The Meaning of John 5:23 Explained

John 5:23

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.

YLT: that all may honour the Son according as they honour the Father; he who is not honouring the Son, doth not honour the Father who sent him.

Darby: that all may honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He who honours not the Son, honours not the Father who has sent him.

ASV: that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does John 5:23 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The reason for this delegation is that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Subordination usually results in less honor. The Father has guaranteed that the Son will receive equal honor with Himself by committing the role of judging entirely to Him. Therefore failure to honor the Son reflects failure to honor the Father. Conversely honoring the Son honors the Father (cf. Philippians 2:9-11). God will not share His honor with another ( Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 42:10-12). Consequently for Him to share His honor with the Son must mean that the Son and the Father are one in essence.
"The "religious" people who say that they worship God, but who deny the deity of Christ, have neither the Father nor the Son!" [1]
These people include Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Jehovah"s Witnesses, and Unitarian Universalists, if they believe what their churches teach.

Context Summary

John 5:19-29 - The Father Working Through The Son
The relationship of our Lord to the Father was such that He felt Himself competent to fulfill all the functions of the Divine Being. Is it God's prerogative to raise the dead? It is also Jesus Christ's. The Son quickeneth whom He will, John 5:21. Is it the divine right to be the judge of man? It is also the Redeemer's right. See John 5:22. Is it the peculiar attitude of God to be the fountain of life, so that life, inherent, underived, and perennial, is ever arising in His nature, sustaining here an angel and there a humming-bird? This is also an attribute of our blessed Lord. So hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself, John 5:26. The entire sum of the attributes of Deity are resident in the nature of the Son of man. But though all divine attributes were his, and might have been called into operation, He forebore to use them, that He might learn the life of dependence and faith, the life which was to become ours towards Himself. He did nothing apart from the Father, John 5:19, etc. No vine ever clung more closely to its trellis, and no child to its mother, than He to the Father. See Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 12:2. [source]

Chapter Summary: John 5

1  Jesus on the Sabbath day cures him who was diseased thirty-eight years
10  The Jews therefore object, and persecute him for it
17  He answers for himself, and reproves them, showing by the testimony of his Father,
31  of John,
36  of his works,
39  and of the Scriptures, who he is

Greek Commentary for John 5:23

That all may honour the Son [ινα παντες τιμωσιν τον υιον]
Purpose clause with ινα — hina and present active subjunctive of τιμαω — timaō (may keep on honouring the Son). He that honoureth not the Son Articular present active participle of τιμαω — timaō with negative μη — mē Jesus claims here the same right to worship from men that the Father has. Dishonouring Jesus is dishonouring the Father who sent him (John 8:49; John 12:26; John 15:23; 1 John 2:23). See also Luke 10:16. There is small comfort here for those who praise Jesus as teacher and yet deny his claims to worship. The Gospel of John carries this high place for Christ throughout, but so do the other Gospels (even Q, the Logia of Jesus) and the rest of the New Testament. [source]
Which sent Him []
A phrase peculiar to John, and used only by the Lord, of the Father. See John 4:34; John 6:38, John 6:39; John 7:16, John 7:28, John 7:33, etc. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for John 5:23

John 10:9 The door [η τυρα]
Repeated from John 10:7. By me if any man enter in Condition of third class with εαν — ean and second aorist active subjunctive of εισερχομαι — eiserchomai Note proleptic and emphatic position of δι εμου — di' emou One can call this narrow intolerance, if he will, but it is the narrowness of truth. If Jesus is the Son of God sent to earth for our salvation, he is the only way. He had already said it in John 5:23. He will say it again more sharply in John 14:6. It is unpalatable to the religious dogmatists before him as it is to the liberal dogmatists today. Jesus offers the open door to “any one” He shall be saved Future passive of σωζω — sōzō the great word for salvation, from σως — sōs safe and sound. The sheep that comes into the fold through Jesus as the door will be safe from thieves and robbers for one thing. He will have entrance Future (linear future) indicative of ευρισκω — heuriskō old word from νεμω — nemō to pasture. In N.T. only here and 2 Timothy 2:17 (in sense of growth). This same phrase occurs in 1 Chronicles 4:40. The shepherd leads the sheep to pasture, but this phrase pictures the joy of the sheep in the pasture provided by the shepherd. [source]
John 12:44 Cried and said [εκραχεν και ειπεν]
First aorist active indicative of κραζω — krazō to cry aloud, and second aorist active of defective verb ερω — erō to say. This is probably a summary of what Jesus had already said as in John 12:36 John closes the public ministry of Jesus without the Synoptic account of the last day in the temple on our Tuesday (Mark 11:27-12:44; Matt 21:23-23:39; Luke 20:1-21:4). Not on me, but on him “Not on me only, but also on,” another example of exaggerated contrast like that in John 12:30. The idea of Jesus here is a frequent one (believing on Jesus whom the Father has sent) as in John 3:17.; John 5:23, John 5:30, John 5:43; John 7:16; John 8:42; John 13:20; John 14:1; Matthew 10:40; Luke 9:48. [source]
John 15:23 My Father also [και τον πατερα μου]
Because Christ reveals God (John 14:9) and to dishonour Christ is to dishonour God (John 5:23). The coming of Christ has revealed the weight of sin on those who reject him. [source]
John 7:16 Mine [εμη]
Possessive pronoun, “not mine in origin.” Jesus denies that he is self-taught, though not a schoolman. But his that sent me Genitive case of the articular participle (first aorist active of πεμπω — pempō). His teaching is not self-originated nor is it the product of the schools (see the Talmud in contrast with the New Testament). Jesus often in John uses this idiom of “the one who sent me” of the Father (John 4:34; John 5:23, John 5:24, John 5:30, John 5:37; John 6:38-40, John 6:44; John 7:16, John 7:18, John 7:28, etc.). The bold claim is here made by Jesus that his teaching is superior in character and source to that of the rabbis. [source]
John 8:49 I have not a demon [εγω δαιμονιον ουκ εχω]
This Jesus says calmly, passing by the reference to the Samaritans as beneath notice. My Father As in John 2:16. He is not mad in claiming to honour God (cf. John 7:18). They were insulting the Father in insulting him (cf. John 5:23). On ατιμαζω — atimazō (α — a privative and τιμαω — timaō to dishonour) see Luke 20:11. [source]
1 John 2:22 But [ει μη]
Except, if not.That denieth that Jesus is the Christ (ο αρνουμενος οτι Ιησους ουκ εστιν ο Χριστος — ho arnoumenos hoti Iēsous ouk estin ho Christos). Common Greek idiom for ουκ — ouk to appear after αρνεομαι — arneomai like redundant μη — mē in Luke 20:27; Hebrews 12:19. The old Latin retains non here as old English did (Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors IV. ii. 7, “He denied you had in him no right”). The Cerinthian Gnostics denied the identity of the man Jesus and Christ (an αεον — aeon they held) like the modern Jesus or Christ controversy.This is the antichrist The one just mentioned, Cerinthus himself in particular.Even he that denieth the Father and the Son (ο αρνουμενος τον πατερα και τον υιον — ho arnoumenos ton patera kai ton huion). This is the inevitable logic of such a rejection of the Son of God. Jesus had himself said this very same thing (John 5:23.). [source]
1 John 2:22 This is the antichrist [ουτος εστιν ο αντιχριστος]
The one just mentioned, Cerinthus himself in particular.Even he that denieth the Father and the Son (ο αρνουμενος τον πατερα και τον υιον — ho arnoumenos ton patera kai ton huion). This is the inevitable logic of such a rejection of the Son of God. Jesus had himself said this very same thing (John 5:23.). [source]
1 John 2:22 Even he that denieth the Father and the Son [ο αρνουμενος τον πατερα και τον υιον]
This is the inevitable logic of such a rejection of the Son of God. Jesus had himself said this very same thing (John 5:23.). [source]

What do the individual words in John 5:23 mean?

so that all may honor the Son even as they honor Father He who not is honoring not is honoring the [One] having sent Him
ἵνα πάντες τιμῶσι τὸν Υἱὸν καθὼς τιμῶσι Πατέρα μὴ τιμῶν οὐ τιμᾷ τὸν πέμψαντα αὐτόν

ἵνα  so  that 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: ἵνα  
Sense: that, in order that, so that.
τιμῶσι  may  honor 
Parse: Verb, Present Subjunctive Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: τιμάω  
Sense: to estimate, fix the value.
Υἱὸν  Son 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: υἱός  
Sense: a son.
καθὼς  even  as 
Parse: Adverb
Root: καθώς  
Sense: according as.
τιμῶσι  they  honor 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: τιμάω  
Sense: to estimate, fix the value.
Πατέρα  Father 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
  He  who 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
τιμῶν  is  honoring 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: τιμάω  
Sense: to estimate, fix the value.
τιμᾷ  is  honoring 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: τιμάω  
Sense: to estimate, fix the value.
τὸν  the  [One] 
Parse: Article, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
πέμψαντα  having  sent 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: πέμπω  
Sense: to send.