By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on August 29, 2021
A Search for the Whole Truth About Jesus' Life
This article concludes a three-part series of investigative articles that I began with "Mary Magdalene: Was She Jesus' Wife?," published on November 10, 2019, and "The Royal Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene," published on January 3, 2020. The Royal Bloodline article, alone, has been read by more than 105,000 people worldwide. This series of articles resulted from two years of research I conducted in connection with an upcoming book I am writing on the Royal Bloodline of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
The articles and book are based upon: (a) the Bible, as we know it today, with all of its drastic editing, revisions, censorship, and omission of known facts about the life of Jesus; (b) certain historically accurate Books of Gospel that were deliberately excluded from the Bible because they did not adhere to the Roman Catholic Church's theological message at the time Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria compiled the Bible in 367 AD; (c) facts derived from historical records that were written and maintained by other parties in the ordinary course of life; and (d) various genealogical charts of historical figures and dynasty families that intermarried to perpetuate the Royal Bloodline to the present day.
Three key dates in Jesus' life have not been established with certainty. They are: (a) the year of Jesus' birth, (b) the date Jesus began his ministry and how long it lasted, and (c) Jesus' age when he was crucified. Jesus' birth year is uncertain because Dionysius Exiguus, the Scythian monk who developed the "BC" for "Before Christ" and "AC" for "After Christ" system of dates in the fifth century, made a calculation error in establishing Jesus' birth year. Exiguus failed to take into account the fact that Jesus was born before Herod the Great died in 4 BC. Herod ruled as king of the Jews from 27 to 4 BC. After Jesus' birth, Herod issued an order to kill all male children in Bethlehem two years old, or younger. As such, Jesus must have been a young child by the time Herod died.
Based upon other historical records beyond the Bible and correcting for Exiguus' error, it appears that Jesus' ministry began when he was about 32 to 34 years old. His ministry lasted anywhere from one to three years, depending on which Book in the New Testament is correct on the number of annual Passovers that occurred during his ministry. Most scholars believe Jesus' ministry lasted about three years. As such, Jesus' crucifixion occurred when he was about 35 to 38 years old.
I am a Christian. My sole objective in publishing these articles and my book is to present the whole truth regarding the life of Jesus. I used my training as a trial lawyer and skills as an investigative journalist to gather, organize, and properly document the relevant facts relating to Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Chronologically speaking, it is not possible to sequentially arrange the events in the life of Jesus in any definitive way by a reliance on the Bible alone, as none of the New Testament's Gospels follows an overtly chronological pattern over his lifetime. Therefore, I used hundreds of independent sources and documents to reconstruct and corroborate the life, marriage, parenthood, and genealogy of Jesus and Mary Magdalene, as well as the genealogy of their descendants.
Jesus Married Mary Magdalene and Sired Children
Their first child was named Sarah. She would later be known as Sarah-Damaris Bat Yeshuah Princess of West-Francs. Her father was Jesus of Nazareth and her mother was Mary Magdalene. The couple also sired a son named Joseph, who would later be known as Joseph Rama Theo ben Jesus Bishop of Saraz.
The Bible does not expressly say whether Jesus was married or not, nor does it say whether Jesus fathered children, or not. The Bible is ambiguous about the role Mary Magdalene played in the life of Jesus. Yet, there is an abundance of credible historical information beyond the Bible that attests to the marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene and their parenthood.
The omission of these two important subjects from the Bible is not shocking from a theological standpoint. The Roman Catholic Church's Bible is a respected religious document within the context of (a) the time period it was written, (b) the religious messages it conveyed throughout the Roman empire, and (c) the religious interests it advanced and protected for the Church. The same is true with respect to King James' version of the Bible protecting the interests of the British crown. Both Bibles, however, paint an incomplete historical picture of the life of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. They intentionally omit known and well-documented facts about the life and times of this royal couple to portray him as a deity.
The objective evidence confirms that Jesus was, indeed, deity in the human form. In Jesus, God acquainted Himself, first hand, with the full range of human experiences (e.g., joy, sadness, temptation, fear, discipline, struggle, danger, learning, teaching, the challenges of leadership, romance and love, sexuality, conception, childbirth, parenthood, family ties, jealousy, envy, falsehoods, friendship, enemies, helplessness, loneliness, humility, self-restraint, commitment, faith, belief, betrayal, persecution, criminal prosecution, punishment, physical pain and suffering, and mortality).
The Wedding at Cana
Jesus was a member of the Tribe of Judah. Mary Magdalene was a member of the Tribe of Benjamin. After they met and fell in love, Jesus and Mary Magdalene were virtually inseparable. Jesus was a lineal descendant of a royal bloodline that spanned 42 generations and included King Solomon and King David.
Jesus met Mary Magdalene at the home of the local Pharisee, Simon, in Capernaum. Magdalene means "from Magdala." According to Luke 8:2, Jesus had cured her of "evil spirits" by casting out "seven demons." Afterwards, she accompanied him in and around the province of Galilee, where Nazareth, Magdala, Cana, and Capernaum are located. She also traveled with Jesus to Judea, where Jerusalem and Bethlehem are located. Mary Magdalene's friendship circle included Joanna (the wife of Chuza, Herod's wealthy business manager) and Mary (the wife of Clopas).
The couple married during the wedding at Cana. Jesus' mother, Joseph of Arimathea, and other dignitaries were in attendance. At the wedding, both Jesus and the attending servants obeyed his mother's commands. Jesus also performed the duties typically ascribed to a "bridegroom" under Jewish law. The wedding occurred before Jesus began his ministry and public display of miracles at "about thirty years old." Luke 3:23
The wedding at Cana began a dynasty marriage between the Tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which had historically competed for influence and political power in Roman-occupied Israel for generations. Symbolically, this union positioned Jesus as the titular "King of the Jews," literally and figuratively.
After they married, Jesus called Mary Magdalene his "companion," which translates to "spouse" in Jesus' era. He was openly affectionate with her. Jesus often kissed Mary Magdalene on the lips, much to the consternation of Peter and other disciples.
In their day, all Jewish men were expected to be married, especially for Rabbis like Jesus. Additionally, childbearing was viewed as the highest calling for a wife, while childlessness brought social stigma and shame upon her.
Jesus also loved little children and, over the objections of his disciples, he ministered to them, as well. He also promoted the marriage, fidelity, and family.
As his spouse, Mary Magdalene led the list of women who followed Jesus. Rabbis in Jesus' day did not have women disciples, so traveling with Jesus would have been highly unusual for a single woman. Mary Magdalene even "ministered unto [Jesus]." She attended the last supper. She was also present at Gethsemane when Jesus prayed to God to spare him of death, a prayer that God answered with His silence. Mary Magdalene stood with Jesus' mother at his crucifixion. She was the first witness to the empty tomb following Jesus' crucifixion. Finally, Mary Magdalene was the one Jesus first chose to reveal his resurrection.
Based upon the totality of facts and circumstances, Mary Magdalene was closer to Jesus than any of his disciples.
Mary Magdalene's Life After Jesus' Death
After Jesus' ascension, Mary Magdalene, her children, Jesus' mother, Joseph of Arimathea, Martha, and others were smuggled out of Jerusalem by Lazarus. For their personal safety, they were taken by ship to France, which had a large Jewish population.
This was not the first time the Royal Bloodline had to flee Israel. Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, had to flee Bethlehem for Egypt shortly after Jesus' birth to prevent Herod the Great from killing him.
The Royal Bloodline entourage arrived at Marseilles first. From there, Lazarus took Mary Magdalene and her children to Gaul. Jesus' mother eventually settled in Ephesus in Greece, where she died. Mary Magdalene died in France. Lazarus died at Marseilles after founding a church there.
Sarah and Joseph became adults in France, married, and had children. Their offspring also married, birthed children, and eventually ascended to royal positions in France and other parts of Europe.
After Mary Magdalene, her children, Jesus' mother, and their entourage escaped to France, the Royal Bloodline perpetuated itself, intact and incognito for the next four hundred years. During the fifth century, this Royal Bloodline intermarried with the Royal Bloodline of the Franks, thus engendering the Merovingian dynasty. From there, the Bloodline continued through the Carolingians (who deposed the Merovingian dynasty from its throne) to William the Conqueror of England, and from there to Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, and other parts of the world.
In Germany, Christian rulers took power and lands of the Western Roman Empire, 400 years after it fell in 467 AD. A king called Charlemagne crowned himself emperor and set about rebuilding a Christian empire in Europe. By 900 AD, King Charlemagne's empire had fallen apart, but ambitious German princes took on the title of Holy Roman Emperor for centuries afterwards. In medieval Europe, France was conquered by the Franks, a Germanic tribe. Eventually, France went on to become the most powerful country in Europe.
By the fifteenth century, King Louis XI of France acknowledged Mary Magdalene as the source of the French royal line. King Charlemagne, who ruled Hapsburg, recognized her royalty, as well.
Today, there are at least a dozen families in Europe who are of Merovingian descent. They include the Houses of Hapsburg-Lorraine, Plantard, Luxembourg, Montpezat, Montesquieu, and others. In Britain, various branches of the Sinclair, Stuart, and Devonshire families are descendants of the Royal Bloodline.
A present day descendant of the Royal Bloodline is Dr. Rainer Zielke, a distinguished professor of genealogy, politics & history, religion & spirituality, and theology in Germany. Dr. Rainer Zielke is the 38th descendant of King Charlemagne. His 2021 German publication titled, "Die Vorfahren Karls des Großen" ("The Ancestors of Charlemagne"), documents a 4,000-year genealogical, cultural, and historical journey back in time to Jesus, King David, Abraham, Noah, and Adam, which spans an epic 136 generations ancestry.
An excellent history of the Royal Bloodline is also presented in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, Published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape Ltd., 1982. This well-researched New York Times bestseller served as one of my many reference sources.
Epilogue
Author/journalist Lee Strobel's 1998 book, "The Case for Christ," documented by clear and convincing evidence that Jesus was deity in the human form. The NLT Study Bible, Second Edition, Tyndale House Publishers (2008), corroborates this fact with biblical texts and historically accurate timelines. However, there was nothing in my research to suggest that the lineal descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene are deity themselves.
As Americans have seen in history books about the birth of our nation, historians tend to present narratives that reflect the cultural norms and biases existing in the periods of history that are presented. Women around the world have suffered a similar fate during times of extreme male dominance in a particular culture. The Bible is no different in its biased treatment of Mary Magdalene and its protectionism of a carefully scripted but incomplete account of Jesus and his life.
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