THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT MARY
John 20:11-18
Adapted from “The Da Vinci Code: Fact Or Fiction (Part Four: Mary Magdalene’s Big Role)” by Jim Butcher
John 20:11-20:18
The Da Vinci Code’s Claim: “Mary Magdalene’s most important role was being married to Jesus.”
According to the book, the Holy Grail was never a cup, it was not a chalice that Jesus passed around the table at the Last Supper nor was it the cup that caught the blood of Christ at the Cross as Grail Legend would have it. Instead, according to the Da Vinci Code, the Holy Grail was a person, but not just any person, as Dan Brown notes, the Holy Grail is…
"A woman who carried with her a secret so powerful, that if revealed, it threatened to devastate the very foundation of Christianity!" 239.
Who was this woman you ask and what was her secret?
Well, according to the book, this woman was Mary Magdalene and her secret was that she and Jesus were married and had a daughter by the name of Sarah.
So, the Holy Grail was not a cup that held the blood of Christ, instead it was Mary Magdalene who held the blood of Christ in the form of a baby in her womb.
Now, the book claims that the marriage between Jesus and Mary is "a matter of historical record", and Da Vinci was certainly aware of that fact. The Last Supper [painting] practically shouts at the viewer that Jesus and Magdalene were a pair." 244
SHOW PICTURE OF THE LAST SUPPER
The Mary of Da Myth. We don’t know a lot about Mary Magdalene we don’t know her occupation, the color of her hair, if she was old or young, homely or beautiful but of course that doesn’t keep people from speculated. It’s that old adage; never let an absence of facts stand in the way of a good story.
Here is what we know -
1. She was from Magdala in Galilee
2. Jesus cast seven demons out of her.
3. She joined the band of disciples and followed Jesus where ever he went. Luke 8:2
4. She was at the cross when all the male disciples had fled (Mk 15:40, Jn 19:25)
5. She observed Jesus burial (Mk 15:47)
6. She came with the other women to the tomb (Matt 28:1, Mark 16:1, Luke 24:10
7. She was the first to discover the resurrection, and first to report it to the disciples, and first to see the resurrected Christ as she lingers by the tomb, after all the others have gone.
(John 20:1,2, 11-18)
- As we noted last week, Dan Brown claims in his book that Mary Magdalene is of monumental importance because she was married to Jesus. (We also noted that Brown claims that she had a child with Jesus and that that bloodline continues to this day in France, but that’s not our focus for this morning.) How did Dan Brown even get the idea for this book. The main source for the information in the Da Vinci Code comes from a book called Holy Blood, Holy Grail, first published in 1982.
- I want to spend most of this morning talking about how important Mary Magdalene is, only not at all in the way that Brown claims. But first, let me note again that there is no evidence in the Bible for the claim that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married.
- Brown claims backing from the Gospel of Phillip for his historical backing for Jesus being married. There are a few problems there.
First of all, the Gospel of Phillip is a Gnostic text that is widely considered by scholars to have been written at least a century after the canonical gospels. So it’s not authoritative.
Second, even that debunked book does not refer to Jesus having married Mary Magdalene, but simply states that he kissed her. The word used does not even denote a romantic kiss, but denotes something more like a kiss on the cheek or forehead.
A kiss was a common way for men to greet each other. Phillip, in mentioning that Jesus kissed Mary, is telling us that he treated her like other disciples. Brown makes a big deal about the word “companion” which he claims, in Aramaic, is equivalent to “spouse”. First, I think his Aramaic is questionable, but that doesn’t matter. The Gospel of Philip was written in Coptic. Dan Brown didn’t even get the language right.
However the copies of Philip that the scholars have is not complete, it has been nibbled away at by worms and the inconsiderate critters sometimes ate letters, words and entire passages from the text and so what it really says is Gospel of Philip 63:32–36 The companion of the ___ __ Mary Magdalene. But ____ ____ her more than __ the disciples ___ __ __ kiss her ____ on her ____
The translators simply put words in that they thought would fit, they could very well have translated it this way Gospel of
Philip 63:32–36 The companion of the Duck was Mary Magdalene. But Donald loved her more than all the disciples he would never kiss her quick on her nose.
Third, there are no references in the New Testament or even among the Gnostic writings to Jesus being married. Nowhere is it even hinted at. Nowhere is the idea put forward by any of the early church fathers.
1. In an era when wives were usually identified by their husbands, Mary the wife of Clopas or Joanna the wife of Chuza, Mary was never referred to a Mary the wife of Jesus.
2. In 1 Corinthians 9:4-6 Paul is defending minister’s right to marry and he says 1 Corinthians 9:4-6 Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? Don’t we have the right to bring a Christian wife along with us as the other disciples and the Lord’s brothers and Peter do? Don’t you think it would have been a compelling argument for Paul to have said, “Hey even Jesus had a wife.”?
3.Now, put yourself in Jesus spot, you’re dying on the cross, you look down and see your wife Mary in the crowd and you say. . .? According to the Gospels nothing, you take the time to entrust your mother Mary to John, you make sure that your mom is taken care of, but you say nothing, zip, nada to your wife. No “I love you”, or “I’ll miss you”, or “it’s going to be alright.” He said the same thing to Mary that he said to the other four of his followers at the cross, and that’s recorded in John 19:26-27 When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Woman, he is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “She is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
- In other words, this is fiction without even the pretext of a shred of historical evidence.
- Now let’s turn to the longest passage in the Bible about Mary Magdalene - John 20:11-18. Not coincidentally, it’s also where she plays her most important role.
- It is here that we see the importance of Mary Magdalene.
The Bible’s Claim:
“Mary Magdalene’s most important role was being the first to see the resurrected Jesus.”
- v. 16.
- Mary Magdalene here receives the immeasurable honor of being the first person to see the resurrected Jesus. In v. 16, she finally recognizes Jesus for who He is - the risen Son of God right there in front of her. What an incredible moment that must have been.
- Incidentally, for those who might argue in defense of Dan Brown, “Well, of course Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene first - she was His wife!”, there are three things worth noting here.
a. First, it seems amazingly peculiar, if Mary Magdalene was in fact married to Jesus, that she would greet Him as “Teacher!” (v. 16).
b. Second, Brown claims that the disciples got into a huge power struggle with Mary Magdalene after Jesus’ death over who would control the legacy of His name and teachings. Brown claims that the disciples drove Mary Magdalene to flee to France with the child that she and Jesus had had. If that were so and the disciples were so adamantly against Mary Magdalene (and further, they were inventing these resurrection stories out of whole cloth), why in the world would they have made Mary Magdalene the first person Jesus appears to in their fictional account? Why would you put the person you despise the most and want to discredit the most in a position of such great honor?
Sophie looked at him. ’You’re saying the Christian Church was to be carried on by a woman?’ ’That was the plan. Jesus was the original feminist. He intended for the future of His Church to be in the hands of Mary Magdalene." 248
- No, here we see that Mary Magdalene’s greatest role is not as the wife of Jesus but as the first person to see the risen Lord. She is the first to
physically see the nail-scarred hands and know without any doubt that “He is alive!”
- Obviously, Mary Magdalene is an example for us in her faith in Jesus as the risen Lord. But as I dug into this passage it was also interesting to me the various other ways that she is an example in what she does to miss Jesus. She allows, like we do, some things to get in the way of her knowing Jesus is right there before us.
- We want to look at Mary Magdalene in her grief and confusion. In that, she is a lot like we often are. Even with the signs all around her, she misses what’s going on at first - that Jesus is alive again.
Six Ways To Miss Jesus:
1. Sometimes we miss Jesus until we’re stopped in our tracks.
- v. 11.
- Run here, run there. This scene is mostly action as we begin. Notice that she has been there before, but she quickly ran away (v. 2) to tell the others. Here come Peter and John, but in short order they’re on their way again (v. 10).
- And then Mary Magdalene is left lingering at the tomb. (I can’t help but wonder if Mary Magdalene was specifically chosen to be the first person to receive the news or if Jesus appeared to her simply because she was just the first person to linger for a while at the tomb.) It may be that Jesus had specifically chosen her to appear to first, but even then He chose to wait until she was lingering at the tomb (v. 11).
- We often race through life - get dressed, drop the kids off at school, hurry to work, errands at lunch, race home, grab a quick dinner, do homework and off to practices, put the kids to bed, get all the leftover stuff done, and then collapse into bed in time to do it all again in six hours. In such circumstances, often life becomes a blur.
- Here we see that it’s when Mary Magdalene stopped for a while that she saw Jesus. Often for us it isn’t until something “stops us in our tracks” that we see Jesus. It’s not that He wasn’t willing before that - it’s just that we were too busy running to notice Him.
- It may be a tragedy (the death of a loved one) or a problem (losing our job) that stops us in our tracks, and only then do we realize that we’ve been missing Jesus.
2. Sometimes we miss Jesus because of our tears.
- vv. 12-14.
- Mary Magdalene here isn’t just crying a little - it says that she is “weeping.”
- Normally in the Bible, when people come into contact with angels, their response is fear and awe. Here Mary Magdalene doesn’t even seem aware that the one asking her a question (v. 13) is an angel. Before her is a glorious creature who could (if she would recognize him as a divinely-sent being) tell her the good news about Jesus. But she is blinded by her tears.- In our lives, our pain and suffering can cause us tears. There may be those nearby who are trying to share the good news of what Jesus can do in our lives, but we can’t see it because of our tears.
- It’s not that tears are always bad. We need to release those emotions. Even Jesus wept. It’s just that sometimes we allow those tears to blind us to the fact that Jesus is there..
3. Sometimes we miss Jesus because we are expecting too little.
- v. 15 - “Whom are you seeking?”, “. . . laid Him. . .”
- Mary Magdalene, in spite of Jesus’ predictions about His resurrection, in spite of the empty tomb, in spite of the angel’s words (see the other gospels) about what had happened, is still just wanting to find the dead body so that she can finish the burial process. She is expecting so little.
- Jesus’ question to her is so open: “Whom are you seeking?” She could have said, “The living Jesus!” but all she wants to know is where the dead body has been “laid.”
- We often expect so little from God. “Could you help me a little with this problem?” “Could you answer this one prayer?” “Could you reduce my fear a little?” In reality, God offers us new, abundant, and ever-lasting life! It almost seems too good to be true and so we don’t think that big.
4. Sometimes we miss Jesus because of our presumptions.
- v. 15 - “supposing Him to be the gardener”
- Mary Magdalene presumes that the voice speaking to her is the voice of the gardener without looking to see for sure. She’s wrong and if Jesus hadn’t been forceful in His response she could have missed Him.
- Often people don’t turn to Jesus because of what they presume that they already know what His response would be:
a. “God isn’t interested in me.” (Actually, He’s as interested in you as you are in your kids.)
b. “You don’t know the things I’ve done.” (Actually, God does and He’s still ready to forgive.)
c. “The church roof would cave in if I came.” (Actually, the church is here for sinners - in fact, everyone in church is just a sinner saved by grace.)
- You may not have asked for Jesus or His help because you didn’t think there was any way He’d give it to you. Yet your thoughts are based on your presumptions, not on what the Bible says.
5. Sometimes we miss Jesus because we want to fix it ourselves.
- v. 15 - “. . . I will take Him away.”
- Mary Magdalene doesn’t say how she, alone, is going to move this heavy body, but that doesn’t matter to her - she can handle this problem all by herself if someone can just point her to the body’s location.
- Often we don’t call God in until everything’s a complete mess because we were sure that we could handle the situation. And there Jesus stands with more resources and power than we could ever imagine having and He’s just waiting for us to call on Him.
6. Sometimes we miss Jesus because we’re focused on looking at our problem.
- v. 14, 16 - “turned”
- Mary Magdalene turns in v. 14 toward Jesus, but through her tears she doesn’t recognize Him. Since it also says in v. 16 that she turned toward Jesus, I presume that she just turned momentarily in v. 14 to talk to this person and quickly turned back to focus on the tomb with the missing body. Looking again at the tomb, she makes her statement in v. 15, then, when Jesus grabs her attention in v. 16, she turns once again.
- For her, the problem that she is focused on looking at is that the body of Jesus is gone and she wants to find it so she can finish the burial process.
- She is so focused on her problem that it isn’t until Jesus raises His voice a little (“Mary!”) that she finally “turned.” That’s the key word here - “turned.”
- Many of us are good at worrying and obsessing about the problems that we’re facing. Jesus stands nearby, ready to help us overcome that sin or that burden, but we don’t see Him because we’re so focused on our problem.
When Jesus Does Get Our Attention And We Call On Him, Then What Happens?
- In v. 17 we see Jesus’ response to Mary Magdalene’s exclamation. . . and we see what He offers us as well when we call on Him.
1. Jesus’ Father is our Father.
- v. 17 - “My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God”
- Through our faith in Jesus and the power of His resurrection, God the Father can become our personal Father. We are in the family.
2. Jesus calls us “brothers” (and “sisters”).
- v. 17 - “go to My brethren”
- Jesus claims us as His brothers and sisters. We are in the family.
3. We have access to the Father’s “right hand man.”
- v. 17 - “ascended”
- This verse seems to teach that on the day of His resurrection Jesus ascended into heaven. The instructions not to cling to Him are not indicative of His followers being forbidden to touch Him (see John 20:27), but rather here Jesus seems to be saying, “Don’t keep clinging to Me. You’ve got a message to go tell the disciples and I’ve going to My Father to celebrate the victory I’ve won. Come on now, there’s important work to be done!”
- I wonder what it was like in heaven that day when Jesus arrived. I can’t help by wonder about how loud the shout from the angels and all the others assembled was when Jesus arrived - victorious and having faithfully completed the most difficult mission ever.
- Jesus, of course, returned to earth to encourage His disciples for forty days before the final Ascension. Now, He is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. Our brother sitting in power at the right hand of our Father - what an incredible gift Christ has given to us!
Conclusion:
- Dan Brown is wrong about Mary Magdalene. Her importance is not in being the wife of Jesus. Her importance is in being the first to proclaim a message that is still changing lives today - “I have seen the risen Savior!”
- Have you “missed” Jesus for one of the reasons we’ve talked about this morning? Do you see Him as He truly is right now? He’s the resurrected Lord.
The bad news is that Jesus doesn’t have any blood descendants through the French bloodline. Jesus was not married to Mary Magdalene. They did not have a child. Mary did not flee to France, where the bloodline continues up to today. There is no French bloodline of Christ.
- But the good news is that there is a faith bloodline of Christ! In Romans 5:6-9 it says that Jesus died for the ungodly, that He showed His love by His actions, and that we can be justified through His blood! And that happens by faith - faith in Jesus and what He has done for you.
Subject: The Empty Chair
>
> A man’s daughter had asked the local minister to come
> and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he
> found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on
> two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed.The minister
> assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.
>
> I guess you were expecting me, he said. ’No, who are you?"
> said the father. The minister told him his name and then
> remarked, I saw the empty chair an! d I figured you knew I> was going to show up," Oh yeah, the chair,"said the bed
> ridden man.
>
> Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the minister
> shut the door. I have never told anyone this, not even my
> daughter," said the man. But all of my life I have never
> known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor
> talk about prayer, But it went right over my head." I
> abandoned any attempt at prayer, "the old man continued,
> until one day four years ago, A friend of mine said to me,
> Johnny, prayer is just a simple matterof having a conversation
> with Jesus. Here is what I suggest." Sit down in a chair;
> place an empty chair in front of you,and in faith see Jesus
> on the chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, I will be
> with you always’.
>
> Then just speak to him in the same way you’re doing with me
> right now." So, I tried ! it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it
> a couple of hours every day. I’m careful though. If my daughter
> saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous
> breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
>
> The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged
> the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with
> him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.
>
> Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her
> daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he die in peace?" he asked.
> Yes, when I left the house about two o’clock, he called me over
> to his bedside, told me how much he loved me and kissed me
> on the cheek.
>
> When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead.
> But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just
> before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on ! the chair
> beside the bed.What do you make of that? The minister wiped a tear
> from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."
(a portion adapted from sermon on Sermon Central)
