Mark Tabata’s Weekday Devotionals:
Wednesday November 26 2025
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Psalm 22:9-But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.
We come now to examine the real culprits behind the modern resurgence of the conspiracy theories regarding Jesus and Mary Magdalene being husband and wife: a best selling novel from our day and age! According to the book, the Da Vinci Code, we are told that the Council of Nicaea conspired to remove the Gnostic books from the canon of Scripture because they taught that Jesus was human. Constantine and this Council (we are told) then chose the four Gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) because they emphasized the Divinity of the Lord. Let’s hear it straight from the Da Vinci Code itself:
““The twist is this,” Teabing said, talking faster now. “Because Constantine upgraded Jesus’ status almost four centuries after Jesus’ death, thousands of documents already existed chronicling His life as a mortal man. To rewrite the history books, Constantine knew he would need a bold stroke. From this sprang the most profound moment in Christian history.” Teabing paused, eyeing Sophie. “Constantine commissioned and financed a new Bible, which omitted those gospels that spoke of Christ’s human traits and embellished those gospels that made Him godlike. The earlier gospels were outlawed, gathered up, and burned.”” (Dan Brown, The Da Vinci Code: Featuring Robert Langdon (Robert Langdon), 254 (Kindle Edition): New York, NY: DoubleDay)
Now, we have already noted several of the deceptions alluded to in this text, and will not rehash all that here.
Yet what about the claim that the Bible does not teach the humanity of Jesus?
Let’s study.
First, the Old Testament Scriptures were clear that the Messiah would be human. We are told that the Messiah would be the Seed of woman (Genesis 3:15), as well as being descended from Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3), Isaac (Genesis 17:21), Jacob (Genesis 28:14), Judah (Genesis 49:10), David (2 Samuel 7:16), etc. Specific prophecies speak of the Messiah being born into the world (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7; Micah 5:1-4), growing into adulthood and experiencing various human conditions and frailties (Isaiah 53), and being put to an excruciating and painful death (Psalm 22). In every way, the Old Testament prophesies a Savior Who is not only Divine, but also human.
Second, the humanity of Jesus is affirmed throughout the New Testament. Through the Incarnation, He enters the human womb (Matthew 1:18). and He experiences physical birth (Luke 2:1-21). Throughout His life, the Savior fully understood things such as hunger (Matthew 21:18; Luke 4:2), thirst (Psalm 22:15; John 19:28), sickness (Matthew 8:17), temptation for sinful pleasure (Hebrews 4:15-16), weariness (Matthew 8:24; John 4:6), discouragement (John 6:67), overwhelming anxiety (Luke 22:44), grief (John 11:35), abandonment by loved ones (Mark 14:50), unparalleled physical suffering (Matthew 27:26; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21), and crippling doubt (Matthew 27:46).
One of the most profound passages regarding the humanity of Jesus is found in Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians:
Philippians 2:5-8-Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Please notice that in this passage, the Apostle Paul elaborates upon both the Divinity and the humanity of Jesus. The original Greek wording of the text is informative:
“Notice some crucial features of this important passage. First, Paul makes clear that Christ Jesus, as the eternal Son of the Father, is fully God. He offers two expressions, each of which conveys the full deity of Christ. Paul writes that Christ existed in the “form of God” (v. 6), using the term morphē, which refers to the inner nature or substance of something, not its external or outward shape. So, while the English word form can convey merely the outward appearance of something (i.e., the shape or contour or façade of some object), not its inner reality, the Greek word morphē conveys just the opposite, as can be seen with Plato’s “forms”—i.e., those substances of ultimate realities such as beauty, truth, justice, goodness, etc., that Plato thought existed eternally and apart from any material representation. The Greek morphē, then, is the inner substance or very nature of a thing, not its outer shape or appearance….With this background in mind, Paul’s declaration that Christ possesses “equality with God” is stunning. It can mean only one thing: by virtue of the fact that no one can be equal to God but God himself, Christ, who possesses equality with God, must himself be fully God. Of course, as we often find where the deity of Christ is expressed, we see hints or outright declarations that someone other than Christ likewise is God. Since he is equal to God, this means that there is another who is God, in relation to whom Christ is his equal. So, as John puts it, the Word is both “with God” and is “God” (John 1: 1), and Hebrews declares that Christ is the “exact imprint” of the nature of God (Heb. 1: 3). Likewise here in Philippians 2, Christ is other than the one who is God (understood as the Father, no doubt) while he is also equal to this other one who is God and so is himself fully God…“Third, as one who is fully God, Christ Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant” (v. 7). The word that here is translated “emptied himself,” ekenōsen (third aorist indicative of kenoō), means literally just this: that Christ “emptied himself” or “poured out himself.” …No, Christ remains in his divine nature fully who and what he is in his existence as the eternal second person of the Trinity. He has eternally been fully God, and now in the incarnation he pours out fully who he is as God, remaining fully God as he does so. The question then becomes just what this means—that Christ, the one who exists in the form of God (morphē) and as equal (isa) to God, pours himself out (ekenōsen). The answer comes, amazingly, in the three participles (particularly the first one) that follow ekenōsen. Christ poured himself out, taking the form of a servant. Yes, he pours out by taking; he empties by adding….That is, he must come fully as a man, and as a man he must live his life and give his life as one of us. In so doing, Christ pours himself out (all of who he is) as he takes on, in addition to his full divine nature, a full human nature…He came, then, to become the God-man—the one whose very divine nature took on fully the existence of a created human nature. He poured himself out by adding to himself the nature of a man, indeed, the nature of a servant par excellence who would give his life in obedience on the cross to fulfill the will of his Father.” (Bruce A. Ware, The Man Christ Jesus: Theological Reflections on the Humanity of Christ, 17-22 (Kindle Edition); Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway)
Contrary to the claims of the Da Vinci Code, the Bible affirms powerfully both the Deity and the humanity of the Messiah.
There was not a conspiracy to strip Jesus of His Divinity and affirm His humanity by Constantine, since the Christian Bible affirmed both Jesus’ Deity and humanity hundreds of years before this Roman Emperor ever drew breath!
There was not a conspiracy to remove knowledge of Jesus and Mary Magdalene being husband and wife from the Bible, since neither the Bible (nor even the Gnostics themselves) affirmed such foolishness!
In the next couple of studies, we will bring to a conclusion this series by noticing why so many people in our day and age are enamored with these conspiracy theories, what Constantine teaches us about the danger of mixing Christianity with state politics, and who the true wife of Jesus is!
Today, please meditate with me on the humanity of Jesus Christ as God’s Word reveals such to us. What does this mean for you? How does this knowledge help you as a Christian who struggles with temptation and sin? As you consider these things, mediate on the words of the writer of Hebrews (2:12-18; 4:15-16).
Father, thank You for teaching us about the Divinity and the humanity of our Savior. Strengthen us with this knowledge. We praise You-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-for You are worthy. Amen.
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