The Trinity - John 5:23

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John 5:23: "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him."
Problem:: This verse is cited with Matthew 4:10 in which Jesus says to Satan, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve", to show that since Jesus instructs men to honour himself, then the Son must be "Very God".
Solution:

The context to this verse is sufficiently emphatic that Christ is not co-equal with the Father. Consider the following:
1. vs. 19 - "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." Jesus specifically repudiates the claim that he is making himself "equal with God". (vs. 18).
2. vs. 22 - "For the Father . . . hath committed all judgment unto the son."
3. vs. 23 - ". . . the Father which hath sent him."
4. vs. 27 - "And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man."
5. vs. 30 - "I can of mine own self do nothing . . . I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me."
6. vs. 36 - "For the works which the Father hath given me to finish."
7. These verses indicate that the Father has delegated authority and power to the Son. This power and authority is not the right of the Son by virtue of his being "God the Son", but rather is an exercise of the divine prerogatives of the Father. Even when the Son returns, he does so "in the glory of his Father." (Matt. 16:27).
Jesus is worthy of divine honour because he is the "word made flesh". (John 1:14). In his person the wisdom, grace and truth of the divine purpose were embodied. (See John 1:14; Col. 2:3). In honouring the Lord's anointed, men were, in effect, honouring God. But this did not make Christ "Very God".