CLAIM: Jesus is God because he received “worship” in the New Testament
ANSWER: Many individuals are worshipped in the Bible; powerful men, kings, angels, and God all clearly receive “worship.” The Greek word for worship, proskuneo, and the Hebrew, shacah, both literally mean to bow down before or to prostrate oneself. Throughout the Bible the same words are used for both God and important figures who are not God. The idea that Jesus is God because he is "worshipped" has been assisted by the fact that many Trinitarian translations of the Bible suffer from a theological bias which causes them to translate the word proskuneo as “worship” only when used of God or Jesus, but as “bow down” when used of other men.
The truth is that both God and men were "worshipped" in the Bible, though they were evidently not all worshipped, or paid homage, in the same way or to the same degree.
In the ancient cultures of the Bible, "worshipping" before someone was a common way of demonstrating respect and adoration, and was not reserved only for God. When the King James Version translators encountered the Greek word proskuneo in the year 1611, they correctly chose the word “worship,” which was still a commonly used honorific for men in their own day. Today however, the word “worship” has been transformed into a particular sort of religious homage reserved for God alone. Despite the change in meaning, when proskuneo is used of God or Jesus, many Trinitarian translators return to the KJV’s outdated rendering because it appears to support their theology, and their belief that only God can receive worship. One scholar recognizes that many popular translations “revert to the KJV’s ‘worship’ inappropriately.” This is done “under the pressure of theological bias… the translators seem to feel the need to add to the New Testament support for the idea that Jesus was recognized to be God” (Dr. Jason BeDuhn, Truth in Translation, p. 44).
For example, when the biased translators find the word proskuneo used towards a rich man (Matt 18:26), they render it “bowed down.” When the same word is used towards Jesus, they render it “worshipped” (Matt 2:11). In Revelation 3:9, Jesus says the he will make the wicked come and “worship” at the feet of Christians (KJV). Of course, modern Trinitarians translate this as “bow down” (NASB), since they believe worship should only be given to God. Yet we find in the Bible that the people of Israel themselves are to be “worshipped” and even prayed to by their enemies (Isaiah 45:14). Abraham also “worships/bows before” the people of the land (Gen 23:7), as well as God (Gen 22:5). Despite the current meaning now given to the word "worship", the activity it describes in the Bible was not reserved for God alone.
To “bow down,” “pay homage to,” or “worship,” the man Jesus is therefore right and biblical if he is not worshipped “as God.” The Son of God, the Lord Messiah, should be honored as the rightful King of Israel alongside of the Father, who is the only true God (John 17:3). We argue this has always been the case for God’s chosen king. In the Old Testament, King David was worshipped alongside of God: “And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers, and bowed down their heads, and worshipped the LORD, and the king" (1 Chron 29:20 KJV).
We therefore honor or bow before the Lord Jesus as the exalted King of Israel, but not as God. That particular honor is reserved for the Father alone.