Limitless Word
so 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.
John 5:23 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.
  • KJV 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.
  • ESV 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.
  • NKJV that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
  • NASB so that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
  • NLT so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

All are to honor the Son just as they honor the Father; to dishonor the Son is to dishonor the Father. Christ is worthy of the same honor as God.

Overview

Jesus declares that the Father's purpose is that the Son receive equal honor with himself. Therefore honoring God necessarily means honoring Christ; rejecting the Son is rejecting the Father. This decisively rules out any worship of God that bypasses Jesus, establishing his deity and the necessity of faith in him.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • 1 Jn 2:23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
  • Luke 10:16Whoever listens to you listens to Me; whoever rejects you rejects Me; and whoever rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
  • 2 Jn 1:9Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son.
  • Matt 11:27All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
  • John 15:23–24Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
  • Jer 17:5–7This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes the flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
  • Luke 12:8–9I tell you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess him before the angels of God.
  • 1 Th 3:11–13Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you.
  • Eph 6:24Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
  • Heb 1:6And again, when God brings His firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all God’s angels worship Him.”
  • Titus 3:4–6But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,
  • 2 Pet 3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
  • 2 Th 2:16–17Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who by grace has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope,
  • Rom 8:9You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
  • John 16:14He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.
  • Rom 14:7–9For none of us lives to himself alone, and none of us dies to himself alone.
  • Rom 6:22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.
  • 1 Cor 10:31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
  • Isa 43:10–11“You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have chosen, so that you may consider and believe Me and understand that I am He. Before Me no god was formed, and after Me none will come.
  • Matt 22:37–38Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
  • Ps 146:3–5Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
  • 1 Cor 6:19Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
  • Matt 12:21In His name the nations will put their hope.”
  • Rev 5:8–14When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
  • Isa 45:21Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.
  • 2 Cor 5:19that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
  • 2 Cor 13:14The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.
  • 2 Cor 1:9Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead.
  • 2 Tim 1:12For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
  • Zech 9:9Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your King comes to you, righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
  • 1 Cor 1:3Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Matt 10:37Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me;
  • Ps 2:12Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
  • John 14:1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well.
  • Eph 1:12–13in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory.
  • Rom 1:7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Rom 15:12And once more, Isaiah says: “The Root of Jesse will appear, One who will arise to rule over the Gentiles; in Him the Gentiles will put their hope.”
  • Isa 42:8I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.
  • Matt 28:19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
  • Isa 44:6Thus says the LORD, the King and Redeemer of Israel, the LORD of Hosts: “I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God but Me.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on John 5:23YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.

How John 5:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.