Q: In Matthew 4:10, Jesus said that it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. But other passages approve of serving human beings. Isnt this a contradiction? Should we serve God alone, or serve God and others?
A: This is a case of a surface problem which can be readily resolved by considering the context. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus is responding to the devils invitation to bow down and worship the devil in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world. The devil is not inviting Jesus to serve people; hes inviting Jesus to worship that which is not God. That's what the "service" that Jesus is talking about consists of. In Deut. 6:13-14 (the passage Jesus is using in Matthew 4) the same prohibition is in view: it's not against serving other people (either voluntarily or involuntarily); the service in view plainly refers to acts of worship.
(A residue of this sense of "service" survives in English in the phrase "morning worship service.")
So, our religious worship -- the sort of thing that is in view in Deut. 6:13-14 and Mt. 4:10 -- should be offered to God and to God alone, but we ought to be diligent to serve others, on a different level, as Christ served us.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: This is a case of a surface problem which can be readily resolved by considering the context. In Matthew 4:10, Jesus is responding to the devils invitation to bow down and worship the devil in exchange for all the kingdoms of the world. The devil is not inviting Jesus to serve people; hes inviting Jesus to worship that which is not God. That's what the "service" that Jesus is talking about consists of. In Deut. 6:13-14 (the passage Jesus is using in Matthew 4) the same prohibition is in view: it's not against serving other people (either voluntarily or involuntarily); the service in view plainly refers to acts of worship.
(A residue of this sense of "service" survives in English in the phrase "morning worship service.")
So, our religious worship -- the sort of thing that is in view in Deut. 6:13-14 and Mt. 4:10 -- should be offered to God and to God alone, but we ought to be diligent to serve others, on a different level, as Christ served us.
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
