“I am the vine; you are the branches.”

Perhaps you have heard or read a book entitled Everything I Need to Know About Life I Learned in Kindergarten.  It is indeed an interesting read yet I tend to believe that everything I needed to know about life I learned from Mom and Dad.  Today being Mother’s Day we need to thank Mom for all that she taught us.  One of the things my mother taught me was to never tell a lie.  I assume most Mothers taught this to their children.  This makes me wonder what Dan Brown’s mother thinks of her son's book The DaVinci Code.  It is a book of lies, yet I suppose we should not be surprised by that because it is a fictional novel.  What fictional writer has done the same thing that Dan Brown has done?  Dan Brown is no different than what Tom Clancy the author of The Hunt for Red October did.  In that book Tom weaved a wonderful plot that concluded with the US capturing a Russian nuclear submarine.  Dean R Koontz wrote a book about aliens polluting a real reservoir in a real town. When the town’s people drank the water they became zombies.  Did I believe that these things actually happened?  Of course not!  So why is so much fuss being made about the fictional novel The DaVinci Code?

Is Dan Brown’s vision of Jesus more interesting or intriguing or attractive than the vision we get from the Bible?  Is Dan Brown’s version of a corrupt church seeking to suppress the truth touching a nerve within a society where the church has been found guilty of trying to cover up the truth with regards to certain acts of transgression?  Is Dan Brown’s book exposing the fact that the average church going Christian is illiterate when it comes church history and scripture.

I believe that the average person reads the “fact page” in his book and sadly jumps to the conclusion that the book is factual.  Dan Brown masterfully mixes murder and myth in a spell binding fictional re-examination of 2000 years of religious history.

The story begins with the murder of an historian at the Louvre in Paris, and the discovery of a chain of cryptic codes and puzzles.  At the heart of the mystery is a secret that goes back to Leonardo Da Vinci and even further back to Jesus himself.

The ancient secret that they are trying to protect is that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and they had a child, whose bloodline continues to be present today.

Of course the title of the book comes from the claim that Leonardo Da Vinci was a member of a secret society entrusted with the truth about Jesus. Leonardo DaVinci has hidden clues in his artwork.

The DaVinci Code for practical purposes is no different than Urban Legends and God knows how susceptible we are in believing them. Just several weeks ago I sent out a warning to everyone on my email list not to open a certain email because it would unleash a virus in your computer. It was sent to me by a reliable source. If I wasn’t in such a rush that day, I would have checked it out for accuracy at www.snopes.com. I didn’t. Thanks to a number of recipients of my email I was notified that the email I spoke about was an urban legend.

I stand before you this morning to tell that The DaVinci Code is nothing but a goofy fictional book. It is a book that when scrutinized by historical facts and truths is found to be in error, inaccurate and false.

There is no historical evidence that supports that Jesus was married. There is no historical evidence that his wife was Mary Magdalene.  But there is historical evidence that Jesus had a love child.  As a matter of fact he had love children.  It is not the child or children that Dan Brown talks about.  Jesus’ love child is sitting right here, in the third row center aisle. He is sitting in the back left and corner.  She is sitting up in the balcony.

YOU and I are Jesus love children. As scripture states,

“To all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.”

This is reiterated in John 15 when Jesus said,

“I am the vine, You are the branches.”

You and I are the branches on the vine of Jesus. Jesus is the one who keeps us from being blown away by the storms of job loss and personal failure and conflict.  Jesus is the one who offers us ‘living water’ when we are feeling dried out and lifeless and who nourishes us with His teachings when we are wandering aimlessly. Jesus is the one who supports us when we fall, forgives when we sin, and even breathes new life into us when we feel dead.

The DaVinci Code is a fictional mystery novel filled with deceit, lies and myths. The Christ Code is truth. The Christ Code is no secret. John 15:1

“I am the vine you are the branches.”

How do I know that because eye witnesses have revealed to us as Peter stated,

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty"
(2 Peter 1:16).

Backed by such evidence, the Bible also remains the most scrutinized best seller in the world. Challengers come and go. What remain are the words of those who were willing to die for their claim that they personally witnessed the miraculous life, death, and resurrection of the Son of God.

The question remains which book are you going to put your faith in, The DaVinci Code a fictional novel or the Bible the inspired truthful Word of God?

They are both entertaining. Only the Bible, however provides you with the truth to build your faith and life.