Who Was Mary Magdalene? (The Da Vinci Code – Part 3)

Who Was Mary Magdalene?

(The Da Vinci Code – Part 3)

Various Scriptures

June 4, 2006

Introduction

Have you ever had a situation where you found out you had a reputation for something that was totally against your character and history?

A rumor gets started, and the next thing you know you’re having to defend yourself against preconceived notions.

Nobody likes that kind of thing, that’s for sure.

There was a time during my senior year in college where some people were saying that I was “on the hunt” for a missionary wife. They told a certain girl I had taken to a dance that I was only interested in her because she was thinking about being a missionary. And just for the sake of full disclosure, this wasn’t Debra. She and I didn’t start dating until I had been out of college for about a year.

When I found out that this girl was told she was only on my “wife radar” because she was open to missions, I knew I needed to do something about it. So I talked to her after church one night and told her that this wasn’t the truth.

It’s true that I was hoping that one day I would marry someone who was willing to go wherever God would lead, even if it was overseas.

But the fact of the matter was that this young lady was a solid Christian who loved Jesus and loved people.

My point is that I had a reputation that was inaccurate and undeserved.

Mary Magdalene was the same way, although her reputation became shaped hundreds of years after she was dead.

Because of a mistake by a pope about 1500 years ago, a perception about Mary Magdalene was given that has been popularized in literature and even film.

The Da Vinci Code perpetuates more myths about Mary, and the idea today is to help dispel these, as we look at the question, “Who was Mary Magdalene?”

Before we get into that, let me just very quickly review what we’ve covered so far in this series on The Da Vinci Code.

Week 1 – Reliability of the gospels.

Week 2 – Who was Jesus?

If you would like a tape of those messages, just talk to Jim back there. If you want a print copy of the messages, come see me and I’ll get you one.

Next week – The place of popular media in the life of the Christian.

Today, as I mentioned, we’re going to look at Mary Magdalene and her place in the life of Jesus.

We’re not going to cover everything there is to know about Mary. We simply don’t have the time, and quite frankly, it’s not necessary for what I want to accomplish today.

If you really want me to look at some of these things, feel free to let me know. I’m willing to cover those things somewhere down the road, but today we have enough to cover, and as it is, you won’t be beating anyone to Steak and Buffet by the time we’re done anyway.

As before, I have quoted some portions of the book in your note-taking guide because I wanted you to see what I was trying to refute with these messages.

For the sake of time, I’m not going to read them aloud here, though.

Page 243 –

“Sophie examined the figure to Jesus’ immediate right, focusing in. As she studied the person’s face and body, a wave of astonishment rose within her. The individual had flowing red hair, delicate folded hands, and the hint of a bosom. It was, without a doubt…female.

“’Who is she,’ Sophie asked.

“’That, my dear,’ Teabing replied, ‘is Mary Magdalene.’”

Page 244 –

“…the early Church needed to convince the world that the mortal prophet Jesus was a divine being. Therefore, any gospels that describe earthly aspects of Jesus’ life had to be omitted from the Bible. Unfortunately for the early editors, one particularly troubling earthly theme kept recurring in the gospels. Mary Magdalene. More specifically, her marriage to Jesus Christ….It’s a matter of historical record, and Da Vinci was certainly aware of that fact. The Last Supper practically shouts at the viewer that Jesus and Magdalene were a pair.”

Please allow me to give just a smidgen of background info here. Leonardo was supposedly part of a secret society called the Priory of Sion whose job it was to guard the secret of Mary Magdalene and her descendants. The existence of this group has been disproved, and the man who started it was discredited as someone who was seeking to be crowned the king of France.

That hasn’t stopped Dan Brown and others from claiming that the group is alive and active, doing everything it can to protect the “secret.” Like most conspiracy theories, it finds new life once in awhile and continues to circulate.