C.S. Lewis's Trilemma: No Middle Ground

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis articulated the logical impossibility of viewing Jesus as "just a good teacher." He argued that a man who said the things Jesus said would either be a lunatic — on the level with someone who says he is a poached egg — or else the Devil of Hell. We must make our choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse.

Jesus claimed to be God. That claim leaves you three options:

1. He was telling the truth → He IS God (worship Him)
2. He was lying → He's evil (reject Him)
3. He was deluded → He's insane (pity Him, but don't follow Him)

The one thing you CANNOT say is: "He was a good moral teacher but not God."

A good moral teacher doesn't claim to be God unless it's true. If Jesus isn't God, He's either a liar or a lunatic — and either way, not someone you should follow.

The Pharisees understood this perfectly. That's why they didn't say, "Jesus is a wonderful rabbi with some interesting ideas." They said, "He's a blasphemer who must die."

They were right about what He claimed. They were wrong about whether it was true.

Jesus IS God: The Testimony of Scripture

The New Testament doesn't leave this ambiguous. The claims are explicit:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.

— John 1:1 (NET)

Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory — the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father.

— John 1:14 (NET)

No one has ever seen God. The only one, himself God, who is in closest fellowship with the Father, has made God known.

— John 1:18 (NET)

Jesus is called "the only one, himself God" — the unique, one-of-a-kind God who reveals the Father.

For he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him — all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers — all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him.

— Colossians 1:15–17 (NET)

Jesus created everything. He existed before creation. He sustains the universe. Only God can do this.

For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form.

— Colossians 2:9 (NET)

Not "some of God's attributes." Not "a divine nature." The WHOLE FULLNESS of deity. All of God, in human flesh.

The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.

— Hebrews 1:3 (NET)

Jesus is the exact representation (charaktēr) of God's nature. Like a seal pressed into wax, Jesus is the perfect representation of God — because He IS God.

who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross! As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow — in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

— Philippians 2:6–11 (NET)

"In the form of God" — not just "like God" but possessing the very nature and essence of God. "The name above every name" — what name is above all names? YHWH. The name of God.

Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

— John 20:28 (NET)

Thomas didn't just call Jesus "teacher" or "master." He called Him "my God." And Jesus accepted the worship — which would be blasphemy if He weren't actually God.

The testimony is overwhelming. Jesus is God incarnate.