A House Without Its Foundation Will Fall

John 5:23 states:

“That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.”

The phrase “even as” means in the same way, or to the same degree. You cannot separate the honor due to the Son from the honor given to the Father. Yahusha said this to show that honoring Him isn't optional or lesser. It's required and it's equal.

Then Yahusha adds:

 “He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.”

This dismantles the argument that someone can truly worship the Father while treating the Son as less. If a person refuses to give the Son the same reverence, obedience, and glory that they give the Father, then they are dishonoring both. You cannot divide them. To worship the Father but reduce the Son to a mere prophet, messenger, or created being is to reject the Father's own decree.

Honoring the Son like the Father includes worship. Anything less is dishonor.

Romans 9:

³⁰ What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.

Romans 9:30–33 is directly tied to the point in John 5:22–23. The core issue here is how people relate to the Son, Yahusha, and whether they honor Him as they should.

Paul is explaining why many Israelites missed righteousness, while Gentiles, who didn’t even seek it, received it. The answer is simple: the Israelites stumbled over the very one they were waiting for.

That "stone that causes people to stumble" is Yahusha, the Son. Instead of honoring Him like the Father, they rejected Him, clinging to the law without faith. They didn’t recognize that righteousness had now been revealed through belief in the Son, not by works of the law alone, but through trust in the one sent by the Father.

So when someone says they worship only the Father and merely "respect" the Son, they are repeating the same error Paul identifies: stumbling over the stumbling stone. Yahusha is that stone. To honor the Father while rejecting or minimizing the Son is to trip over the very foundation Yahuah laid in Zion.

And Paul makes it clear:

“The one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

This is not just a belief in theory. It’s trusting, submitting, and reverencing. It’s honoring the Son as you would the Father. Refusing to do that is what caused many Israelites to miss the very righteousness they were striving for. It wasn’t about law versus lawlessness, it was about law without the cornerstone. A house without its foundation will fall. Yahusha said in John 8:24:

“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” (KJV)

In the Greek text, it literally says, “if you do not believe that I am,” with no word “he” included. That echoes the divine name Yahuah gave to Moses in Exodus 3:14: “I AM THAT I AM.” Yahusha wasn’t just claiming to be the Messiah, He was claiming to be one with the Father, divine in nature. When people reject His deity, they’re not just misunderstanding theology. They are dishonoring the Son, and by extension, dishonoring the Father who sent Him. That breaks the commandment in John 5:23.

To say, “I honor the Messiah as a great teacher or prophet, but I don't believe He is divine,” is the same as saying, “I don’t believe the Father gave Him full authority.” That’s dangerous. The Son is not optional in worship. His role isn’t just to point to the Father; He reveals the Father. He judges. He saves. He forgives sin. He accepts worship. These are divine acts.

Denying Yahusha’s deity puts a person in danger of damnation. Not because of dogma, but because Yahusha made it clear: unless we believe who He truly is, “I AM”, we will die in our sins. That’s the warning from the mouth of the one who will judge us all.

Believing in Yahusha means more than believing He existed or was sent. It means knowing who He is. He's not a lesser being, and not a created son. But He is the full expression of Yahuah in the flesh. If someone rejects that, they reject salvation itself.

Yahusha said plainly in Matthew 13:11–13:

“Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance:but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.”

“Them” are the ones whose hearts are hardened, even if they’re Israelites. Being born into the covenant doesn’t mean someone is guaranteed spiritual sight. It was true in the wilderness. It was true in Yahusha’s day. It’s true now.

Why does Yahuah make it difficult? Because the truth isn't cheap. He said in

Jeremiah 29:13:

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Truth requires us to be hungry, not just having a casual curiosity, and not just religious traditions; but a soul-deep pursuit. We need to be in hot pursuit of the Messiah, and of the Father through Him.

It’s about striving and pressing in.

Luke 13:24:

“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.”

That word “strive” comes from the Greek agonizomai to wrestle, to labor, to fight. The truth must be fought for, like Jacob wrestling with the angel and refusing to let go until he was blessed.

So when people casually dismiss Yahusha's deity or refuse to seek beyond what their teachers told them, they're not striving. They're settling. And truth doesn’t reveal itself to the complacent.

Some Israelites deny His deity because they’ve inherited rebellion, just like their ancestors. Others are victims of blindness Yahuah has allowed, just as He did with Pharaoh. And some, even after hearing, don’t want the truth because it threatens their control or tradition.

But for those who pursue Him with everything, Yahuah opens their eyes. He gives understanding. He removes the veil.

It’s hidden from many by design, as a judgment.

But it’s revealed to those who chase Him with their whole being.

The mystery isn’t hidden to keep people out. It’s hidden so only the hungry will find it.

Are you hungry for the truth?