John Calvin Commentary John 5:23

"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." — John 5:23 (ASV)

That all men may honor the Son. This clause sufficiently confirms the suggestion which I put forward a little while ago: that when it is said that God reigns in the person of Christ, this does not mean that he rests in heaven, as indolent kings are accustomed to do, but that in Christ he manifests his power and shows himself to be present.

For what else is the meaning of these words, that all men may honor the Son, but that the Father wishes to be acknowledged and worshipped in the Son? Our duty, therefore, is to seek God the Father in Christ, to behold his power in Christ, and to worship him in Christ. For, as immediately follows, he who honoureth not the Son deprives God of the honor which is due to him.

All admit that we ought to worship God, and this sentiment, which is natural to us, is deeply rooted in our hearts, so that no one dares absolutely to refuse God the honor due to him. Yet, the minds of people lose themselves when they stray in seeking God. Hence so many false deities, hence so many perverse ways of worship.

Therefore, we will never find the true God except in Christ, nor will we ever worship Him rightly except by kissing the Son, as David tells us (Psalms 2:12); for, as John elsewhere declares,

He who hath not the Son hath not the Father
(1 John 2:23).

Muslims and Jews do indeed adorn with beautiful and magnificent titles the God whom they worship; but we ought to remember that the name of God, when separated from Christ, is nothing more than a vain imagination.

So, whoever desires to have his worship approved by the true God must not turn aside from Christ.

It was no different with the Fathers under the Law; for though they perceived Christ dimly under shadows, God never revealed himself apart from Christ.

But now, since Christ has been manifested in the flesh and appointed King over us, the whole world must bend the knee to him to obey God. For the Father has made him sit at his right hand, and he who forms a conception of God without Christ is left with only half of him.