jesus is the God that we worship!

Can You Blaspheme a Man?

This is an interesting question. There are a lot of things you can blasphemously say about a man.  For example, if you were to call that man a god, that would be blasphemy. Or if you were to worship a man (like the Lycaonians did in Acts 14), this would be blasphemy. In Acts 12 we even read about a king who didn't correct people when they ascribed deity to him...he was struck dead for the blasphemy of the crowd.

These are all examples of blaspheming God. That is to say, these people either tried claim an aspect of God's nature for themselves, or they demeaned an aspect of His nature that should be honored. Blasphemy is a sin toward God...it is not a sin toward man. You can't blaspheme a man...because all men have the same human nature.

And yet, we read the following verses in Luke.

Luke 22:65 "And many other things they blasphemously spoke against Him."

Luke 23:39 "Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him..."

How could these verses be true unless Jesus was God? The people in these verses didn't know it, but they were blaspheming Yahweh Himself as they ridiculed and demeaned Jesus. By lowering Jesus to the level of a mere man - worse yet, a criminal - they became guilty of blasphemy.

Actually, we can see that it was not just these two isolated incidents. The Bible actually says that the multitudes of people who saw Jesus on the cross blasphemed Him. We read this in Matthew 27:39, "And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads."

These people were undoubtedly thinking, "We thought He was someone special. We thought He was someone great. Now look at Him, dying like a mere man." This thought, combined with a shaking of the head, constituted blasphemy in God's eyes. Why? Because when they saw Him on the cross, they considered it to be the death of a mere man.

Can you see the point?

Jesus received perfect praise...praise that was directed at Yahweh Himself.

He never turned anyone away when they worshiped at His feet.

He even receives the worship of angels!

And whenever someone did speak against Him, they were guilty of blasphemy.

How could these be true, unless Jesus is, in fact, God?