Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped him.
The man’s revelation of Jesus Christ has been progressing throughout the day and he now comes to it’s fullness. He recognizes that Jesus is the only One worthy to receive his faith and allegiance and he again acts according to the extent of his revelation. Previously he had acted upon his knowledge of who Jesus was by obeying Him, by declaring what Jesus had done, by proclaiming Jesus to be a prophet, and then by boldly stating that he was now a disciple of Jesus; and now he acts by falling down in worship before the One he has come to recognize as the Messiah and God’s own Son.
worship = proskuneo = “to kiss towards” as a dog licks the hand of its master. This was usually done by prostrating oneself before the one to whom homage, allegiance, and honor was being proclaimed. It was sometimes given to men such as kings or the high priest, but is never used by John except to indicate worship toward God (John 4:23-24, 12:20). Note that Jesus received this worship and didn’t reject it as did Peter and Paul in (Acts 10:25, 14:18). For Jesus to receive worship which was to be reserved exclusively for God was for Him to acknowledge that He indeed is God. It is also an indication to us that worship of Jesus is not only acceptable, but essential.
John 4:23-24 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast.
Acts 10:25 As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence.
Acts 14:18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
A note by Morris on the methodology of Jesus:
Jesus’ method of dealing with the man is not to be overlooked. First He healed him, then He left him to debate the situation with the Pharisees, and only after they had taken disciplinary action against the man did Jesus approach him to deal with his spiritual need. The result was that the man came to believe. In His ministry to the souls of men Jesus adopted no stereotyped approach. He dealt with each man as his peculiar need required.
The man has come to possess the type of faith that God desires of us. His faith was a result of his personal experience and so is ours. When we come to know Jesus as the One sent from God Who has given us sight which we never had, then we are enabled to place our faith in Him, but the placing of our faith in Jesus also results in a continuing greater revelation of Him. As Edersheim notes, “faith (is) always the child of experience, and yet its father also”.