It is argued that since Jesus is reported to have accepted the worship of some of his followers, he must have been God. However, a closer examination of the texts indicates both a case of dubious translation, as well as misinterpretation. The term “worship” can be found in the King James Version and The Revised Standard Version accounts of the three wise men who came from the east. They were reported in Matthew 2:2, to have said, “Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and
we have come to worship him.”[82] However, in The New American Bible (Catholic Press, 1970), the text reads: “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We observed his star at its rising and
have come to pay him homage.”
In The Revised Standard Version, John 9:37-38,: “37 Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you.’ 38He said, ‘Lord, I believe’; and he worshipped him.”[83] However, in The American Bible, the scholarly translators added a footnote which read:
"9:38 This verse, omitted in important MSS [manuscripts], may be an addition for a baptismal liturgy."
This verse is not found in important ancient manuscripts containing this Gospel. It is probably a later addition made by Church scribes for use in baptismal services.
Furthermore, as a renowned authority on the Bible and its original language, George M. Lamsa, explained, “The Aramaic word sagad, worship, also means to bend or to kneel down. Easterners in greeting each other generally bowed the head or bent down.[84] ...‘He worshipped him’ does not imply that he worshipped Jesus as one worshipped God. Such an act would have been regarded as sacrilegious and a breach of the First Commandment in the eyes of the Jews, and the man might have been stoned. But he knelt before him in token of homage and gratitude.”[85]
The final scripture, the Qur’aan, clarifies the issue of worshipping or not worshipping Jesus, by quoting a conversation which will take place between Jesus and God on the Day of Judgement. Allaah states in Chapter al-Maa’idah, (5):116-7:
وَإِذْ قَالَ اللهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ ءَأَنْتَ قُلْتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِي وَأُمِّيَ إِلَهَيْنِ مِنْ دُونِ اللهِ ... مَا قُلْتُ لَهُمْ إِلاَّ مَآ أَمَرْتَنِي بِهِ أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللهَ ربّي وَرَبَّكُمْ ...
“When Allaah will say: ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you tell people: “Worship me and my mother as two gods instead of Allaah?” ’...[Jesus will say]: ‘I only told them what You commanded me to say: “Worship Allaah, my Lord and your Lord ...” ”