“Our
God Is Love”
The
Messiah Unearthed
The
Da Vinci Code: The Truth Behind the Book
Prayer
and Scripture: Kim
· This
morning we're in part four of our Da Vinci Code series, and we've been looking
at a number of questions that the book raises about Christianity. These questions can be broken down into two
major categories:
·
Category #1:
The genuineness of the Bible, that is, is the Bible a credible
historical document? Is the Bible what
it claims to be, the very words of God, or is it just a collection of fancy
stories that have evolved over the last few thousand years? We’ve been looking at these questions over
the past couple of weeks.
· Category #2: The person of Jesus Christ. That is, did a man by
the name of Jesus Christ really live and if He did, who was He? Was he the Messiah that the disciples and
early followers say He was? Was He the
one and only God/Man (100% & 100% man) or was His divine status used by the
early Church as its power base? These
issues of category #2, the person of Jesus Christ, are what we’ll be talking about this week and next. Then in the following weeks we'll look at the
supposed 80 other gospels that include the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, we’ll look
at whether or not Christianity is just a collection of disguised pagan
symbolism as the book suggests, and then we'll look at the whole issue of the
sacred feminine and the roles of men and women in the Bible.
· One
of the major insinuations of the Da Vinci Code is that Jesus was just a man,
not the Messiah and definitely not God.
Brown writes that Jesus' supposed divine status was given him by Emperor
Constantine at the Council of Nicea and the early church used Jesus' divine
status to maintain their power base of authority over the people.
· The
conspiracy theory here is pretty simple.
If Jesus was God and Peter was the first Pope whom Jesus deemed as His
successor to build His church (which by the way, Protestants have never
believed Peter to be the first Pope nor do we believe that it was Mary Magdalene
as Dan Brown would have us believe).
But anyway, if Peter were the first Pope then every Pope to succeed him
would also have the divine mandate and authority given to them as Peter's
successor. This conspiracy is laid out
on pages 232-233 of the book: "In Constantine's day, Rome's official
religion was sun worship and Constantine was its head priest. Unfortunately for him, a growing religious
turmoil was gripping Rome. Three
centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Christ's followers had multiplied
exponentially. Christians and pagans
began warring, and the conflict grew to such proportions that it threatened to
rend Rome in two. Constantine decided
something had to be done. In 325 A.D.,
he decided to unify Rome under a single religion. Christianity….
Constantine was a very good businessman.
He could see that Christianity was on the rise, and he simply backed the
winning horse. Historians still marvel
at the brilliance with which Constantine converted the sun-worshipping pagans
to Christianity. By fusing pagan
symbols, dates, and rituals into the growing Christian tradition, he created a
kind of hybrid religion that was acceptable to both parties."
· "….During
this fusion of religions, Constantine needed to strengthen the new Christian
tradition, and held a famous ecumenical gathering known as the Council of
Nicea….At this gathering….many aspects of Christianity were debated and voted
upon….[including] the divinity of Jesus….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."
· "….establishing
Christ's divinity was critical to the further unification of the Roman empire
and to the new Vatican power base. By
officially endorsing Jesus as the Son of God, Constantine turned Jesus into a
deity who existed beyond the scope of the human world, an entity whose power
was unchallengeable. This not only
precluded further pagan challenges to Christianity, but now the followers of
Christ were able to redeem themselves only via the established sacred
channel—the Roman Catholic Church."
· "….it
was all about power…. Christ as Messiah
was critical to the functioning of Church and state. 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 their own power."
· And
then on page 235 it says: "….almost everything our fathers taught us
about Christ is false."
Interesting stuff, but there is so much historical and theological
misinformation here, it's going to take us a couple of weeks to work through it
all. But let's begin tonight by
establishing whether or not the birth of a baby that we celebrate at Christmas
who grew into a man named Jesus Christ was really the Messiah. That's the question before us today: Is
Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah?
As Protestant Christians, we believe that He was…why?
There were many eyewitnesses to Jesus' birth, but two are key to our discussion today:
A. THE TESTIMONY OF SIMEON:
· Luke
gives us the testimony of Simeon in 2:25-32: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called
Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He
was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon
him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the
Lord’s Christ. Moved by the
Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child
Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his
arms and praised God, saying: ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the light of all people, a light for revelation to
the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:25-32
· Luke
tells us that Simeon was “…waiting for the consolation of Israel…” This simply means that Simeon was waiting expectantly for a coming Messiah, a
coming Savior. Throughout the Bible
there are numerous prophecies that a Messiah is coming. But
just to name a few (6):
· “Therefore the Lord himself will give you
a sign: The virgin will be with child
and will give birth to a son, and he will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
· “For to us a child is born, to us a son
is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no
end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and
upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The
zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7
· “’The days are coming’ declares the Lord,
‘when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land.
In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be
called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’” Jeremiah
23:5-6
· “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you
are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be
ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Micah 5:2
· “’The Redeemer will come to Zion, to
those in Jacob who repent of their sins,’ declares the Lord.” Isaiah 59:20
· “The Lord has made proclamation to the
ends of the earth: ‘Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your Savior comes! See, his reward is with him, and his
recompense accompanies him.’” Isaiah 62:11
· Simeon was waiting for the One, not Neo from the
Matrix, but one who would be the fulfillment of these prophecies in Old
Testament scripture. Then
Luke tells us that through the Holy Spirit God had revealed to Simeon that he
would see the One who would be the fulfillment of Israel’s consolation…”the Lord’s Christ.” The phrase, “…the Lord’s Christ” is important to understand.
Christ is the Greek equivalent
of the Hebrew word “Messiah”
and "Messiah" means “anointed one”. And based upon Simeon’s response to seeing
baby Jesus, he obviously believed that He was the Messiah.
· “For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the light of all people, a light for revelation to
the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:30-32. Simeon was waiting expectantly for the coming Messiah and God had
revealed to Him that he would not die until he saw the anointed one. Once Simeon saw baby Jesus, he knew that He
was the one.
· The next eyewitness account comes from a woman named
Anna:
· Luke
records her testimony in verses 36-38: “There was also a
prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very
old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then
was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped
night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she
gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to
the redemption of Jerusalem.” Luke 2:36-38. Anna also believed that Baby Jesus was the Messiah. We read this in verse 38: “Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to
God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”
· Both
Simeon and Anna believed the baby Jesus to be the Messiah, but why?
What had God revealed about this coming Messiah in the Old
Testament that these two elderly, godly Jewish people would have known
about? Well, let’s look at what God
revealed about the Messiah in the Old Testament and see if it matches up with
the baby Jesus.
II. WHAT GOD PROMISED ABOUT THE MESSIAH (Six Promises)
· PROMISE #1: God promised that the Messiah would be human, not an angel. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15. This is the first reference to the Messiah in the Bible. The word “enmity” means “hostility or hatred”…it’s a very volatile word…its Greek equivalent likens it to “violent movements of air or water.” We would use the words, tornado, hurricane or tidal wave to describe it. It’s a word of intense hostility, wrath and hatred. What this tells us is that there is intense hatred of Satan towards all people, namely because Satan hates God and we are made in God’s image, therefore, Satan hates us. This is the whole essence of spiritual warfare, but that’s a whole other message. Let’s keep going, because this is where it gets really important.
· The word “offspring” is an unfortunate translation in the NIV. The actual Hebrew word is “zera’” which means “seed”. Now the seed that is being referred to here is the “seed of the woman” (hold that thought, we’ll be getting back to that in a few minutes). Now the question is, why do I think that “seed” refers to the Messiah? In The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, it says of “seed”: “The seed image often denotes human lineage or heritage…. One central figurative use of the seed image involves the ‘seed’ of David and of Abraham. Paul refers to Jesus as the ‘seed of David’, a well-established designation in Judaism for the awaited Messiah (Rom. 1:3).” -The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, 771.
· Paul also refers to Jesus being the “seed” in Galatians 3:16: “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ.” Therefore, Jesus Christ is the “seed of the woman” in Genesis 3:15. And it is here that the Christmas story begins. The Christmas story is about the birth of the Savior ("the seed of the woman" - the "seed" was Jesus and the Woman was Mary) and this is first mentioned right here in Genesis 3:15.
· PROMISE # 2: God promised that the Messiah would be
a Jew not a Gentile. Why did God choose the Jewish people to be “His people?” There is honestly no special reason. In Genesis
12, God comes to a man named Abram and says: “’Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to
the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I
will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will
bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed
through you.’” Genesis
12:1-3. Abram responded to God in
faith, and God fulfilled his promise to him to make from him a great nation:
the nation of Israel from whom come the Jewish people.
·
Listen to what Moses says to the Israelites as to why the Lord chose them: “For you are a
people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all
the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured
possession. The LORD did not set his
affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other
peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD
loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers…” Deuteronomy 7:6-8
· The “forefathers” referred
to here are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Isaac was Abraham’s son and Jacob was Isaac’s son. The Messiah will come through this
lineage. The Bible is clear that the roots of the Messiah are traced back
through Isaac, Jacob and originate in Abraham.
Let's take a quick look at the Messiah through the lineage of
Jacob. In Genesis 28:13-14, God comes
to Jacob in a dream and assures him that the Messiah will come through
his offspring: “I am the LORD, the God of
your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants
the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the
earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to
the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. Genesis 28:13-14. And Numbers
24:17 says,“I
see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter
will rise out of Israel.”
· The Messiah through the lineage of Isaac: “The LORD appeared to Isaac and said, ‘Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. Stay in this land for a while, and I will be with you and will bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.’” Genesis 26:2-5
· The Messiah through the lineage of Abraham: “I will bless those who bless you, and
whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed
through you.” Genesis
12:3. “Abraham will surely become a great
and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.” Genesis 18:18. “…and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed,
because you have obeyed me.”
Genesis 22:18. But not only did
God promise that the Messiah would come through Jewish descent, it gets even
more specific than that which takes us to #3:
·
PROMISE #3: God
promised that the Messiah would be from the tribe of Judah. After God delivered
the Israelites from bondage to Egypt, they eventually got to the promised land
of Canaan. In order to divide all the
land up among the Israelites, God divided them into what is known as the 12
Tribes of Israel. The 12 Tribes are: Asher, Naphtali,
Zebulun, Issachar, Manasseh, Ephraim, Gad, Benjamin, Dan, Judah, Reuben,
Simeon. These 12 tribes make up the nation of Israel.
·
And they had a few Kings: King Saul, King David,
and then King Solomon who was David’s son.
Solomon ruled for 40 years and when he died he was succeeded by
his son Rehoboam. Rehoboam had the opportunity to cut back on
the labor policies of his father, but chose not to against good advice. (1
Kings 12) As a result, 10 of the tribes broke away from the
12 under the leadership of Jeroboam.
Now God's people are split and become two nations, one called Israel which was the northernmost tribes; and
Judah in the South comprised
of the tribe of Judah and part of the tribe of Benjamin. The reason that this is important in
confirming Jesus as the Messiah is that God
promised that the Messiah would come through the Tribe of Judah. “The
scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his
feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and
the obedience of the nations is his.”
Genesis 49:10.
· PROMISE #4:
God promised that the Messiah would come from the family of David. There are numerous
prophecies indicating that the Messiah would come through the family of David: ”For to us a child is born, to us a son is
given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no
end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and
upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The
zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7
· “’When your days are over and you rest
with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come
from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will
establish the throne of his kingdom forever….
Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne
will be established forever.’” 2 Samuel 7:12-13 &
16
· “You said, ‘I have made a covenant with
my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line
forever and make your throne firm through all generations.’” Psalm 89:3-4
·
“I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I
have anointed him…. I will also appoint
him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. I will maintain my love to him forever, and
my covenant with him will never fail. I
will establish his line forever, his throne as long as the heavens endure.” Psalm 89:20 & 27-29
·
“The
Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: ‘One of your
own descendants I will place on your throne….’” Psalm 132:11
·
“’The
days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up to David a righteous
Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.’”
Jeremiah 23:5
·
“The
days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the gracious promise
I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a
righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in
the land.’” Jeremiah 33:14-15
·
All this is great, but
how do we know that Jesus came from the family of David? Both Mary and Joseph come from the lineage
of David. Both Matthew and Luke show
that Mary was a descendent of King
David through his son Nathan and Joseph
was a descendent of King David through his son Solomon. Mary’s genealogy is found in Luke 3:23-37 and Joseph’s genealogy is found
in Matthew 1:1-17. John McArthur in his commentary of Matthew helps us
understand why there are two different genealogies: “Matthew’s genealogy
presents a descending line, from Abraham through David, through Joseph,
to Jesus, who is called Christ. Luke’s genealogy presents an ascending line,
starting from Jesus and going back through David, Abraham, and even to ‘Adam,
the son of God’ (Luke 3:23-38).
· Luke’s
record is apparently traced from Mary’s side, the Eli of Luke 3:23 probably
being Joseph’s father-in-law (often referred to in Jewish families as a father)
and therefore Mary’s natural father. Matthew intended to validate Jesus’ royal claim by showing His legal
descent from David through Joseph, who was Jesus’ legal, though not natural,
father. Luke intended to trace Jesus’
actual royal blood ancestry through his mother, thereby establishing His racial lineage from David. Matthew
follows the royal line through David and Solomon, David’s son and successor to
the throne. Luke follows the royal line through Nathan, another son of David.
·
“Jesus was therefore the blood descendant of David through
Mary and the legal descendant of David through Joseph. Genealogically, Jesus
was perfectly qualified to take the throne of David.” -John MacArthur’s New
Testament Commentary: Matthew 1-7. And it just gets
better!
· PROMISE #5:
God promised that the Messiah would be born of a virgin. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will
be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. You know, it seems like God is just making it harder and harder on Himself to make
this whole Messiah thing work…He’s getting more and more detailed,
narrowing the possibilities down to the smallest fraction….not only does the
Messiah have to be human, not only does he have to be Jewish and come through
the line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through the tribe of Judah through the
family line of David…now, the Messiah has to be born of a virgin.
·
Matthew tells us in
1:18 that: “…Mary (Jesus’ mother) was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together,
she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:18.
·
“’Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will
be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of
Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.’ ‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the
angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’ The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come
upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one
to be born will be called the Son of God’”
Luke 1:30-35.
· I know you may have a couple of questions here:
1. How
did Mary get pregnant? I have no idea. It was a miracle. Listen, if God can create the heavens and the earth from nothing,
surely creating a baby from nothing is a piece of cake.
2.
Why in the world did God go through all the
trouble for Jesus to be born to a virgin…was it some type of dramatic entrance
or something? Well, that's a very good question. There are a couple of really good
reasons for this:
WHY JESUS HAD TO BE BORN OF A VIRGIN
1. Jesus had to be born of a virgin to fulfill prophecy. God promised in Isaiah 7:14 that the Messiah would come through a virgin, so He had to deliver on His promise.
2. Joseph’s lineage includes the sin of Jeconiah. This is really cool, not for Jeconiah, but to help us understand why Mary’s genealogy is so important to our discussion. Jeconiah was a King of Judah who did not listen to God’s words of judgment to the people. As a result of this, God cursed his line of descendants through the prophet Jeremiah in 23:30: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Record this man as if childless, a man who will not prosper in his lifetime, for none of his offspring will prosper, none will sit on the throne of David or rule anymore in Judah.’” Now if you look closely, in Joseph’s genealogy of Matthew 1, you will see Jeconiah’s name in verse 11. In their commentary on the Old Testament, John Walvoord and Roy Zuck tell us, “Had Christ been a physical descendant of Joseph and not virgin-born, He would have been disqualified as Israel’s King. Luke presented the physical line of Christ through Mary, who was descended from David through the line of his son Nathan.” –The Bible Knowledge Commentary, John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, 1158.
John MacArthur notes in his commentary on Matthew: “That
curse (of Jeconiah) would have precluded Jesus’ right to kingship had He been
the natural son of Joseph, who was in Jeconiah’s line. Jesus’ legal descent
from David, which was always traced through the father, came through Jeconiah
to Joseph. But His blood descent, and His human right to rule, came through
Mary, who was not in Jeconiah’s lineage. Thus the curse on Jeconiah’s offspring
was circumvented, while still maintaining the royal privilege.” -John MacArthur’s New Testament Commentary: Matthew
1-7.
· God set it up so that it took both Mary and Joseph’s
genealogy to give Jesus both the human and royal right to be the Messiah. Isn’t that awesome? God thinks of everything. One last thing and then we’re done:
· PROMISE #6:
God promised that the Savior would be born in Bethlehem. “But
you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among
the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler
over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from
ancient times.” Micah 5:2. And
of course this was fulfilled in Luke 2:4-7: “So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in
Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the
house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged
to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time
came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She
wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn.” So what have we learned?
· That
the Messiah, the Savior of the world would be born human, as a Jew through the
line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the tribe of Judah through the family of
David; born of a virgin in the town of Bethlehem. And Jesus is the only one
who has fulfilled every one of these promises of God to the letter! Therefore, Jesus is the Messiah! Jesus is the Savior of the world. The Christmas story is about and is
fulfilled only in Jesus Christ son of Mary!
Awesome, isn’t it?!
· Next
week we are going to talk about whether or not Jesus was really God, and if so,
what does that mean. Let’s Pray.