The Da Vinci Code: The Women In Jesus' Life Series

Cracking the DaVinci Code: The Women in Jesus’ Life

Matthew 27:55-56

Rev. Brian Bill

5/14/06

Note: All of our sermons are also available as audio files and downloadable manuscripts at www.pontiacibible.org.

A group of kids were asked to give their answers to some questions about their moms. Here are two of my favorites:

Q: What does your Mom do in her spare time?

A: Mothers don’t do spare time.

Q: Why did God make mothers?

A: To help us out of there when we were getting born.

One mom was out walking with her 4-year-old daughter when her girl picked up something from the ground and started to put it in her mouth. The mother tells what happens in her own words: “I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.” My daughter quickly asked, “Why?” “Because it’s been lying outside, you don’t know where it’s been, it’s dirty and probably has germs,” I replied. At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, “Wow! How do you know all this stuff?” I thought quickly and said, “Uh…All moms know this stuff. It’s on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don’t let you be a Mommy.” We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, as she pondered this new information. “Oh...I get it!” she beamed, “So if you don’t pass the test you have to be the daddy?” I smiled and replied, “Exactly.”

Bless you moms! You’ve passed the mommy test! Actually, we want to honor every woman here today. If you’re over 18, would you please stand so we can celebrate your serving and applaud your impact? I’m hoping you will be encouraged and affirmed as we look at how important women were, and are, to Jesus.

Before we get to our topic, allow me to summarize what we’ve learned so far in our “Cracking the DaVinci Code” series.

• Separating Fact from Fiction. Three weeks ago we discovered from 1 John 4 that when confronted by confusing teaching we must take a truth test, keep Christ as key, remember that God is greater, and practice limitless love.

• Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up? Two weeks ago we focused on two key questions about Christ from Matthew 16. First, who do people say that He is? And second, and most importantly, who do you say that He is?

• Can You Trust the Bible? We were reminded last week from 2 Timothy 3 that the Bible is God-breathed, it has a good base, it has great benefit, and it must be grasped and believed.

Related to this, I was encouraged to read the results of a new Zogby poll that shows, despite sensational reports to the contrary, most Americans are not buying the theological premises of The Da Vinci Code: “Among those who have read the book, more than 60% believe that the Bible is closer to the truth, while only 10% believe Dan Brown’s novel is more truthful…The most striking result from the survey is that after either reading or hearing about The Da Vinci Code, 44% of respondents were more likely to seek the truth by studying the Bible, while only 20% were less likely to study the Bible” (for more information see my blog entry called “Bible Over Brown,” 5/10/06, www.pontiacbible.org/brian).

That’s what we’ve been doing in this series; we’ve been studying what the Bible has to say about Brown’s audacious claims. Today we come to what is perhaps the most scandalous section of The DaVinci Code. Dan Brown believes that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and that they had a child named Sarah and that their bloodline continues today in France. Incidentally, I happen to agree with Sandra Miesel’s contention that the DaVinci Code is “blasphemy delivered in a small voice.” As we’ve been doing throughout the series, let’s hear from the book itself:

• “The grail is literally the ancient symbol for womanhood, and the Holy Grail represents the sacred feminine and the goddess, which of course has now been lost, virtually eliminated by the Church.” (Page 238)

• “And not just any person…A woman who carried with her a secret so powerful that, if revealed, it threatened to devastate the very foundation of Christianity.” (Page 239)

• Quoting from the Gospel of Philip, the character Sophie reads this passage: “And the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the others…” [I can’t repeat what is said next because it makes me recoil inside]. (Page 246)

• “…Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the future of His church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene.” (Page 248)

• “Behold…the greatest cover-up in human history. Not only was Jesus Christ married, but He was a father…” (Page 249)