Sermon for Sunday, May 24th, 2026 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Deuteronomy 6:10-15 ESV] 10 “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you–with great and good cities that you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant–and when you eat and are full, 12 then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. 14 You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you– 15 for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God–lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
New Testament Reading:
[Acts 10:17-29 ESV] 17 Now while Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision that he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood at the gate 18 and called out to ask whether Simon who was called Peter was lodging there. 19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. 20 Rise and go down and accompany them without hesitation, for I have sent them.” 21 And Peter went down to the men and said, “I am the one you are looking for. What is the reason for your coming?” 22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who is well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, was directed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his house and to hear what you have to say.” 23 So he invited them in to be his guests. The next day he rose and went away with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him. 24 And on the following day they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.” 27 And as he talked with him, he went in and found many persons gathered. 28 And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. 29 So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”
Gospel Reading:
[Matthew 4:7-11 ESV] 7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
Sermon Text:
[Matthew 14:22-36 ESV] 22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” 34 And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place recognized him, they sent around to all that region and brought to him all who were sick 36 and implored him that they might only touch the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.
Introduction –
Introduction: This is an “advanced” sermon today. I’ll be mentioning a couple words in Greek, maybe even Hebrew or Latin. All because I want us to look more deeply at the subject of “WORSHIP.”
This account of Jesus walking on the water is a familiar one to us. We heard of it in our series on the “Fear of God” at a Fall Retreat a couple years ago. I’ve preached on it once here also in the Gospel of John.
Indeed, the whole account is worthy of our attention. But various elements of the account might justify their own sermon. Certainly that subject of the Fear of God is a topic of its own. And Jesus, with so much comfort in words, said to the disciples, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
But today I want to focus on the “worship” of verse 33.
This occurs the end of the account. After Jesus has walked on the water, and comforted the disciples, and after he has reached out to doubting Peter, and made the storm to cease. After all that, we read:
33: And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
That is a great profession of faith. “Truly,” say the disciples, “you [Jesus] are the Son of God.” It is not “amen” like Jesus uses in “truly, truly, I say unto you,” but it is alethos. Whereas “amen” is a confirmation of faith, alethos means “of a truth.” But, these are very similar in meaning; in fact, the Greek writers often take the amen of the Hebrew Old Testament and write it as alethos in Greek. Either way, this is a strong statement of “fact.” It is true, no doubt, that Jesus is the Son of God.
If the disciples had any doubts before, now those are quashed.
If they only “knew” in a light and general sense before, now they KNOW in the fullness of that term.
They’ve seen him do great things.
They’ve seen that he is Lord of land and sea.
So, the result, THEY WORSHIP HIM. That is what we’ll look at in more detail today. “And those in the boat worshiped him.”
I. Proskuneo
The Greek word for “worship” used in verse 33 is proskyneo.
Technically, it is prosekynesan, the Aorist Active Indicative Third Person Plural of proskyneo.
Greek words change their endings depending on a variety of factors. So it is best to look at the root word which is the base for the various forms it is found in.
The word can mean “to kiss on the hand” or “to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead.” Of course, these are the PHYSICAL manifestations of the act of REVERENCE. So the full meaning is to “do homage or make obeisance” to “beings of superior rank.”
Now, this COULD be an act towards a king, or the high priest. That is, it could be an act done towards a person. But what I want to show is that this IS, in this instance in verse 33, an act done towards GOD. Indeed, the disciples say “Truly you are the Son of God.”
In Matthew’s Gospel, this worship (proskyneo) is used a number of times.
In Matthew 2:2 the to wise men have come to WORSHIP Jesus.
In Matthew 2:8 Herod lies about wanting to WORSHIP Jesus.
In Matthew 2:11 the wise men WORSHIP Jesus.
In Matthew 4:9 Satan asks Jesus to WORSHIP him.
In Matthew 8:2, the leper KNELLS BEFORE Jesus.
In Matthew 9:18 ruler KNELT BEFORE Jesus.
In Matthew 14:33 to the disciples WORSHIP Jesus in the boat.
In Matthew 15:25 Canaanite woman KNELT BEFORE Jesus.
In Matthew 20:20 the mother of the sons of Zebedee KNEELS BEFORE Jesus.
In Matthew 28:9 and 28:17 the disciples WORSHIP the risen Christ.
These all sounds like “worship” in the full sense, but …we must recognize that proskyneo CAN BE USED without the person thinking the other is divine. [REPEAT]
For example, in Matthew 18:26 the servant FELL ON HIS KNEES (the same word – proskyneo) and he does so not towards God, but towards the master of the house. And, similarly, in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Old Testament there are occasions when the such “worship” is in regards to the king.
So it is theoretically possible that this “proskyneo” in our passage is just the disciples giving HONOR or RESPECT to their teacher; that they are not worshipping him as God. That’s the contention of the Unitarians and the Jehovah’s Witnesses – groups that do not affirm that Jesus is God; they believe he was only a man.
But in reality, our passage DOES show the divinity of Christ. Not only was Jesus just performing miracles, and not only did the disciples say “Truly you are the Son of God,” but also — and this is of great importance — JESUS DOES NOT TURN AWAY THEIR WORSHIP.
You see, in other places of the Scriptures, when worship is IMPROPERLY given, it is turned away; it is denied.
In Acts 10:25-26 Cornelius falls at the feet to WORSHIP Peter. And Peter denies the worship, saying “Stand up, I am only a man myself.”
If Jesus were “only a man” would not he have do the same as Peter? And yet Jesus did not deny the worship given to him.
Then, not only Peter turns away worship, the but angels themselves do so also. Twice; Revelation 19:10 and Revelation 22:8-9. John speaking:
Rev 22:8, 9 – And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things. But he said to me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God!”
Jesus never has to say that. He is God! It is right to worship him. It would be a sin NOT to worship him. So he accepts the worship.
All throughout the Gospel of Matthew we’ve been seeing this theme that Jesus is Lord. It is said in many different ways.
There are always critics who will say “Jesus never said ‘I am God.’”
Did he use those words?, No.
But, there are dozens of others ways in which he said that truth, and lived out that truth for all to hear and see. Only the most stubborn person could attempt to continue to claim that Jesus is only a man.
So far in Matthew’s Gospel we’ve seen
1) Jesus’s ability to do miracles. (is that not a sign of divinity?) Healing the paralyzed, making the blind to see, and the deaf to hear. Making enough food for 5000 men from 5 loaves and 2 fish. No ordinary man can do these things.
2) We’ve also seen him fulfill prophecy. (Who else but God can make that happen?)
3) And we’ve seen the crowds astonished at the authority of his teaching. Where does the authority come from, but from God?
4) Also, we’ve seen Jesus say of himself “the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.” Who but God can claim divine authority over how the Sabbath is observed?
5) And, in chapter 9, Jesus says to the man he heals, “your sins are forgiven.” Who has power to forgive sins, but God? Indeed, the scribes knew what Jesus was claiming of himself, for they said “This man is blaspheming.”
And now, we find Jesus not turning away the worship he receives. What can be the conclusion but that he is worthy of that worship, and therefore that he is divine; the son of God, very God of very God.
II. Latria
There is a second Greek word, similarly used for worship in the New Testament.
If proskyneo is “to fall down at one’s feet,” then latria is “to serve.”
These are essentially equivalent terms though, both applied to how man should respond to God. We are to worship AND serve the Lord.
In fact Jesus makes the terms equivalent.
In Matthew 4:10 Jesus says “be gone, Satan, for it is written ‘you shall WORSHIP the Lord God and him only shall you SERVE.”
Both terms are used, in a parallel fashion.
The text Jesus is referring to when he says “it is written,” is the text of Deuteronomy 6:13
[Deuteronomy 6:13 ESV] 13 It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall SERVE and by his name you shall swear.
Jesus adds the term “ONLY” as emphasis, but that was already implied in the Old Testament. We are to worship God ONLY. This is why the disciples and the angels deny worship of themselves, but why Jesus does not deny worship; for he IS GOD.
ANY OTHER WORSHIP IS SINFUL. We are to worship God alone. So it cannot be right to worship anyone else.
So this worship (proskyneo) in our passage is legitimately given to Jesus only. This isn’t “respect for a teacher or some authority figure in the world;” indeed, Jesus has no worldly position. No official position. The “worship” his disciples offer is because Jesus is God. And God alone is to be worshipped.
III. Rome’s Error of Doulia and Hyperdoulia
Thus it is important to note the error of worshipping ANYONE else, whether they be notable Christian saints or even Mary, the mother of God. The point is simple: IF THEY ARE NOT GOD, DON’T WORSHIP THEM.
WCF 21:2 Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone; not to angels, saints, or any other creature: and, since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.
This article of our confession was written against the Roman Catholic practice of invoking and venerating saints.
The contention of Rome is that they are not “worshipping” saints, but “venerating” them. They do not use the terms proskyneo or latria, they use the term “doulia,” seeking to make a distinction so as not to be found guilty of worshipping any other than God.
Of course, we cannot oppose a general honoring of the saints. We read of Bible characters and are inspired by their faith. And we read of missionaries in our own day, and pastors like David Brainerd who preached to the Lenape, and we are inspired by them. We can even rightly call Paul “St. Paul” and Peter “St. Peter.” (But so also can we call each and every Christian “saint” as the Scriptures do.)
And I’m not even entirely against the practice of naming something after a saint. Lots of Catholic Churches, Lutheran, and others are named after saints. I just saw “St. James the Greater” in Montague NJ the other day. This may be a reasonable way to honor a person and remember them, though I think most of the saints would be aghast to have a church named after them, concerned that it would bring them honor rather than giving all the glory to God.
We must be careful not to worship anyone but God. ALL Christian figures, if you read enough about them, you will find are SINNERS. I know some facts about Christians leaders of the past that would not be beneficial to share, other than to prove the point that all sin and fall short of the glory of God. We must not think that Charles Spurgeon or Francis Schaeffer or Martin Luther were perfect people for us to model our lives after. That is a condition only of Jesus Christ. Even the great men of the Bible were grievous sinners: David, Paul, Peter. Great men, but not to be worshipped.
So Rome says “we are not worshipping the saints.” And they say “we are not worshipping Mary.” They instead use the term “doulia” for the saints, and “hyperdoulia” for Mary. She is “venerated” even more than the saints.
But here is where Rome crosses the line.
1) We are not to try to contact the dead.
The Scriptures say that we are not to attempt to speak to the dead, nor are we to pray to any other than God.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 says that it is an abomination to inquire of the dead.
Rome says “the saints not dead but alive.” Ok, clever response.
But, even if they are “alive in Christ,” we are to pray only to God.
2) They pray to saints.
The scriptures say we are to pray to God alone.
[Matthew 6:6 ESV] 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Rome’s response (sometimes) is that they are not “praying” to saints, but “asking” them to pray for us.
This is less clever of a response in my opinion. It is not clear what the difference is between “praying” and “asking.”
But, let us grant them that this is such difference. There is yet a problem.
3) They believe the saints are mediators, intervening for us.
The Scriptures teach that Jesus ALONE is the mediator between God and Man.
By “asking” the saints to pray for us, we make them intermediaries, mediators, between us and God.
4) This this distinction between Latria and Doulia is nowhere found in the Bible. And there is no veneration of the saints in the Scriptures either. So it is a practice that they add.
In all of this, venerating the saints is stealing glory from God.
He alone are we to worship.
He alone are we to pray to.
He alone is the mediator between God and man.
Consider these verses:
[Isaiah 42:8 ESV] 8 I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
[1 Timothy 2:5 ESV] 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
And then, perhaps the most egregious error,
5) They bow down to statues representing the saints, which act we’ve seen was rejected by the apostles and the angels. There are statues all over their churches, and they argue that it is right to bow down to them. Certainly this is not a Biblical practice; unnecessary at best, idolatry at worst.
The apostles didn’t allow themselves to be venerated while they were alive, and there is no reason to think they would want such veneration now. They – true saints – wish all glory, honor, and worship to be given to God alone.
Application: You CAN GO DIRECTLY TO JESUS WHO ACCEPTS YOUR WORSHIP.
The disciples worshipped Jesus in the boat.
And when Jesus rose from the dead, we read,
[Matthew 28:9 ESV] 9 And behold, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.
[John 20:28 ESV] 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”
So, we can and should worship Jesus.
And we can go to him directly. He is our mediator, and our great high priest, one that we can “draw near to.”
This was the text of a funeral sermon I gave last Sunday. And we’ll close with it.
[Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV] 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Worship the Lord. Worship the Lone alone.
Let us pray.