Revitalized People Series

The Da Vinci Code

A Historical Novel by Dan Brown

I have made the decision to read this book because I am concerned about it’s message. My understanding is that according to the author, Jesus was a man and an opportunist. It asserts among other things that Jesus was an opportunistic man who was trying to gain the Davidic Throne. He died and was deified 300 years later.

It is one of those works that is attempting to rewrite history according to the belief system of those who would discredit and undermine the Christian faith.

Sandra Miesel writes, "From both Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Templar Revelation, Brown takes a negative view of the Bible and a grossly distorted image of Jesus. He’s neither the Messiah nor a humble carpenter but a wealthy, trained religious teacher bent on regaining the throne of David. His credentials are amplified by his relationship with the rich Magdalen who carries the royal blood of Benjamin: “Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false,” laments one of Brown’s characters."

Yet it’s Brown’s understanding of the history of man and the history of Christianity that’s false — and blindingly so.

The idea of people dismissing Jesus is nothing new

People have been attempting to dismiss the person of Jesus from the first day that he set foot in the temple in Jerusalem.

What is new is that fiction is being used to rewrite history!

I don’t have time to go into the reasons that we can have confidence in the Bible record this morning. I am planning on a 4 session series called “The Da Vinci Code” Talks later this spring.

Today we explore what Jesus is really all about – in his own words. This message came after the healing of the man paralyzed for 38 years and the boy who was healed from his illness at the exact hour that Jesus said he would be healed.

The leaders of his day rigorously challenged Jesus because of his teachings, his actions, and the threat they saw in him to their own position of power. John 5 is a direct record of Jesus response to their questions and challenges.

The resulting message is profound, piercing and powerful. We’re going to hit the high points this morning.

The Claims of Jesus

The key issue underlying the whole message is that Jesus claimed to be more than just another rabbi or prophet.

First: Jesus claimed to have power over death

A woman was given the news of her terminal cancer and impending death. At first she just wept quietly. Eventually, she said I’m not upset that I’m dying. I’m crying because I’ve never lived. Jesus claimed to be able to defeat death and give life.

John 5:21 (NCV)

21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he wants to.

This was a power limited only to God

Jehovah held the three great keys:

The key to open the heavens and give rain (Deut. 28:12)

The key to open the womb and give conception (Gen. 30:22)

The key to open the grave and raise the dead (Ezek. 37:13)

Jesus had not yet raised anyone from the dead

As far as the Gospel records are concerned, Jesus had not yet raised anyone from the dead; so to make this claim was to invite even more opposition.

John 5:21 certainly can mean much more than the physical raising of people from the dead, for certainly Jesus was referring to His gift of spiritual life to the spiritually dead. He amplified this truth further as recorded in John 5:24–29.

Jesus claimed to have authority to raise the dead

Notice the phrase “I tell you the truth” Listen up, this is important.

Jesus describes his power over death through Resurrection

John 5:24-28 (NCV)

1) The resurrection of lost sinners into eternal life

24 “I tell you the truth, whoever hears what I say and believes in the One who sent me has eternal life. That person will not be judged guilty but has already left death and entered life. 2

2) The resurrection of Jesus Himself

26 Life comes from the Father himself, and he has allowed the Son to have life in himself as well. 27 And the Father has given the Son the power to judge, because he is the Son of Man.

3) The resurrection of the dead

28 Don’t be surprised at this: A time is coming when all who are dead and in their graves will hear his voice.

Second: Jesus Claimed to have Power as Judge over Creation

John 5:22-23 (NCV)

22 In fact, the Father judges no one, but he has given the Son power to do all the judging

23 so that all people will honor the Son as much as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.