DaVinci Code Series #4

Answering the Code – Who is Jesus?

Dan Brown's best-seller, The DaVinci Code, is a subtle piece of indoctrination, anti-Christian at its core. Woven into a compelling story are assertions about the doctrines of Christianity- which if true - would rewrite the Bible. I read the book over the weekend and have to agree that it is a fun to read book that kept me turning the pages with a fast paced storyline. But, the premises on which Brown builds his story will, if believed to be true, destroy the Gospel of Christ!

A key character in the story is one Leigh Teabing, an English scholar, knight of the realm, and story-teller. Teabing claims that the Bible is a construct of a few men under the influence of Constantine to erase nature worship and the 'divine feminine.' Teabing claims that until 325 AD,

"Jesus was viewed by his followers as a mortal prophet . . .

a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal."

"Jesus establishment as the 'Son of God' was officially proposed and voted by the Council of Nicea."

"Christ as Messiah was critical to the functioning of Church and State...

the early Church literally stole Jesus from his original followers,

hijacking his human message...." (all quotes from page 233)

Because the novel is packaged by its author as a fictional story that is written around real historical facts, there are millions who swallow the assertions about the Bible's origins, about the 'real' identity of Jesus, uncritically. But, the scholarship that underlies the story is wrong; a reconstruction of select facts and total fabrications arranged to fit a set of assumptions that ignore the supernatural claims of the New Testament, that dismiss long-standing facts about the authenticity of the Bible, and that want to make Jesus into a great Teacher while taking away His claim to be 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life.'

If Jesus is not God come to Earth, a unique God/Man; then he simply takes his place among other spiritual teachers of history and we are free to pick and choose from his words, mixing and matching them with those of the Buddha, of Mohammed, of Confucius, and our Grandpa! If He is not a person unique in history and 'full of grace and truth,' why are we not free to create our own eclectic religion of self-made rules, freely bent and shaped to fit our particular life choices?

With the troubling issue of "Truth"out of the way, replaced by "preference," each one of do is able to choose whatever is right in our own eyes! How convenient for a society that worships autonomy and choice!

I am convinced the conceit of man is a primary reason that the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity is under such attack today. What’s not to admire in a Man that calls on us to give up ourselves, to be loving, to serve the greater good? But, if He’s God and therefore has the right to call us into account for how we lived by those standards, that changes everything!

Then, too, there are those who react to the whole idea of Jesus Christ as absolute Truth, for more emotional reasons. They point to terrible atrocities from history done in the Name of Christ, to wars fought, inquisitions, persecutions, and witch-burning - and say that it is better to eliminate the doctrine and dogma that gives license to such acts.

I would be the first to admit that the Truth has been turned into a cruel set of rules used by various groups down through history -

to protect their preferred status,

to enrich those in power,

to enslave, and

as an excuse to wage war and kill.

We cannot just point to the Roman Catholic church of the Medieval age in regard to this. The claim to hold the "Truth" has been twisted in our own time by local pastors and congregations to hurt, ostracize, and marginalize people out of favor ! That is tragic, evil, and indefensible.

But the answer is not to try to erase the identity of Jesus Christ to make Him more 'people friendly.'

Instead, we do well to reclaim the Jesus that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John presented to the world - as witnesses to the Truth- just a few decades after He walked the pathways of Palestine. They present us with a Man who brought words of life, who demonstrated His uniqueness, His authority, and His love with acts of caring, with incredible wisdom, and with miracles. To me, the majesty of His claim to be the Judge of all the earth lies in His willingness to be the Servant Savior of all. He is the Man of the Cross as well as the Lord of the Universe. I have no qualms about submitting myself to One who would leave Heaven, endure scorn and rejection, who would challenge people intent on using power to oppress, and ultimately die for the very people who rejected His message. Such a Man has demonstrated so great a love that I willingly accept His judgment, willingly bow myself before His Truth - because that which He demands of me is not designed for His good, but rather to give me life! He said, "It is the Spirit who gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (John 6:63, NLT)

So Who was Jesus? A man or God?

The question is actually misframed, by the assumption that He must be one or the other. The Bible presents Jesus to us as both - the unique God/Man! The assertion that this was a doctrine developed 250 plus years after His life, ignores the Bible.

His humanity is clearly seen in the Gospels.

He was born of a woman. His family interacted with him, not as a spirit, but as a flesh and blood son and brother. He experienced fatigue, he ate, he slept. He cried, people hugged him, he bled, he died! There are many reasons that the doctrines of Jesus’ humanity are important, but the most succinct statement is from Hebrews which says he was tested and tempted in every way just as we are so that He could be our Great High Priest. In His humanity, He is our example, a pattern for those who would please God. The term we use to describe Jesus, the 2^nd Person of the Trinity, becoming a human being is INCARNATION, which just means, ‘in the flesh.’

That He is God is also clearly taught.

Writing in about 70 AD, give or take a decade - Luke says that the angel who appeared to Mary, his mother, said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. - Lk 1:35 (NLT)

Several times in the New Testament, the word, “theos” which is usually reserved for God, the Father, is used about Jesus. In Romans 9.5 Paul calls Jesus, “God, over all.” Peter opens his letter saying he is writing in the name of “our God and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:1 (NIV) John, in the opening of his letter, is abundantly clear that Jesus is God. “The Word was with God, and the Word was God... no one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side.”

Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code, makes much of the Council of Nicea, which convened in 325 AD, as being a watershed event that ‘created’ Christianity as we know it. Brown’s character, Leigh Teabing, says that the divinity of Christ was an invention of the council and that it was decided by a relatively close vote. In answer to that kind of statement, the average person is defenseless, as they know little or nothing about the event, or what was done there.

So, what did the Council of Nicea really decide?

Constantine, the Emperor, became a Believer. In the course of time he saw that there was a problem in his empire involving Christians. A teacher named Arius was attracting large followings among Christians by saying that Jesus Christ was a god, not the God! His doctrine, while arcane to many of us today, remains around in the teachings of groups like the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The fact was that most Christians believed that Jesus was God, just we do today. That doctrine had gained widespread acceptance within a few years of the founding of the Church by the apostles. So when Constantine called some 300 bishops into the council of Nicea, it was not to invent anything, but to reaffirm what had been established truth for more than two centuries - namely that Jesus was God. It wasn’t to invent a new doctrine, but to affirm one as old as the Church.

The Nicean creed still used in some churches today affirmed that Christ was “Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.”

As to the vote being close, how’s 300 to 2?

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Why is this important?

Some of you might be thinking, “Pastor, what’s the big deal? Isn’t it just about words?”

No, it isn’t! Some things are disputable and not worth contending about.

Bob Miller loves the Steelers and I love the Patriots. We like to debate the merits of our football teams, but in fact, for all our words, in the end it’s about having fun. Nothing of any great importance depends on us coming into agreement about which team is better. Of course, I must acknowledge that this year Bob has the bragging rights because his team won the Super Bowl.

The identity of Jesus Christ is critically important.

Acts 4:12 (NIV) Peter declares - “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

Some things matter enough to get it right and spend time making sure it’s right and the Truth about Jesus Christ is one of things. We need to KNOW in whom we have put our faith and trust. We need to know that He is worthy of our service. We need to know that He is able to bring us into a right relationship with the Father. We need to know that the Way He showed us really leads to life.

Don't be duped by those who, in the name of truth, would rob you of the Truth.

Yes, they may well have confused the religion of men, which is the letter of the law that kills, with the Gospel that liberates and gives life.

They may even believe that they are doing you and me a service by freeing us from 'silly superstitions.'

Jesus says that believing in His words, accepting them as True, knowing the Truth - produces some great results!

"Now I’m returning to you.

I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing So my people can experience My joy completed in them.

I gave them your word; The godless world hated them because of it, because they didn’t join the world’s ways, Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways. I’m not asking that you take them out of the world But that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world than I am defined by the world.

Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth." (John 17:13-17, The Message) _____________

Washington Assembly of God