The DaVinci Code – Fact or Fiction
Is There Something about Mary- Mt. 7:24-27
Intro: Much as I anticipated, despite the poor reviews, the DVC has been a smash hit at the box office taking in 85 million in the U.S. and over 224 million worldwide in the first weekend – meaning that millions of people have entered into the conversation regarding the truth of Jesus Christ. The question is – are we ready to talk openly and w/ authority about the fiction of the Code and the fact of our faith.
Note: If there has ever been a time to draw a line in the sand about your beliefs this would be it. We need to know what we believe and why and be prepared to defend it.
Quote: America is a Jesus–haunted culture, but at the same time, it is a biblically illiterate culture… When you have that combination, almost anything can pass for the historical Jesus. Ben Witherington.
Trans: That’s a scary thought. We’re so saturated w/ ideas and philosophies concerning Jesus we don’t know which one is correct. Do I choose the Mormon Jesus, JW Jesus, Catholic Jesus, or Protestant Jesus? That’s why 1 Pt. 3:15 is so important.
Verse: But dedicate (set apart) your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence in God when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense w/ gentleness and respect. 1 Pt. 3:15 Get the right Jesus and commit to Him alone.
Note: The word dedicate (sanctify) is a worship term meaning to make a once-and-for-all sacrifice of surrender. Once this decision is made, then we’re to prepare ourselves to talk w/ others about the truth of God.
Trans: Over the past few weeks we’ve been decoding the fiction of the DVC. Some might not understand why we’ve engaged in this series. It’s simple – we need to know why we believe what we say we believe. We need to know the facts of our faith. But also b/c too many Christians take their faith for granted and as a result they’re not only afraid of sharing the truth, but they tend to question the validity of their faith whenever life gets tough. But when you know w/ certainty that Jesus is God in the flesh, who died for your sins, and that the Bible is reliable and authoritative for life – it is a powerful commodity for living out your faith in a real world.
Trans: This AM I want to look at (1) final claim from the DVC that concerns Mary Magdalene. As you know if you’ve read the book, Mary is central to Brown’s conspiracy theory. According to the DVC, the Holy Grail wasn’t the cup at the Last Supper that Jesus passed around or the cup used to catch Jesus’ blood at the Cross as legend proclaims. Instead, the Grail was a person, but not just any person, but, “A woman who carried w/ her a secret so powerful, that if revealed, it threatened to devastate the very foundation of Christianity! (239) Right?
Note: Brown contends Mary Magdalene had a secret that if allowed to get out would be the downfall of Christianity? I wonder what could it be? He says Mary was married to Jesus and they had a daughter together. Huh! I think Christianity is doomed! The Holy Grail wasn’t an actual cup that held the blood of Christ, but was Mary who held the blood of Christ in the form of a baby in her womb. How scandalous! ENTER – THE LAST SUPPER
Insert: To support his claim, Brown suggests that the person sitting to Jesus’ right isn’t John as we’ve been led to believe and who almost every Art historian believes, but Mary Magdalene. He points out that there is a hidden “M” and “V” signifying that Mary was married to Jesus and that she was to be the head of the Christian movement.
Brown: …if you view Jesus and Magdalene as compositional elements rather than as people, you will see another obvious shape leap out at you.’ Sophie saw it at once. To say the letter leapt out at her was an understatement. The letter was suddenly all Sophie could see. Glaring in the center of the painting was the unquestionable outline of an enormous, flawlessly formed letter "M". ’A bit too perfect for coincidence, wouldn’t you say?’ Teabing asked. Sophie was amazed. ’Why is it there?’ Teabing shrugged. ’Conspiracy theorists will tell you it stands for Matrimonio or Mary Magdalene. To be honest, nobody is certain. The only certainty is that the hidden M is no mistake.’
Insert: The implication is that Leonardo DaVinci knew of the secret marriage and clearly revealed it in his painting of "The Last Supper". Personally, I feel like I’m watching Sesame Street or Wheel of Fortune – “Pat, I think I’ll take a ‘V’”.
Trans: Truth is that this is no laughing matter b/c despite the bizarre elements surrounding the claims of Brown concerning Mary – goddess worship is coming back into vogue only this time it has partnered w/ feminism and liberal Christianity.
Insert: Joan Chittister a Benedictine Sister of Erie and co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the UN, writes. “There is a new spirit rising that challenges every structure on earth, even the white male God. I had experienced it myself in 1974. As priests processed down the center of the hotel ballroom, all vested to say mass for a national gathering of religious women, a new consciousness cried out loud to be heard. While the priests sang the opening hymn, the women around me were singing, too. But the women were changing the pronouns in the opening hymn of the liturgy from "him" to "them" as they sang. "I will raise him up," the priests sang. "I will raise ‘them’ up," the women sang even louder. Little by little, the chorus grew from five women to twenty-five to fifty to two-hundred and fifty women. And finally, the revolution spread to the whole ballroom. And to me, for the first time in my life, I knew not only that the system was wrong but that I was not the only one who knew it. It was a moment of genuine rebirth. The spiritual implications for a society that cuts the feminine out of the center of its political and theological arenas takes on a proportion too long ignored.
Note: Unlike the DVC, Chittister’s heresy isn’t fiction. Which brings us to (3) questions.
I Who was Mary Magdalene?
Note: First, let me tell you who she was not. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that it has long been believed that Mary Magdalene was the woman caught in adultery who Jesus rescued from getting stoned – but that’s not likely. For many of us, this statement comes as a shock b/c we’ve heard this teaching all of our lives. But it would be irresponsible of me to tell you that this legend is true. The only thing we know for certain about Mary Magdalene is that Jesus cast (7) demons out of her.
Insert: Why the confusion? (2) Reasons: First, she was from Magdala and the word is similar to the term used in the Talmud for adultery. But the primary reason was b/c of a sermon preached by Pope Gregory the Great in A.D. 591. His sermon was about the adulterous woman in Luke 7 that he identified as Mary Magdalene. Now Pope wasn’t bashing Mary but was recognizing the marvelous grace of God.
Note: Here is what we do know. According to the Luke 8:1-2, Mary Magdalene was a follower and friend of Jesus who had (7) demons cast out of her by Jesus.
Verse: After this, Jesus traveled from one city and village to another. He spread the Good News about God’s kingdom. The twelve apostles were w/ him. Also, some women were w/ him. They had been cured from evil spirits and various illnesses. These women were Mary, also called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out;
Note: Then in Jn. 19:25, the Bible says that she was present during Jesus’ suffering and Crucifixion. In Jn 20:1-2, we find that she was at the tomb on the 3rd day after Jesus’ death w/ Mary. They found that the stone had been rolled away so they ran back to tell the disciples that someone had taken the body. We also know from Jn. 20:15-16 that she was the 1st person that Jesus appeared to after His resurrection.
II Was Mary Magdalene married to Jesus?
Insert: First, where did Brown get this idea and what kind of prerogative did he take to manipulate the Gnostic Gospel of Philip? Here is his version:
A The SOURCE of Confusion
Brown: And the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, ’why do you love her more than all of us? 246
Insert: First and foremost let me set the record straight. The actual rendering of the Gospel of Phillip reads: And the companion of the ___ Mary Magdalene. ____ her more than ____ the disciples ____ kiss her ____ on her ___. Gospel of Phillip 63:32-36
Note: Needless to say, this passage leaves much to the imagination. If you insert the right words Mary could be the wife of Jesus or possibly the one who betrayed him.
B A WORD of Delusion
Word: But just to add insult to injury, notice the word companion. Brown would have you believe that the word "companion" was in Aramaic and literally meant "spouse," (246) but that is not accurate.
Truth: The Nag Hammadi MSS were not in Aramaic at all – they were in Coptic. And the word companion was borrowed from the Greek language (koinonos) and means joint owner, accomplice, and colleague. The word for wife or spouse is “gyne.”
C A POINT of Illusion
Insert: But even if Jesus and Mary were married, does that really change anything – Jesus wouldn’t be disqualified to be our Savior if He would have been married.
I’ve spoken w/ several friends and read a great deal of comments from Bible scholars and I can find not find any reason why Jesus’ couldn’t have been married.
Note: Marriage is a holy covenant b/w a man and a woman, ordained by God from the very beginning (see Gen. 2:24). The Bible has only the highest view of marriage.
Verse: Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure. Heb. 13:4
Note: For that matter, sex w/in marriage is a holy thing too – there’s nothing wrong or sinful w/ it. If you doubt me, just read Song of Solomon in the O.T. God created sex and all the pleasure and beauty that goes w/ it in the context of marriage.
Note: Thus, for it to be wrong for Jesus to be married and experience sex w/in marriage would mean there was something inherently sinful about marriage and sexuality.
D A VERSE of Conclusion
Trans: Now, personally, I don’t think that Jesus was married, but if he was it would not undermine His deity? As one pastor put it – "What does a married Jesus do for you that a single Jesus doesn’t?" He’s got a point.
Note: Besides, if Jesus was married, then why didn’t Paul mention that Jesus was married when he informs us that Peter and James were married?
Verse: Don’t we have the right to take our wives along w/ us like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Peter do? 1 Cr. 9:5
Note: It seems to me that if this was a big enough issue for Paul to write about, then he would have referred to Jesus.
III Did Jesus Commission Mary to be His Sole Successor?
Insert: One of my favorite suggestions Brown presents is that Jesus commissioned Mary Magdalene to be His successor and not Peter. His reasoning was b/c Jesus had intended for his religion to be matriarchal in nature instead of patriarchal.
Note: If Jesus was just a man and not God, then why did he need a successor? I don’t have time to chase that rabbit, but it does expose another chink in Brown’s code.
Insert: The better question is that if Jesus was God, then why did He need a human successor? Truth is Jesus didn’t choose Mary or Peter or anyone else to be His successor. He didn’t need one. Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth wasn’t to start His own religion, but to die for the sins of humanity.
Verse: For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost. Lk. 19:10
Note: Jesus didn’t come to start a religion; He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus has never been interested in establishing a religion, He is only interested in forging a life-changing, eternity-driven relationship w/ you in which you recognize that in His great love for you that he died on the cross to pay for your sins once for all and that if you would by faith acknowledge and receive His gift of grace and mercy that He would forgive you and give you an eternal and abundant relationship.
Trans: Couple this truth w/ the intention of the church and it is clear that neither Peter, Mary, nor anyone else could handle the commission of the church.
Insert: This is why Jesus declared, “Upon this Rock I will build my Church…” He wasn’t talking about Peter, He was referring to Himself. Jesus was declaring His intentions.
Truth: The purpose of the church is to carry out the mission of Christ of seeking and saving the lost. Man’s only involvement is to convey the truth of Christ; while it is God’s responsibility to convince, convict, and convert.
Verse: Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens w/ God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, w/ Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. Eph. 2:19-20
Note: Christ is the foundation stone – and not anyone else.
Concl: Which brings us back to Matthew 7:24-27: Who is the foundation of your faith? If your foundation is on anyone or anything other that Jesus Christ, then you have a faulty foundation. But if Christ is your foundation then your life will show it. You will have His attitude, His mission, and His character guiding your life. Your life will seek first His kingdom and righteousness.
Note: I want to close this series w/ gratitude for the DVC. Not only does it allow us to talk openly about why we believe what we believe, but it also shines a light on the condition of our life. It is not enough just to know why I believe, I must also live what I believe.
