John 5:23 – Honor The Son As The Father

For neither does the Father judge any man, but he has given all judgment to the Son, [23] that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. — John 5:22-23, World English.

John 5:23 is often cited as proof that Jesus is Jehovah, or a person of Jehovah. In reality, there is nothing in John 5:23 that means that Jesus was claiming to be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is nothing in John 5:23 that says that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is more than one person. There is nothing in John 5:23 that says that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is three persons. All such thoughts have to be added to, and read into, what Jesus said. Indeed, Jesus claimed the one who had sent him, which he spoke of in John 5:23, as the “only true God”, and by claiming the “only true God” had sent him, Jesus was, in effect, denying that he was that “only true God”. — John 17:1,3.In the Bible, only the God and Father of Jesus is identified as being Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Exodus 3:14,15) The scriptures show that Jesus was sent by Jehovah, speaks for Jehovah, represents Jehovah, and it was this same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who raised and glorified His Son. Jesus never claimed to be, nor do the scriptures present Jesus as, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whom Jesus represents and speaks for. — Deuteronomy 18:15-22; Matthew 22:32; 23:39; Mark 11:9,10; 12:26; Luke 13:35; 20:37; John 3:2,17,32-35; 4:34; 5:19,30,36,43; 6:57; 7:16,28; 8:26,28,38; 10:25; 12:49,50; 14:10; 15:15; 17:8,26; 20:17; Acts 2:22,34-36; 3:13-26; 5:30; Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians 1:3; 8:6; 11:31; Colossians 1:3,15; 2:9-12; Hebrews 1:1-3; Revelation 1:1.

Jesus’ power and authority is given to him from the only true God [Supreme Being]. Jesus stand in the strength of his God, Jehovah (Micah 5:4) Jesus is not Jehovah who gives him this dominion, all authority and power (with the evident exception of the position of being the Most High himself (1 Corinthians 15:27), yet the exercise of this power and authority by Jesus is all to the glory of Jehovah, the one person who is the God and Father of the Lord Jesus. The Bible writers never claimed that Jesus is the ultimate “source” of his own power. — Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Psalm 2:6-8; 45:7; 110:1,2; Isaiah 9:6,7; 11:2; 42:1; 61:1-3; Jeremiah 23:5; Ezekiel 34:23,24; 37:24; Daniel 7:13,14; Matthew 12:28; 28:18; Luke 1:32; 4:14,18; 5:17; John 3:34; 5:19,27,30; 10:18,36-38; Acts 2:22,36; 3:13-26; 10:38; Romans 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 15:27; 2 Corinthians 13:4; Colossians 1:15,16; 2:10; Ephesians 1:3,17-23; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 1:2,4,6,9; 1 Peter 3:22.

Jehovah, the only true God, the God and Father of Jesus, never is “given” power at all; THE GOD AND FATHER OF JESUS IS POWER INNATE, the source of all. (1 Corinthians 8:6) The only true God, the God and Father of Jesus, does give to Jesus power, but not the power of being the source of all power, since it is obvious in that all that is given from the only true Supreme Being, that of being the only true Supreme Being is exempt from being given to anyone. (John 17:1,3; Ephesians 1:3,17-23; 1 Corinthians 15:27) All is still “of” the only true Supreme Being, “through” the one whom only true Supreme Being has made — appointed — as “Lord” over the church and the world; the one appointed only has power “through the strength of Jehovah”, “his God”. — Psalm 2:6; Isaiah 9:7; 11:2; 61:1-3; Ezekiel 34:23,24; 37:24; Jeremiah 23:5; Micah 5:4; Matthew 28:18; Luke 1:32,33; Acts 2:36; 5:31; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 1:3,17-23; Philippians 2:9-11.

In harmony with this, the default reasoning concerning what Jesus stated in John 5:23 should be that Jesus was claiming to be the agent of Jehovah, the only true God, not that Jesus was claiming to BE the only true God. God gave to His son this authority, and thus we should indeed honor His son as we would honor the only true God Himself. The scriptures also tell us that receiving one of the saints is to receive Jesus and the Father. (Matthew 10:40; John 13:20) Jesus, by his words recorded in John 5:23, was speaking of what the only true God has given to him; this authority in context is the authority to judge. By means of this authority given to the Son, the Son is due honor just as the only true God is due honor. It should be apparent that this honor is something that becomes due to the Son *because* of his being given the authority to judge, not because it is an honor that has been due to the son from all eternity past. Therefore, a time frame is set after which the Son is to receive this honor. If this “honor” means to give Jesus the worship, or ascribe to Jesus the glory, due to the only true God, then it would imply that the Son would not have received this worship until he had also received the authority to judge, which, if the thought be that this proves that Jesus is Jehovah, it would further mean that Jesus did not become Jehovah until he received the authority to judge, which authority Jesus received from Jehovah, the only true God who sent him. In reality, it is in view of this high honor conferred upon the Son by the only true God that we are told (John 5:23), “that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.” The explanation of this statement follows, and shows that the honor to the Son is as the Father’s appointed representative and agent in the great work, saying, “He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.”

Some have claimed that Jesus was claiming one should give to him honor that is “equal to” God. Such seem to assume that the Greek word often transliterated as *kathos* means “equal to”. It can mean so, but that meaning is not inherent in the word, as can be seen by its usage all throughout the NT, and if the same reasoning be used, this would make the saints also the Supreme Being, and/or equal in power to Jesus. (See: John 17:11,22; Ephesians 5:25,29; 1 John 4:17) In John 5:23 it expresses that we should honor the one sent forth with the same kind of honor that we would give to the Sender. It does not mean to give to the one sent forth by the only true God the honor of being the only true God.

Some similar scriptures:

Matthew 10:40 WEB

He who receives you receives me.

Did Jesus mean the disciple whom one may receive is himself also Jesus, or that the disciple represents Jesus?

Luke 9:48 WEB

and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For whoever is least among you all, this one will be great."

Did Jesus mean that if the little child is himself, or that the little child simply represented himself?

John 13:20 WEB

Most assuredly I tell you, he who receives whoever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me."

Does this mean that the one whom Jesus sends is Jesus himself, are that the one sent represents Jesus?

In John 12:45, Jesus stated that there was One who had sent him, and therefore the default reasoning is that he was not the one who had sent him. Any conjecture that Jesus is a person of the God of Abraham, and one person of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sent another person of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has to be imagined, assumed, added to, and read into any scripture, since the Bible nowhere presents any such thought.

Who sent Jesus? We read:

Jesus is depicted prophetically as saying "Jehovah hath ... sent me." (Isaiah 61:1, American Standard Version) The only true God sent Jesus. (John 17:3). 

Nevertheless, since Jesus spoke for and did the works of the One who had sent him, to recognize Jesus is the same as recognizing the One who had sent Jesus. To honor the one whom Jehovah sent is the same as honoring Jehovah who sent him.  

See also our studies listed at:
The Worship of Jesus

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1 Timothy 3:16 - Mystery of Devotion

Undeniably great is the mystery of devotion, Who was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed to the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory. — 1 Timothy 3:16, New American Bible.

There is a footnote given for the word “Who”, which reads:

Who: the reference is to Christ, who is himself “the mystery of our devotion.” Some predominantly Western manuscripts read “which,” harmonizing the gender of the pronoun with that of the Greek word for mystery; many later (eighth/ninth century on), predominantly Byzantine manuscripts read “God,” possibly for theological reasons. — found on page 325 of The New Testament of the New American Bible (Saint Joseph Edition), Catholic Book Publishing Company (New York), copyright 1986 by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, DC.

While many trinitarians, at least for this verse, prefer the later manuscript reading of “God”, this reading is the hardest to fit the context of describing “mystery of devotion”, the Christian’s devotion to God. Many have misread, misuunderstood or misrpresented the “mystery of godliness” in 1 Timothy 3:16 as saying or meaning “mystery of the Godhead”, and with that thought in mind, claim that this is speaking of the mystery of the alleged “Godhead” which is alleged to consist of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

In reality, the topic is the mystery of devotion, the secret of the Christian’s devotion to God, which certainly can be expressed in the work that Jesus did and is still doing.

Jesus was taken up in glory; this was after he had been made alive in the spirit (1 Peter 3:18), when he was no longer in the days of his flesh. (Hebrews 5:7) It was the only true God [Supreme Being], the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who sent Jesus (Exodus 3:14,15; Deuteronomy 18:15-19; Isaiah 61:1; John 17:1,3; Acts 3:13-26) who also exalted Jesus to a position higher than anyone excluding the Most High Himself. (John 17:1,3; Acts 2:33; 5:31; 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:3,17-23; Philippians 2:9; Hebrews 1:4; 1 Peter 3:22) Jesus did not exalt himself. In that exalted position he now acts as the priest, advocate, legal counselor before the only true God, for those who believe in him. — Hebrews 1:3; 2:17; 4:14,15; 5:5-10; 6:20; 7:3-26; 8:1,4; 9:11; 10:21; 1 John 2:21.

Likewise, in Jesus, in the words of Jesus, and the work that Jesus did while he was in the days of his flesh (Hebrews 5:7), one can certainly say that God was manifested in the flesh of Jesus. This does not mean that we need to imagine and assume that Jesus is the Supreme Being, or that Jesus is a person of the Supreme Being.

Was Jesus Divine as Human?

The affirmation below is made by most Bible Students:

I. We affirm the humanity of Jesus and the deity of Christ. (Reprints 4955)

Most Bible Students would say that Jesus is divine, but most Bible Students generally limit the term “divine” as applied to Jesus only after his resurrection, for they blend the meaning of “divine” with “immortality” in the spirit realm. We believe, however, the scriptures indicate that a broader usage of the terms “deity” and “divine” can be applied.

The question has been raised, was Jesus, as a human being, “divine”, or “deity”? Most Bible Students would probably answer “no”, for they generally view the term “divine” to be equivalent with “spirit being”, without consideration of any broader usage of the term. Additionally, to say, as a human, that Jesus was divine, implies agreement the trinitarian alleged dual nature of Jesus, in their claim that he was God in the flesh. But we believe that there is a scriptural sense in which Jesus, as a human, could be said to be divine.

In some cases, it is true that the Hebrew words EL and ELOHIM are used in the sense of divine being exclusively as spirit beings, as in Psalm 8:5, and also I believe in John 1:1, THEOS is used to designate the kind of being that the LOGOS ‘was’ before coming into the world of mankind. However, the Hebrews also used the words designating divinity in a sense of special mightiness, even of humans. Therefore, Moses was made, not a divine being, but divine, mighty, toward Pharaoh of Egypt, and also toward Aaron, whom Yahweh spoke of as Moses’ prophet, or spokesperson (Exodus 4:16; 7:1), thus Moses could be referred to as divine although a human. The term Ha Elohim is applied to the judges of Israel, as a body of men, not as spirit beings (Exodus 21:6; 22:8,9,28 [See Acts 23:5]), thus these men could be referred to as “divine”, although men. Furthermore, in Psalm 82, the terms EL and ELOHIM are being applied to human sons of God, thus they could be referred to as divine, although human. In each of these instances those humans could be referred to as “divine” because of special powers and mightiness given to them by God.
http://jesus-rlbible.com/?p=245

Likewise, Jesus, as a human, was given special powers or mightiness by his God to perform various works and miracles, and to speak for the only true God. Therefore, in this sense, Jesus could also be referred to as divine, a mighty one, even as a human being, similar to the way the Moses, the judges of Israel, and the sons of God, as humans with God-given power or might, are also referred to as EL and ELOHIM.

Of course, after his exaltation (Acts 2:33; 5:31; Philippians 2:9), he is now a divine spirit being (1 Corinthians 15:45), higher than the angels (Hebrews 1:4,6), who are also called *elohim* — divine beings. — Psalm 8:5; Hebrews 2:7.

Before coming to the earth, Jesus, as the Logos, was also a divine spirit being with a glory of a heavenly body (1 Corinthians 15:40) alongside his God and Father, but he was not so highly exalted as he now is. — John 1:1; 17:1,3,5.

Did Jesus have the divine nature while as a human? Not in the trinitarian sense, nor in the sense that most Bible Students use the term "divine nature". Many give that phrase the meaning of another term "immortality" which is believed to only be given to Jesus and the 144,000. However, usage of forms of the words for deity/divinity in the Bible are not limited to either the definition trinitarians give to it or the definition often attributed to that term by many Bible Students. Jesus was a partaker of the divine nature while a human because he was never corrupted as the world is. (2 Peter 1:4) This does not mean that Jesus was was God Almighty in the flesh, as trinitarians and some others claim. It simply means that he was never morally corrupted. He was born into the world without corruption, thus unlike believers, he did not have to “escape” the corruption that is in the world through desire, but he did have to overcome any temptation, which, if he succumbed to, would cause him to become corrupted, and thus no longer incorrupt.

Jesus did indeed exist before he came down from his God in heaven (John 17:5), and in coming into the world of mankind, God specially prepared his body (Hebrews 10:5) so that in his humanity was life (John 1:4), a life not under any condemnation of death as common to all mankind dying in Adam. (1 Corinthians 15:22; Romans 5:15-19) He was not made a sinner, as all mankind has been through Adam (Romans 5:19), nor was he ever made crooked (corrupt) as God has with mankind through Adam. (Ecclesiastes 1:15) Jesus was never corrupted, even though he suffered as though under the bondage of corruption (Romans 8:23), in likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3) — although his flesh was not sinful. He died, the just for the unjust. (1 Peter 3:18) Thus, only Jesus, if he remained obedient, could offer to the Most High a sacrifice for sin. (Romans 8:3; Ephesians 5:2; Hebrews 9:14; 0:10,12,14,18) Jesus did prove himself incorruptible by his perfect obedience, and thus he brought life and incorruption to light through this good news. (2 Timothy 1:10) This is the basis for belief in Jesus, and thus the basis for true Christianity.

If, on the other hand, he was the Most High in the flesh, as many claim, then no ransom has been provided, and God, instead of being seen as justified (Romans 3:26), would be condemned, and sin in the flesh, rather than being condemned (Romans 8:3), would be justified. In other words, his life would have proven that only God could obey God’s laws for man, that thus, God Himself was unjust in giving man a law or command that the human could not obey, and then condemning all mankind for not obeying the law.

There is definitely no scripture that presents Jesus as being the Supreme Being and a human being at the same time. Indeed, no scripture presents Jesus as being God Almighty, the Supreme Being at all. 

Related studies:
Hebraic Usage of the Titles for "God"

How God's Son Condemned Sin in the Flesh
Links to Studies Related to Hypostatic Union