Throughout the Bible’s history, whenever a messenger from God, namely an angel, came to give a message, there was a general response to bow and worship the angel. In every instance when this happened, the angel would refuse worship and give glory to God. Whenever any man was worshipped and treated like a god, God spoke out against it; in some cases, like with Herod, God killed him on the spot. Jesus, however, never once refused worship. And one of the clearest cases for this was after raising Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus’s sister, Mary, out of such gratitude that cannot be expressed in words, anointed Jesus’ feet with spikenard perfume, among the most expensive and rare perfumes that would take nearly a year’s wages to pay for. Jesus did not stop her, but instead stopped those who tried to stop her. What is the deal?
Jesus was supposed to be a humble man who never considered Himself to be of high reputation, status, or stature. He stooped down from heaven and took the form of a servant. Even taking the form of royalty would have been a significant step down for Him, but He took a position of the lowly, one of poverty, and even submitted Himself to the execution of a criminal. But Jesus never refused worship. He never told anyone not to worship Him. He never rebuked anyone for calling Him Lord or even “God.” That is a serious offense if you are not God, and the Pharisees were absolutely right to be completely offended by Jesus declaring Himself to be the “Son of Man” of Daniel, the prophesied Savior to come, if He was not that person. But if He was, and He is, that “Son of Man,” then He is the only one worthy of being worshiped.
Jesus wasn’t just a miracle-worker. While no true miracle worker had been seen since Elisha, Jesus did not act like Moses, Elijah, or Elisha, who did such miracles. They knew they were just men like us – weak, frail, and certainly anything but perfect righteousness. But Jesus wasn’t. He was a man just like us, but without sin. And to see a man take worship and be without sin was so strange to those in that time; it was unfathomable. I don’t believe any of us would actually have recognized it until the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. We may have believed in Jesus and followed after Him, but not actually understood He was calling Himself God. The Pharisees did. And I believe that is why God hid that fact from the disciples, except for Peter, briefly, so they would be ready to proclaim Him as THE God, not just “a god” who rose from the dead.
When Mary worshiped Jesus by anointing His feet, Judas got offended. He wanted that perfume to be sold and the money given away, so that he could pocket some. One of the reasons Jesus allowed this worship was to show who truly did worship Him. One thing I have noticed is that worship will reveal the genuine from the counterfeit. Not merely in the act of worship, but in the manner of worship. When another sinful woman (some believe to be Mary Magdalene, not the Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus) anointed Jesus’ feet at Simon the Pharisee’s house, Simon never even gave Jesus the basic honor of a standard guest by having Jesus’ feet washed. Simon did not honor Jesus or even follow standard hospitality practices. Yet this woman worshiped with all she had. Jesus noted it, too, because she was forgiven much and recognized her sin. This Pharisee thought he was already good and didn’t need a Savior.
There is a way to worship God, and there is a way not to. I believe too many of us, and I say ‘us’ because I am including myself, take worship too lightly. We think worship is going to church and singing songs; however, worship actually means to present oneself prostrate, face to the ground, in full humility. That is why we “bow our heads” in prayer. It’s to take a lowly position, to “look down” as a servant looks down before the upper classes. Worship is to put something higher than you and to serve that which you worship. We say we worship God, but do we actually do that?
God gave us instructions on how to worship. In the Old Testament, there was a specific manner and location to worship. While God was everywhere and worship could be done anywhere when necessary, there were never instructions that allowed for mere convenience or manner to be done however we wanted. The Old Testament times were times of grotesque idolatry, and the people believed they could worship God at the high places and shrines of these idols. They did not worship the idols instead of God; they worshiped the idols alongside God. And we know when one tries to serve two masters, only one is going to actually get fed. Today, we don’t need to go to a temple or do any cleansing ritual, but the worship needs to be from the heart. Many people gladly proclaim that and then do whatever they want, and that’s not how things should go. I hate the statement “God knows my heart,” Because most use that as a self-righteous boast, having no clue that God really DOES know your heart and His verdict is not as nice as yours.
If there were two people I would cite as model worshipers, they would be Abel and David. Of all the Old Testament saints, there are none who showcased they understood their sin like they did and took the sacrifice of the animals very seriously. What they offered is worship that God accepts. In contrast to Abel, what Cain offered was worthless to God. In contrast to David, what Saul boasted to offer in sacrifice to excuse his disobedience was worthless compared to the obedience he should have shown. Worship is much more than lip service and singing. It is submission followed by trust and obedience. We worship that which we obey and serve. And most of the time, it will be either God or ourselves. Choose you this day whom you will serve.
Jesus calls for genuine worship. Mary showed genuine worship; however, next week, we’ll see false worship on display when Jesus enters Jerusalem to empty praises.
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