John 5:22-23 (ESV):
22 For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 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.
How are we to honor the Son? How are we to honor the Father? Is there any difference between the two?
The Greek adverb καθὼς precludes any difference in the honor to be given to the Son compared to that to be given to the Father. As BDAG notes, καθὼς is used “of comparison” meaning “just as.”1
For example, 1 John 2:6:
6 He who claims to abide in him, he himself also should so walk, just as he walked.
Ϛʹ ὁ λέγων ἐν αὐτῷ μένειν ὀφείλει καθὼς ἐκεῖνος περιεπάτησεν καὶ αὐτὸς οὕτως περιπατεῖν
Clearly the author is stating that whoever claims to abide in Jesus should walk the same way that Jesus walked.
The Son must be honored just as the Father is honored, and vice-versa. The honor given to both must be identical. If the honor given to the Son is less than that given to the Father, the Father is dishonored. The entire context is dependent on the acknowledgment of the Son’s equality with the Father.2
One means by which the Father is honored is worship. Therefore, in giving equal honor to the Son, the Son must be worshipped.
Footnotes
1 BDAG, p. 493
2 cf. John 5:18
References
Arndt, William; Bauer, Walter; Danker, Frederick William. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2000.
Is there any difference between the way we are to honor the Son and the way we are to honor the Father? John 5:22-23
Der Übermensch has already answered this with a definitive no. Here I will focus on your other questions. How are we to honor the Son? How are we to honor the Father?
We can do so by obeying the greatest commandment in Deuteronomy 6:
5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
Jesus affirms this in Matthew 10:
37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
We can do so by worship.
Philippians 2:10
so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
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 ESV)
Is there any difference between the way we are to honor the Father and the Son? In principle, no. In practice, yes. Only the Son came to earth; only He became flesh and that historical difference makes for physical differences. For example:
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6)
One honors the Son by eating His flesh (not the Father's) and drinking His blood (not the Father's). Certainly there is a spiritual aspect where Father and Son are one; yet for mankind, there is a physical reality expressed in a practical difference. Failure to eat His flesh and drink His blood would be to dishonor Jesus and so it would dishonor the Father, despite the inability to eat the Father's flesh or drink His blood.
Similarly:
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
There is practical reality because only Jesus was sent while the Father remained. One is saved by confessing Jesus is Lord, not by confessing the Father is Lord. One is justified by believing God raised Jesus from the dead, not that God raised the Father from the dead. Yet as Jesus claimed He and His Father are one, for those who believe that statement is true, then whatever practical differences may exist are, in principle not differences. That is to say, when one believes and honors the principle underlying the plan of salvation by putting the principles into practice, the very real practical difference necessitated by recognizing the Son (and not the Father) was sent and came are honoring both Father and Son.
However, while the two are equal, there is a definite progression demanded. Just as one comes to the Father through the Son, one honors the Father by first honoring the Son. Therefore, one cannot give the Father greater honor than the Son nor can one give greater honor to the Son. Any disparity in honor given to one is a lack of honor to the other and any such difference means neither is given the honor they deserve: effectively both are dishonored.
Jesus and other before him taught 1 God - no one else can be worshipped. Jesus taught God / father is greater and he cannot do anything without him and everything he preached was from the father. some verses;
"And behold, one came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’ And he said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’ " [Mathew 19:16-17]
"Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know." [Acts 2:22]
"Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." [Mark 12:29]
My Father is greater than I." [John 14:28]
"My Father is greater than all." [John 10:29]
"…I cast out devils by the Spirit of God…." [Mathew 12:28]
"…I with the finger of God cast out devils…." [Luke 11:20]
"I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." [John 5:30]
"… and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me." [John 14:24]
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." [John 17:3]
"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour." [Isaiah 43:11]
"I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me." [Isaiah 45:5]
"I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." [The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]
Exodus 20:3-5 3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Deuteronomy 5:7-9 7 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me. 8 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
Clearly difference - only God should be worshipped - Jesus should clearly be highly respected but not worshipped.
