Hello
This is my understanding. I hope it helps.
In the Old Testament the Creator revealed himself to the Israelites as the one true living God. (Deuteronomy 6:4) He made it clear that he is a jealous god who does not tolerate his people worshipping any other god, and who expects his people to rely totally on him for all their needs, and to be united to him exclusively in love, trust, and obedience.
Then 2000 years ago a man called Jesus of Nazareth appeared who staunchly affirmed the Old Testament and at the same time made some staggering claims about himself.
He called people to give him their ultimate allegiance. (Matthew 10:39)
He expected his followers to love him so intensely that their love for themselves and their family seems like hatred in comparison. (Luke 14:26)
He expected his followers to deny themselves and relinquish everything for his sake. (Luke 9:23-24)
He invited people to depend on him for help, peace, rest, joy and everything else they need to cope with life. (Matthew 11:28, John 14:1)
He claimed to be the only thing which will truly satisfy a man's soul. (John 6:35)
He defined eternal life as knowing him in addition to knowing God. (John 17:3)
He claimed to have the authority to forgive sins committed against God. (Luke 7:48 )
He declared that we need his help if we are to please God. (John 15:4-5)
He expected us to esteem him as highly as we esteem God. (John 5:23)
He claimed to have the authority and the ability to judge all people. (Matthew 25:31-32)
He claimed to have existed before he was born and to have shared God’s glory. (John 17:5)
He claimed to have authority to dispatch the Spirit of God. (John 16:7)
The message of the Old Testament prophets was: “Come to God. Follow God. Obey God.” But Jesus’ message was thoroughly egocentric: “Come to me. Follow me. Obey me.”
Jesus' first followers were Jews who were imbued with Old Testament monotheism. But their encounter with Jesus led them to say some outrageous things about him.
Paul was a former Pharisee who obeyed the Old Testament law scrupulously. He wrote this:
"Jesus Christ died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live to please themselves but to please Jesus." (2 Corinthians 5:15)
"I am not only willing to be put in jail for the Lord Jesus. I am even willing to die for him in Jerusalem." (Acts 21:13)
John, another monotheistic Jew, wrote this:
"No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well." (1 John 2:23)
"Everyone who has faith in the Son has eternal life. But no one who rejects him will ever share in that life." (John 3:36)
On one occasion Peter, another monotheistic Jew, fell on his knees before Jesus and said, "Oh, Lord, please leave me - I'm too much of a sinner to be near you." (Luke 5:8 )
I do not understand any definition or explanation of the Trinity. But I think we should either dismiss Jesus of Nazareth as an egotistical blasphemer or we should do what Peter did and fall down on our knees before him. If you don’t reject Jesus outright, then you cannot merely respect him as a prophet. That would be a gross insult to him and a denial of what he claimed about himself. Jesus appeared to have no cognitive dissonance about accepting people’s worship and at the same time declaring God to be one.
Phiz