The Traditional Christian Worship of The Triune God
Historic Christianity has ultimately directed worship and praise to the triune God. Christians have done so in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for two millennia. This classic Trinitarian understanding of God better accounts for the whole counsel of God contained in both Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures: ONE GOD (Deuteronomy 6:4), eternally existing in three persons who are fully divine, who relate to one another, and who are revealed most fully in Jesus.
Someone might ask if worship is ultimately directed to the triune God, why did Jesus commanded us to worship the father in Spirit and in Truth because the father seeks worshippers. That person may continue: Jesus never commanded us to worship himself or worship the Holy Spirit as a distinct being.
That's a fair point to raise from John 4, but the text in John 4 doesn't support excluding worship of Jesus or the Holy Spirit. Let's look carefully at what Jesus actually says and the broader context of John's Gospel (and the New Testament).
Look at John 4:23-24 in Context:
Jesus tells the Samaritan woman: "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
- This is primarily correcting where worship happens (not on this mountain or that one) and shifting to how—in spirit and truth, not tied to the old temple system. The Father is the ultimate object in this reply because the woman raised the Father/Samaritan-Jewish dispute.
- Jesus immediately reveals himself as the Messiah who makes this possible (John 4:25-26: "I who speak to you am he"). He's not distancing himself from worship; he's the one inaugurating the new era of worship.
- John 4 does not say "worship the Father only" or "do not worship the Son." That would contradict the rest of the same Gospel.
Jesus Receives and Accepts Worship
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus is explicitly worshipped, and he accepts it without correction (unlike angels or humans who refuse worship):
- Matthew 28:17 (post-resurrection): "And when they saw him they worshiped him..."
- John 20:28: Thomas declares, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus accepts it and blesses those who believe.
- John 9:38: The healed blind man "worshiped him" after Jesus reveals himself.
- Hebrews 1:6: God the Father says, "Let all God's angels worship him" (referring to the Son).
- Philippians 2:9-11: At the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord—to the glory of God the Father. (This applies Isaiah 45:23, a Yahweh text, to Jesus.)
- Revelation 5: The Lamb (Jesus) receives worship alongside the One on the throne. The creatures sing to both.
- Jesus also says in John 5:23: "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." This is equal honor.
- The Father seeks worshippers who come through the Son (John 14:6 — "No one comes to the Father except through me"; John 17:3).
- The Son prays to and glorifies the Father, while the Father glorifies the Son. This mutual, relational dynamic is why Trinitarian Christians say worship is ultimately to the triune God—not three separate gods, but the one God in three persons.
- Early Christians worshipped the Father through the Son in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:18; the classic Trinitarian pattern).
Jesus never commanded "worship me exclusively and never the Father," just as he didn't say worship is only to the Father and never him. He modeled perfect sonship while receiving the worship due to the divine Son who shares the Father's glory (John 17:5, 24).
The data of the whole counsel of God from the Scriptures fits better with one God eternally existing as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit —worship directed to all three as the one God, with Jesus as the perfect image and mediator.
We are right in stating that John 4 highlights the Father. But the same Jesus who said to worship the Father also accepted "My Lord and my God." The New Testament doesn't treat that as a contradiction. It treats it as the mystery of the triune God revealed in Christ.