What did you think of The DaVinci Code ?

I think it was a fairly entertaining suspense movie. It kept my attention for almost the whole 2 ½ hours. It reminded me of an old “whodunit” mystery. Lots of different plot twists.  But you didn’t really want to know how entertaining I found the movie, did you...

What the questioner really wanted to know was what I, as a pastor, thought of the movie from a theological viewpoint. A comment I made to Anthony when we first saw the previews for the movie in the theater a couple months ago still applies after I have seen the movie. “That movie is evil.”

When you think of “evil” you probably think about senseless violence, “bad guys” plotting murders of “good guys.” Or maybe you think of a movie filthy with godless conduct or maybe demons and spells. Those things don’t define the “evil” I was thinking of when I made the comment. I made the comment thinking that the intent of the movie was to deceive people into believing some lies about Jesus. And, as we talked about all throughout Lent, we are in a war with Satan. His goal is to ruin your life and destroy your faith. His tactic is always the same: he lies. Deception is of Satan. The movie was designed to deceive. That’s evil.

It seemed pretty obvious that the underlying goal of the movie was to deceive people into thinking that Jesus was a mere human being - not God, not the Son of God. To accomplish this deception the movie (and book) used outright fabrications of truth (lies) and presented these lies in such a way as to make them seem like truth. An example is the following assertion made by the “expert” historian in the story:

“Until the council of Nicaea (in 325 a.d.) 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. Jesus’ establishment as the Son of God was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea.”

“You’re saying that Jesus’ divinity was the result of a vote?” 

  “Yes, and a relatively close vote at that.”

There really was a church Council in Nicaea in 325 a.d. But the Council did not vote on whether Jesus was God or not. From the disciples onward, Jesus’ followers did indeed believe that he was divine - not merely a human being. (Check out John 1:1-2,14. John 20:28, Matthew 16:16, etc...)  By 325 a.d. Jesus’ divinity was a “given” in all Christendom.  The Council of Nicaea simply tried to determine if the Scriptures taught that Jesus had existed as God since eternity (just like the God the Father).  The “relatively close” vote”?   300 to 2 !  One of many examples of outright deception by the book and movie!

The movie then went on to try to “appease” Christians by trying to convince us that it really doesn’t matter for our faith if Jesus is merely human.

But it does matter!  If Jesus is merely human, that means he’s in the same category as guys like Buddha and Mohammed. Guys who said some profound spiritual things, but who are simply men (not divine) and thus also said and did some things that were pretty wrong. And if not everything Jesus said or did is right... well, we don’t have to listen to him. We can write him off. BUT... if Jesus is divine, that means we really do have to listen to, trust and obey him.

The movie would have us believe that Jesus was a really powerful teacher and moral example even though he was human. But as C.S. Lewis (author of the Narnia books) wrote “Jesus has not left that option open to us.” Lewis goes on to point out that a man who claims to be God (as Jesus did) but who in reality is not God, would either be one of two things: 1) A crazy person or 2) intentionally trying to deceive people. A man who claims to be God but in reality is not God could never be considered a good moral example and teacher. He could be called “crazy” or a “deceiver” but not a “good moral teacher.”

So, how do we know that Jesus really is God - not merely a human being as The DaVinci Code would have us believe? For me it comes down to the event that changed all history: The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. All the other “mere men” who said profound spiritual things are still in their graves. Jesus’ tomb is empty. His resurrection shows us that he truly is who he said. The resurrection shows us that what his followers believed is true.   Jesus is God!

And since Jesus is God, that means he can’t be ignored. He can’t be “written off” as simply a “good moral teacher.” We must listen to, trust and obey Him.

One final, but very important note:  Even though I believe Satan would like to use the movie to deceive people into thinking that Jesus is merely human (and thus doesn’t need to be listened to), I also believe that God can take anything Satan has planned for evil and turn it around 180 degrees and use it powerfully for good. The cross is the ultimate example of God’s ability to do that. I have seen how God has used this movie to give Christians a great opportunity to talk about the truth of Jesus with friends who are wondering. I have also seen how God has used this movie to cause Christians to seek answers to questions raised by the movie and thus come to a much greater understanding of their faith.

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