The Islamic Inversion

Did Jesus Accept Worship?

Often, Muslims will bring up the fact that Jesus worshiped God the Father (Matthew 4:10; 22:37). Therefore, Muslims argue, devoted followers of Jesus should worship only God the Father, as well. After all, Muslims say, a true follower of Jesus should mimic His actions by worshipping the Lord God only. While this topic has already been discussed from the angle of Jesus being both man and God, let’s now put our inversion detector into practice with regards to this last assertion. Remember that an inversion is a truth examined from a backward perspective, or a lie coated with enough truth to make it sound plausible on the surface. To find an inversion, take the argument provided, turn it inside out, and examine it from a reversed perspective. The result will point back to the truth of Jesus, typically in an ironic way.
Getting back to the argument at hand, Muslims posit that if Jesus worshiped the Father, then this proves that Jesus and the Father are not one. Moreover, the argument asserts that Christians do not obey Jesus in that they do not follow his example of worshiping God the Father only. The Muslim logic goes as follows: Jesus commanded His followers to worship God only. Christians worship Jesus. Therefore, we are being disobedient to Jesus’ command.
Rather than get into an argument with our Muslim friend, let’s stop and note the point of agreement. It is true that only God is worthy of worship. Every Muslim will agree with this. Once that is established, we can invert the argument to expose reality.
The sword of the Spirit, which is the word (rhema) of God, helps us resolve this apparent dilemma. Clearly only God should be worshiped. Rather than look at worship proceeding from Jesus, let’s look at worship proceeding toward Jesus. If only God is worthy of worship, what would it mean if Jesus accepted worship? Moreover, what if Jesus not only accepted worship, but also never corrected or rebuked the people worshiping Him?
From Matthew 14:31-34

31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, "You are certainly God's Son!” 34 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.

From Matthew 28:8-10:

8And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples. 9And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me."

Finally, Jesus talks to a blind man He had healed in John 9:35-39:

35Jesus heard that they had put him out, and finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36He answered, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and He is the one who is talking with you.” 38And he said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Him. 39And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

Jesus accepts worship in these and several other instances. While the full number of these passages is not listed, others include Matthew 2:11, Matthew 15:25, Matthew 28:17, and Luke 24:52. A more subtle but equally profound truth emerges when looking carefully at the verses immediately following where the individuals worship Jesus. Note that in all these passages, never once does Jesus rebuke the person worshipping Him. In other words, Jesus never says “Hey, quit worshipping me, worship God.” Instead, Jesus accepts the worship and then directs the people with new and further instruction. Muslims believe Jesus is a prophet only, but such acceptance of worship would be arrogant and blasphemous for a prophet. Therefore, what is the logical conclusion? After all, the argument was that only God is worthy of worship. If only God is worthy of worship, and Jesus willingly accepts it, He claims to be God.
These examples are given to show the pattern. Here is the pivotal point to remember with this and every other example given in this book. Muslims start with a direct frontal assault on Christianity, in this case regarding Jesus and worship. Put aside the particulars and move from the concrete to the abstract. Listen to the Muslim argument, and then flip it upside down, inside out, and backward. Spin it around and invert it. The result will be spiritual revelation and enlightenment regarding an aspect of the Triune God you had not considered before. Previously unknown truth about the nature of God will be staring you in the face. What begins as the Muslim trying to destroy Christian faith, when properly inverted, ironically will ultimately lead to profound truth about the God of the Bible. Whether the Muslim is ready to hear that truth is left to the Spirit.