John 5:22-23 necessitates the full worship of the Son of God

John 5:22-23, words spoken by Jesus when confronted by his detractors, is given here in various translations:
  • KJV: "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him."
  • NIV: "Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him."
  • ESV: "For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."
  • CSB: "The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."
  • NWT (New World Translation) of the Watchtower Society (Jehovah's Witnesses): "For the Father judges no one at all, but he has committed all the judging to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He that does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."

Notice the theologically important words "does not honor" ("honoureth not" in KJV) in verse 23. Plain meaning: If we do not honor the Son "just as" we honor the Father, the Father does not accept our worship. That would seem to be quite obvious, even in the NWT translation. Yet I encountered an anti-Trinitarian blogger who maintained that "just as", translated as such even in the NWT, does not include worship. This individual was smart enough to know that that his refusal to honor the Lord Jesus by worshipping Him would mean that the Father finds unacceptable any form of "worship" that he, as a disbeliever in the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity, would ever offer. Therefore he tried to put some other meaning on the "just as" of verse 23. But let's look into the original Greek of verse 23 to see what "just as" means (next section),and see if it's possible to escape what otherwise seems the plain meaning of Jesus's warning about unacceptable worship in John 5:23.
The critical word here is the Greek word kathos, which is translated "even as" in the KJV and "just as" in the other four translations given above. Let us see what kathos means, according to the standard Greek Lexicons.
  • BAG (Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich): "1. indicating comparison: just as . . . likewise . . . 2. as, to the degree that . . ."
  • Liddell and Scott: "Even as . . . How . . . As . . . When (temporal usage)"
  • Thayer's Greek Lexicon: "1. According as, just as, even as; in proportion as, to the degree that. 2. Since, seeing that, agreeably to the fact that (causal or explanatory). 3. When, after that (temporal use)."
I asked chatgpt what the Liddell and Scott definition of kathos in John 5:23 means.
Its answer:
Jesus is saying that the Son is to receive honor even as the Father receives honor. There are two important implications:
  1. The Son is not merely to be honored as a messenger or prophet.
  2. The honor give to the Son is to correspond to the honor given to the Father.
End of extract from question asked of chatgpt. Emphasis (bold) is as given in the chatgpt response.

I recognize that we should never blindly accept as authoritative an answer given by AI, and should check its response when possible or convenient. Although this response from chatgpt seemed correct (i.e., it aligns with the uniform teaching of the New Testament), perhaps someone else would get a different answer when querying an AI platform. When it comes to questions regarding God and religions of the world, through experience I have found that the AI resource just below has generally given good answers, answers that can be verified by further independent research.

Then I asked of kairoschat.ai: "Does John 5:22, 23 mean that we are to worship the Son just as (Greek kathos) we worship the Father?"
Answer given by kairoschat.ai:
Yes. In John 5:23, Jesus teaches that the Son must receive the same honor as the Father. The Greek kathōs means “just as” or “in the same manner.” This is not merely respect for a prophet, king, or created agent; it is the honor that belongs to God.

The context makes this unmistakable: the Son does what the Father does, gives life as the Father gives life, and possesses the authority to judge all humanity. Those are divine prerogatives. Therefore, refusing to honor the Son is not honoring the Father at all.

John 5:23 explains the response required: one must hear Christ’s word and believe the Father who sent Him. Faith in the Father cannot be separated from faith in the Son, because the Father has revealed Himself through the Son.

So, yes: the Son is to be worshiped with the divine worship due to the Father—not as a second god, but because the Father and the Son are distinct Persons who share the one divine nature. Yes. In John 5:23, Jesus teaches that the Son must receive the same honor as the Father. The Greek kathōs means “just as” or “in the same manner.” This is not merely respect for a prophet, king, or created agent; it is the honor that belongs to God.

The context makes this unmistakable: the Son does what the Father does, gives life as the Father gives life, and possesses the authority to judge all humanity. Those are divine prerogatives. Therefore, refusing to honor the Son is not honoring the Father at all. John 5:23 explains the response required: one must hear Christ’s word and believe the Father who sent Him. Faith in the Father cannot be separated from faith in the Son, because the Father has revealed Himself through the Son. So, yes: the Son is to be worshiped with the divine worship due to the Father—not as a second god, but because the Father and the Son are distinct Persons who share the one divine nature.

More from kairoschat.ai:"After seeing the risen Jesus, Thomas directly addresses Him as "My Lord and my God." Jesus does not correct him; instead, He blesses those who believe in Him without seeing. This is a clear confession that Jesus is truly God."

kairoshchatai refers to Revelation 5:13,14, "And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying 'To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and glory and might forever and ever!' And the four living creatures said, 'Amen!' and the elders fell down and worshiped,'" and then comments:

In heaven, every creature worships "him who sits on the throne and the Lamb." The Father and the Son receive the same blessing, honor, glory, and power forever. Since worship belongs to God alone, the Lamb--Jesus Christ--is rightly worshiped because He shares the divine nature of the Father.

End of quotations from kairoschat.ai. In my estimation, kairoschat.ai is the best AI platform for questions about the Bible or any religious tradition--Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc.