Unlocking the DaVinci Code

The Story of Jesus (Session 3)

Rationale

The issue with Dan Brown's "The DaVinci Code" is not, ultimately, its truth or falsehood, but the question, "Why are people so captivated?"

This novel is, without a doubt, a cultural phenomenon that needs to be appreciated for its impact and addressed in regard to its inherent issues. Postmodern people enjoy watching an authority challenged, and they like secret knowledge and direct experience. Christians must respond appropriately and primarily to these concerns, as well as the truth claims of Brown's novel.

Scripture Focus

John 8:31-58; 1 Corinthians 15:1-19

Theme

The Story of Jesus

Sermon Summary

The author's most provocative claim is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, who bore him children. However, the whole of Christian faith and lifestyle rests precisely on the facts of Jesus' life as portrayed in the Bible. Thus, addressing this claim is essential.

To this end, we will explore the evidence, both biblical and historical, for Jesus' life and teaching.

Introduction

An interview with Dan Brown is posted on his official website. When asked, “Some of the history in this novel contradicts what I learned in school. What should I believe?”, Brown’s answer was as follows:

Since the beginning of recorded time, history has been written by the “winners” (those societies and belief systems that conquered and survived). Despite an obvious bias in this accounting method, we still measure the “historical accuracy” of a given concept by examining how well it [agrees] with our existing historical record. [Alternatively,] many historians now believe (as do I) that in gauging the historical accuracy of a given concept, we should first ask ourselves a far deeper question: How historically accurate is history itself?

Claiming that the winners dictate the historical record is an unfair statement that does not take into account the complexity of history and our records of past events and people. Of course, investigating the accuracy of our existing historical record is legitimate research, but, unfortunately, Brown, and others like him, give alternative accounts far more credence than they are due.

Let us consider a case in point: Brown’s retelling of the story of Jesus based on alternative gospels that were rejected by both popular opinion and official scrutiny.

What Does it Mean to Be A Christian?

On his own website, in response to the question, “Are you a Christian?”, Dan Brown makes the following statement:

Yes. Interestingly, if you ask three people what it means to be Christian, you will get three different answers [...] Faith is a continuum, and we each fall on that line where we may [...] we are all trying to decipher life's big mysteries, and we're each following our own paths of enlightenment. I consider myself a student of many religions.

Based on this quote, what do you imagine Dan Brown would think defines a person as a Christian? (that one believes something about Jesus; that one applies this label subjectively)

Brown’s beliefs about Jesus are quite contrary to those described in the Bible.

1.   Brown accepts that Jesus is a good person/teacher, worthy of impacting the world

“Jesus Christ was an historical figure of staggering influence, perhaps the most enigmatic and inspirational leader the world has ever seen. As the prophesied Messiah, Jesus toppled kings, inspired millions and founded new philosophies. As a descendant of the lines of King Solomon and King David, Jesus possessed a rightful claim to the throne of the King of the Jews.”

2.   Nevertheless, Brown believes that Jesus was merely a man promoted as a god by Constantine; an opinion which in no way reflects the actual events, as we discovered in session 2

“Constantine held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the Council of Nicaea [...] until that moment in history, Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet [...] a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.”

“Not the Son of God?”

“Right,” Teabing said. “Jesus’ establishment as the Son of God was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea.”

“Hold on. You’re saying Jesus’ divinity was the result of a vote?”

“A relatively close vote at that,” Teabing added [...] “Many scholars claim that the early church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message shrouding it in an impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand His power.” (somewhere after pg. 233)

a.   The only “hijacking” being done here is by Brown himself.

3.   Brown believes that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, who bore him children

“Behold,” Teabing proclaimed, “the greatest cover-up in human history. Not only was Jesus Christ married, but He was a father. My dear, Mary Magdalene [...] bore the royal bloodline of Jesus Christ.”

4.   Brown bases his alternative story of Jesus on the disreputable Gospel of Mary Magdalene and the Gospel of Philip, which, as we also discovered in session 2, lack the remotest level of credibility when compared to that of the Bible.

What is the story of Jesus that we find in the Bible?

1.   The apostle John declared that Jesus existed before the creation of the world (John 1:2)

2.   Jesus was born, under miraculous circumstances, in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-21; Matthew 1:18-2:1)

3.   Until the age of 30 years, Jesus lived with his parents in Nazareth, training either as a carpenter or as a religious teacher (Luke 2:51-52)

4.   Jesus’ public ministry was preceded by the preaching of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-3), and inaugurated by his baptism (:13-17) and temptation in the desert (4:1-11)

5.   Jesus’ early ministry revolved around the regions of Judea and Samaria (John 2:11; 4:1-4)

6.   The next phase of Jesus’ ministry revolved around Galilee (4:54), and included the choosing of his 12 disciples (Luke 6:12-15), his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:28), many miraculous healings (8:1-9:34), and his teaching about the Kingdom of God (13:1-53)

7.   Jesus then began journeying to Jerusalem; along the way, he instigated the reformation of Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10), and was anointed by Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead —this anointing, confused with a similar anointing by a “sinful woman” in Luke 7:36-50, gave rise to the identification of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute by Pope Gregory the Great in 591

8.   During the final week before his crucifixion, Jesus enters Jerusalem, hailed as a king (Matthew 21:1-11), cleanses the Temple (Mark 11:15-17), and has significant arguments with opposing religious parties (Matt. 21:23-22:46), that results in his betrayal (Luke 22:47-48), arrest (:54), trial (:66-71), and crucifixion (23:20-24)

9.   Three days after his death, many of his disciples claimed that Jesus was alive (John 20:2-10), resurrected; after 40 days, he ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9-11)

If Brown’s beliefs concerning Jesus are completely contrary to the established credible authority on Jesus’ life, the Bible, then how can Brown say that he is a believer of Jesus at all?

Do his beliefs then disqualify him as a Christian? In a word, yes. While I certainly do not advocate judging another person’s salvation, but, in this case, the one in whom Brown allegedly believes is little more than a contrived Christ-figure based on alternative and spurious accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings.

The problem is that Brown believes in a ‘gospel’ of Jesus that fits his theological preference. The truth of Brown’s alternative-Jesus is not reliable truth; it is nothing more than a pleasant-sounding opinion expressed without legitimate basis.

Why Do We Need the Bible?

It is exactly for such situations that we need the Bible, with its easily-established credibility.

Let us admit, though, that a source of difficulty for some people might be the fact that the Bible speaks about Jesus, albeit in an inspired and authoritative way, but does not actually contain a record of his own, direct, writings.

Why did Jesus not write anything down?

Funnily enough, the church historian Eusebius, in his History of the Church, includes a letter that —and he believed this with all certainty— was written by Jesus himself in response to a request for healing by King Agbar of Edessa, in Eastern Syria.

Blessed is he that hath believed in me, not having seen me. For it is written concerning me, that those who see me will not believe in me, and that those will believe who have not seen me, and will be saved. But touching that which thou hast written to me, that I should come to thee —it is meet that I should finish here all that for the sake of which I have been sent and, after I have finished it, then I shall be taken up to Him that sent me; and, when I have been taken up, I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease, and give salvation to thee and to those who are with thee.

This oddity notwithstanding, no record exists of Jesus writing anything for posterity, likely, because he was reminding his audience of the Kingdom of God, which was already witnessed to in the written scriptures of the ancient Israelites.

Margaret Atwood, a novelist and professed agnostic, shared her thoughts on this issue in a recent interview with American journalist Bill Moyers. She stated that Jesus never wrote anything down because he would not have wanted such writings to become dogma (i.e. an inflexible principle or set of principles laid down by an authority). She believes that he wanted the Spirit to be the carrier of the experience, not doctrine, creed, or dogma.

Whether she is correct or not, this all still leaves us with the question, “What can we know about Jesus?”

The Bible records the credible and authoritative witness of those who knew Jesus personally or of those who directly recorded the apostolic accounts. All of the New Testament books were written within a generation of Jesus’ death.

We also have the benefit of non-biblical writers and sources who verify Jesus’ existence and some aspects of the biblical record.

1.   An ossuary from the 1^st century (an ancient coffin for bones), has been identified as almost certainly belonging to Jesus’ brother, James, the first bishop of Jerusalem

2.   Other inscriptions found on burial caskets dated between ad 40 and 50 outside of Jerusalem contain the words, “Jesus, help!” and another, “Jesus, let him who rests here arise”

3.   Perhaps only coincidentally, an inscription, repeating an edict from a first-century Roman emperor, has been found in Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus, warning against the removing of bodies from sealed tombs

4.   Josephus, a Jewish historian working for the Romans, verifies the gospel accounts by describing the census ordered by Quirinius, the cruelty of King Herod, the preaching of John the Baptist, and the condemnation of “a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ”

5.   Tacitus, a Roman historian, described the strength and resilience of the Christians in Rome during the persecution of Nero in 64

6.   Pliny, a Roman governor, wrote letters to Emperor Trajan, circa 110, which make reference to Jesus and his followers, particularly asking the emperor what to do about the Christians

7.   Seutonius, another Roman historian, speaks of Christ in his Life of Claudius and Lives of the Caesars

8.   The writings of early Christian leaders —Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Hermas, Barnabas of Alexandria, Papias, and Polycarp— who all lived in the first century, verify the historical proof for Jesus’ life

9.   The Jewish Talmud has some rather obscure passages, that describe Jesus as being hanged on Passover Eve, after due trial, as a sorcerer and one who “led Israel astray” (Sanhedrin 43a)

Non-Christian evidence therefore substantiates the fact of Jesus’ existence, his popular following, his execution and the rough date (Pilate was in office in Judaea ad 26-36).

Conclusion

All of this evidence for the biblical account of Jesus’ life pales in comparison to the revelation of his teaching: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16, NIV). This is the kind of insight that makes a difference in a person’s life:

Other religions and philosophies may modify behaviour, but only Christianity transforms a person’s character from the inside out. Only Christianity makes old sinners into new creatures by renewing their minds (Rom. 12:2).

The prospect of controversies are certainly interesting and sometimes compelling. What more mouth-watering controversy can there be than that the one person who completely proves God’s existence and nature, Jesus, did not himself actually exist! Imagine the resources and effort that would have been required to cover-up the official story of Jesus. Unfortunately, the only conspiracy in this matter is that there is a conspiracy at all.

Being privy to an alleged secret knowledge that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had kids —well, good for him!— adds nothing to anyone’s faith, and certainly does not undermine the veracity of evidence in support of the biblical account of Jesus’ existence, teaching, death, and resurrection. The evidence in support of Jesus is evidence that one can count on, and a wisdom that transforms us, by drawing us close to the God who loves us.

sermon delivered by Ian Forest-Jones
at Hurstville Church of Christ
on Sunday, 25 June 2006 at 6pm
[email]

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