September 20, 2012 (Thursday)
The news this week repeats over and over that a papyrus fragment seems to say that Jesus had a wife. As I understand the situation, the fragment is from Gnostic documents that have long been discredited by reputable Biblical scholars. Nevertheless, it might seem appropriate for one to ask the question, “Could Jesus have been married and still be our Messiah?” The answer, of course, is “Yes.” There is nothing sinful about marriage and its inherent intimacy between a man and a woman. The question is, “Was He married?”
The answer to that question is clearly “No,” attested by the fact that there is no mention of a wife of Jesus in the books of the New Testament that have long constituted our Holy Bible. In the gospels, mention is made of Jesus’ mother, brothers and sisters. If He had had a wife, is it not strangely inconsistent that no mention is made of her?
The plain fact is that many people are uncomfortable with Jesus as we believers know Him to be: the Son of God and the Savior of the world. The Gnostic writings were intent on presenting Jesus as a mere human and many today are enamored with that idea. These writings were not accepted by Christians and were not included in the books that finally were assembled into one volume called “The Bible.”
The Church (believers in Jesus) is the true Bride of Christ. Jesus came with a single purpose in his heart and mind, and that was to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to die on the Cross, be buried in death and to rise from death in absolute victory over it, in behalf of us all. There never was anyone like Jesus. He stands alone as being fully human and fully divine. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.