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2 Corinthians 11:4 (ERV)-You seem to be quite patient with anyone who comes to you and tells you about a Jesus that is different from the Jesus we told you about. You seem very willing to accept a spirit or a message that is different from the Spirit and message that you received from us.
Even in the first century, there were some who tried and preach a “different” Jesus than the One revealed by the Holy Spirit. Fortunately, there were still many eyewitnesses of the real Jesus who were still alive when the New Testament Scriptures were penned, which gave added credibility to the Apostles of Christ. So also did the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit Who confirmed what the Apostles taught and preached.
2 Corinthians 12:12-Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds.
In order to understand the next phase of our study regarding Jesus and Mary Magdalene, we need to be one aware of a novel that has gained much popularity in the last twenty years. It is written by Dan Brown, and is entitled The Da Vinci Code. Let’s notice a brief description of the book.
“In case you’re one of the three people in the world who hasn’t read The Da Vinci Code or had it described to you by countless friends, family members, or coworkers, here’s a short summary: Harvard professor Robert Langdon was summoned in the middle of the night to solve a mystery in the Louvre, the famous art museum in Paris. The museum’s curator, Jacques Saunière, mortally wounded by an assassin’s bullet, has left a mysterious message in his own blood. Joined by Sophie Neveu, a cryptologist, Langdon follows a path of riddles that leads him to some startling conclusions. The curator, Saunière, is actually the head of the Priory of Sion. He and the other leaders of the Priory have all been murdered by an order of the Catholic Church. Langdon and Neveu, running frantically from one clue to another, attempt to locate the Priory’s treasure before the church does. Accompanied by Leigh Teabing, an independent expert and Grail seeker whose own passion to discover the Priory’s secret is all-consuming, they learn that what they are really looking for is the lost history of Christianity and the restoration of the Divine feminine embodied in the remains of Mary Magdalene herself.…“During this same conversation, the longest of several sometimes-tedious expositions in the book, Teabing introduced the gnostic texts from Nag Hammadi. The same, familiar passages from the Gospel of Philip and the Gospel of Mary were cited to demonstrate that Jesus and Mary had an intimate relationship that threatened the other disciples led by Peter.” (J. Michael Matkin, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Gnostic Gospels (Complete Idiot’s Guides), 278-280 (Kindle Edition): New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC)
There is much to the Da Vinci Code beyond the alleged marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. We will see that the issues involved deal with subjects like Divine authority, the canon of Scripture, the issues of church and state, the role of the Roman Emperor Constantine, the Deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, and even the true wife of Jesus.
Today, what I want to encourage you to take from this lesson is the fact that we must be willing to carefully study and investigate matters of truth. The fact that there is much error in the world only reinforces our need to be that much more devoted to finding and properly handing the truth. Truth must be sought, fought for, sacrificed for, and desired whole-heartedly.
Proverbs 23:23 (GNB)-Truth, wisdom, learning, and good sense—these are worth paying for, but too valuable for you to sell.
Lord, thank You for helping us to seek the truth about You and these subjects. Continue to guide us and give us wisdom. Amen.