Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20060903.htm

JOHN: TRUSTING JESUS AS MESSIAH AND GOD
Part XLIV: Biblical Christianity's Validity Seen In Christ's Resurrection
B. Using John's Record Of Jesus' Resurrection Appearance To Mary Magdalene For Victory Over Religious And Relational Dysfunctions
(John 20:11-18)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

There exists a great amount of both "religious dysfunction" as well as "relational dysfunction" in today's world:

(1) As for "religious dysfunction," what we before considered was a typical God-disciple relationship between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene in the Gospel record is being highly challenged today right at the John 20:11-18 passage we are about to view:

(a) John 20:11-18 records Jesus' post resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalene whom Dan Brown's worldwide best seller, The Da Vinci Code, claims was Jesus' wife by whom He sired offspring (cf. Darrell L. Bock, Breaking The Da Vinci Code, p. 13).

(b) Then, in The Da Vinci Code, Constantine in the fourth century A. D. is presented as suppressing ancient writings that revealed such a marital relationship, leaving only Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament. Brown's book further alleges that Constantine had these four gospels edited to conceal the marital union of Jesus and Mary Magdalene so as to promote the deity of Jesus and thus solidify Constantine's political power, Ibid., Bock, p. 100.

(c) Accordingly, Brown's The Da Vinci Code alleges the Christian faith to be a grand hoax, that Jesus is neither God nor Savior.

(2) As for "relational dysfunction," the day I wrote up the first draft of this sermon, I heard about or spoke with two parties that told of tremendous relationship problems they had had either with evil people or with demonic evil in the area with which associates were affected.

These events recalled a long series of "relation dysfunction" issues I had noted existed in many family units in 30 years of pastoral ministry.



Accordingly, we might ask these questions: "(1) Is there any ANSWER to the 'religious dysfunction' in The Da Vinci Code that suggests Jesus wed Mary Madgalene as a regular man instead of being her God, and that Jesus is thus not God to believed for salvation? (2) Is there any ANSWER to the 'relational dysfunction' that occurs in marriages, families, and churches due to sinful failure in people and the angelic conflict around us?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "(1) As The Da Vinci Code promotes a 'religious dysfunction' exists in claiming that Christ married Mary Magdalene, that this union was hid by Constantine when He edited the Gospels to exalt Jesus as God in a grand religious hoax, is there any evidence that reveals IF these claims are true?! (2) Is there any hope of victory over general 'relational dysfunction' that exits in a world of evil?!"
  1. Evidence relative to John's Gospel reveals the "religious dysfunction" promoted by The Da Vinci Code is utterly FALSE:
    1. Material evidence shows John's Gospel in the form we NOW have it existed in the 1st century A. D. prior to 4th century Constantine:
      1. A copy of John 18:31-32 in the Rylands fragment was found in Egypt and dated A. D. 100-150 by "competent paleographers" (Merrill F. Unger, Archaeology and the N. T., p. 21, ftn. 15).
      2. This find has an EXACT Alexandrian text type READING, so it came from a complete copy of the Gospel of John in its current form ! (Marchant A. King, "Should Conservatives Abandon Textual Criticism?" Bib. Sac. (1973) 130:517, p. 39)
      3. This fragment was found in Egypt's "hinterlands," so decades were needed for John's Gospel to get there, meaning it was in its current form by 90 A. D., Ibid.; Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1492.
    2. John's first century Gospel bears strong testimony to the validity of its account of Jesus' post resurrection meeting with Mary Magdalene:
      1. Mary Magdalene was the first believer to see the risen Jesus according to John 20:1-18; J. McDowell, A Ready Defense, p. 237.
      2. Yet, women in John's era were not felt to be trustworthy witnesses in courts of law, Ibid. For a first century male Jew like John to try to start his own religion, the last thing he would want to do would be to admit that a woman was the first to see its risen Lord, Ibid.!
      3. So, John's report that Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Christ exposes the honesty of the Gospel's author!
    3. This valid account reveals Jesus did NOT wed Mary Magdalene:
      1. When the risen Jesus revealed Himself to Mary, she clung to Him:
        1. Jesus' John 20:17 call for Mary to "Touch me not" uses the present tense with the negative particle, may, U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 408; Zond. Analytical Greek Lexicon, p. 49.
        2. This command calls for an act in progress to cease, Dana and Mantey, A Manual Gram. of the Greek N. T., 1957, p. 301-302.
        3. Realizing Jesus stood before her, Mary grabbed Him!
      2. Now, had John's Gospel (in its current form) been edited to hide a marital union of Jesus and Mary, it would have omitted this event!
      3. Then, John's Gospel reports Jesus told Mary to release Him so He might leave her for heaven, a statement opposite what He would have said had He been wed to her or planned to do so, Jn. 20:17a!
      4. John next reported Jesus implied He was related to Mary as a spiritual Brother like He was to His other disciples (20:17b), so He did not consider Himself to be or about to be her spouse!
  2. Rather, Jesus in John 20:11-18 is seen as Mary's God Who led her to victory over "relational dysfunction" by heeding positional truth:
    1. John 20:11-18 reveals Jesus is Mary's Sovereign GOD (as follows):
      1. In her grief over the absence of Jesus' body, Mary Magdalene did not reason well: she did not see His graveclothes signaled He was risen as John had (20:1-12), she did not see the importance of the appearance of the angels (20:12-13) and she did not at first recognize Jesus though He repeated the angels' question, 20:14-15!
      2. Yet, when Jesus spoke her NAME, she recognized Him; in accord with John 10:3-4, 27-30, Jesus as GOD cut through her mental fog by simply calling her name, Bib. Kno. Com., N. T., p. 342, 309ff.
    2. Christ's words even reveal His supernatural shepherding skill to give Mary Magdalene victory over relational dysfunction:
      1. Mary had a history of severe relationship abnormality: Luke 8:2 reports she had been saved from possession by seven demons, and Isaiah 8:19-22 describes the huge mental and emotional relational trauma this condition presents in one's relationships!
      2. Her intense grief at missing Jesus' body at the tomb in light of this background that led her to be unable to reason well shows a great relational vacuum still deeply plagued Mary's heart, John 20:7-15.
      3. Aware of this need, Jesus led Mary into "positional truth": she was to let Jesus go to heaven to minister in her new relationship in Him to the Father and to fellow believers in Him, John 20:16-17!
      4. This worked: note how Mary later focused on sharing this message about postional truth to Jesus' other disciples in John 20:18!
Lesson Application: (1) Versus the "religious dysfunction" extolled by The Da Vinci Code, credible evidence shows Jesus never wed Mary Magdalene, but that He is her GOD! He is to be believed for eternal life, John 3:16! (2) To offset "relational dysfunction" for fulfillment, may we focus on the positional truth we have in Christ.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

The day I prepared the first draft of this sermon this last week, I spoke on the phone with a Christian widow who had known severe and prolonged relational dysfunction in her long life.

She told how these hurts had been coming back to haunt her in her later years of widowhood, and that she did not know what to do about them as she felt no one around her understood her pain, nor that they would be willing to listen to her talk about it.

I recalled the passage I had studied earlier that day, noting the conversation that Jesus, our risen GOD had had with the relationally needy Mary Magdalene. I recalled how Jesus had pointed Mary away from trying to gain fulfillment for her inner vacuum by clutching to His risen body so that she might focus instead on the positional truth of her RICH SPIRITUAL relationships in God and fellow believers.

Accordingly, I told this widow that, according to Ephesians 1:6, positionally in Christ, we have been accepted by God the Father in His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus. No matter how hurt we are from the rejection and/or abuse suffered from sinful folk in past dysfunctional relationships, we are unconditionally, infinitely loved by our Creator God due to our standing in His Dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!

I then directed this Christian widow to Lewis Sperry Chafer's Systematic Theology, volume III and his discussion on "The Riches of Divine Grace." On pages 234-265 of the unabridged, 1948 edition are listed this and thirty-two other positions we believers have with God and Christ and other believers the INSTANT we TRUST in Christ as Savior! I urged her to read these pages and to look up the passages in the New Testament that described these riches we have in our Lord!

She was glad for the help, and decided to follow this advice!



Regardless of the "religious dysfunction" taught by The Da Vinci Code and the "relational dysfunction" our sinful world has created in the lives of many, the Christian faith as presented in the Bible is REAL, TRUE and to be BELIEVED and FOLLOWED for victory over all dysfunctions!



May we BELIEVE the Bible's God and Christ for salvation from sin and hell! Then, as did Mary Magdalene, may we RELATE to Him by faith in His Word for fulfillment in the heart!