Was Jesus married?

[corvus_corax]

I think that if Christ had been married, the Gospels would have indicated this.

Perhaps
Perhaps not
There seems to be a lot of argument for this side of the debate (ie "The Gospels would have mentioned it") on this thread

I think the Lord was too busy spreading the message of salvation to be tied down with marriage.

And/Or perhaps the Gospels didnt mention it becaue it wasnt important to the message he was attempting to spread (assuming a Christian POV that assumes he was spreading a Salvation Through him message).
Perhaps it wasnt so much that he couldnt be "tied down" to marriage (seeing as how God instituted such along with procreation), but rather that the Gospels (which reflect his ministry) are focused on a whole 'nother subject altogether


There was some Discovery Channel/History Channel/NG Channel show that I saw about 3 years ago that explained that Joseph had three primary duties to his son (as, apparently, according to this doc, all Jewish fathers did)-
1- To provide (in some way) instruction in the Torah
2- To provide a trade/way of income
and
3- To provide a bride (as in an arranged marriage)
The question posited on this show was- "Did Joseph fail in the last of the three, or was the last of the three just not important enough (regarding the "good news") to mention in the Gospels?"
The second question was- "Why would Joseph fail in the third duty?"

Anyway, food for thought

 

[Fares]

-
In the New Testament, they dont mention if he got married !

This is common logic, wich you dont use daily as I can see !
Our Lord getting married is a pretty big event, dont you think ? So they would have mentioned it in the Bible if he got married and we would celebrate that marriage every year !

Use your head next time before trying to be smart !

-

 

[WalterLorcan]

I think that if Christ had been married, the Gospels would have indicated this.

But the Gospels are silent on so much of Jesus' life.

None of the disciples appeared to be married. I think the Lord was too busy spreading the message of salvation to be tied down with marriage.

Jesus ministry only last 4 years, that leaves plenty of time.

 

[ottaia]

-
In the New Testament, they dont mention if he got married !

This is common logic, wich you dont use daily as I can see !
Our Lord getting married is a pretty big event, dont you think ? So they would have mentioned it in the Bible if he got married and we would celebrate that marriage every year !

Use your head next time before trying to be smart !

-

No 1. Jesus wasn't "Our Lord" then.
No. 2. If it was not big deal, why would they mention it. We are not given actual birth date. We are not given mundane details.

 

[corvus_corax]

-
In the New Testament, they dont mention if he got married !

Likewise they dont mention the vast majority of his life. Heck, they dont mention the date of his birth

This is common logic, wich you dont use daily as I can see !

No it's not. It may be your logic, but that's not the same thing.
Your logic states- The NT doesnt say he was married, hence he was not married.
Of course by that logic, it also doesnt state when Mary or Joseph died, hence they must not have died. After all the death of his parents would be a pretty big event, and the Gospels would mention it if they had died. It doesnt mention it, so they're still alive.

Now you can hopefully see the fact that your "logic" doesnt actually work.

Our Lord getting married is a pretty big event, dont you think ?

Nope not at all. As a matter of fact it would have been a very common event. So common, perhaps, that it didnt bear mentioning for the authors of the gospels

So they would have mentioned it in the Bible if he got married and we would celebrate that marriage every year !

Now that's just not necessarily true.
Christians celebrate Christmas every year and nobody has any idea when Jesus was born.

Use your head next time before trying to be smart !

I would suggest that you refrain from insulting the intelligence of our fellow forumites. We are using our heads, we are applying reasonable arguments.
The fact that you disagree with some of us doesnt make you smart, and it doesnt make you right.

So, be nice, quit needlessly insulting others, and we can continue this discussion

 

[Yusuf Evans]

But the Gospels are silent on so much of Jesus' life.




Jesus ministry only last 4 years, that leaves plenty of time.

Let's say for argument's sake he was married. So be it. I know he didn't have children. That would have been an important part of the gospels there. However, the only event that has extreme importance was his death and resurrrection. The rest of it is just icing on the cake. Those two events helped all of mankind from spending an eternity in hell, should we choose to accept that gift.

 

[ImmortalTechnique]

i think that at least one of the real characters that the mythical character of jesus was based on was married...

 

[Ave Maria]

But the Gospels are silent on so much of Jesus' life.




Jesus ministry only last 4 years, that leaves plenty of time.

Exactly! The Gospels leave out half of his life! In fact, they leave out everything from somewhere in childhood to about the time his ministry started when he was approximately 30 years old. Everything in between that time is missing! Here is a quote that really explains the controversy over whether or not Jesus was married in a short section quite well:

His marital status: Almost all Christians believe that he never married. This would have been very unusual for a Jewish male in the 1st century CE. During that era, almost all Jewish males married early in life. Although there is no direct evidence that he was married, some liberal theologians have pieced together a scenario that suggests that he did marry Mary Magdalene -- perhaps at the marriage in Cana in the Galilee, as described by the author(s) of the Gospel of John. They note that the early Church taught that she was a prostitute, even though there is no evidence of this in the Bible. Some of the writings of the early Church that never made it into the Christian Scriptures described Mary as playing a major role as a leader of the disciples. The theologians speculate that the Pauline church was trying to cover up Mary's actual role by degrading her status.

Source

I personally find it quite fascinating that perhaps the wedding at Cana was Jesus' own wedding!

 

[loriersea]

If Jesus was married, though, where was his wife? Women were included in his ministry, so there is no reason to assume that he would have simply left his wife behind. But, if any of the women mentioned in the Gospels were his wife, then it would have been customary, given the literary conventions of the time, to mention that. If he had been married to Mary Magdalene, for example, she would have been identified as the wife of Jesus in the texts. Since women's identity was heavily linked to who they were married to, identifying a woman by her husband was the norm. If Jesus' wife was mentioned in the texts, she would have been identified as "wife of Jesus" if the texts followed the conventions of the time, which they generally did. Unless it was common knowledge among the early Christian communities that the Gospels were written for that Jesus and Mary were married--which is possible, but not very likely--then I don't think the Gospels would have any reason for not identifying Mary as Jesus' wife, which would have been the conventional way to introduce her.

However, I do think it's possible that Jesus had been married. People got married young and died early, so it's possible that he had been married and widowed before his ministry began. But, if he had been married at the time of his ministry, I don't think the texts would have just skipped over that, since I don't think that Jesus would have involved other women in his ministry but left his wife at home.

However, the only event that has extreme importance was his death and resurrrection. The rest of it is just icing on the cake.

I'm guessing that most of us posting in the Liberal Theology forum would disagree with that . I certainly don't see Jesus' life and message as "icing on the cake," but rather as the fundamental message that as Christians we strive to follow.

 

[quantumspirit]

not married, but he did have a would-be girlfriend named Martha. it would never work out because when they disagreed, Jesus was right, not kissing a brown bottle.

 

[maniaco]

i said that Jesus probably was married, as in my opinion, most of the evidence points to this

 

[DailyBlessings]

The bride of Christ is the Church, and I highly doubt that there was another. Even more enlightened humans have had problems keeping a family together, because their love is spread more evenly across humanity- Christ truly loved all of his children equally, so I do not think that he would have chosen a wife. It would have been cruel, given his nature and his fate. And why, on the cross, would he assign care of his mother to a disciple, but leave his wife in the drift?

 

[ottaia]

The bride of Christ is the Church, and I highly doubt that there was another. Even more enlightened humans have had problems keeping a family together, because their love is spread more evenly across humanity- Christ truly loved all of his children equally, so I do not think that he would have chosen a wife. It would have been cruel, given his nature and his fate. And why, on the cross, would he assign care of his mother to a disciple, but leave his wife in the drift?

Good point!

 

[Fares]

courvos_corax !

We are in 2006 so I think Jesus was born before 2006 more or less ! And they say Jesus was born in spring !

Christians dont care about when Jesus was born !
We care about what he brought and taught us !
Do you care when your son or daugther were born excatly ? Or you are just happy that they were born ?

We are using our heads, we are applying reasonable arguments.

Good for you !
But you need knowledge to advance safely in your logic ! Maybe thats the problem !
I am not trying to insult you, I am maybe agressive but I dont hurt people on purpose,
honesty is a blessing and a curse !
So sorry if I offended you brother !

 

[Im_A]

Was Jesus married? I personally feel that he was more than likely married but I can't be certain of it. Was he married to Mary Magdalene? Nobody really knows for sure. It is a possibility but as far as I know, there are no ancient writings saying that Jesus was married to her. Perhaps Jesus was married to someone else? What do you feel about this issue? Was Jesus married or was he not married? Does the Bible prohibit the idea of Jesus being a married man? I don't see it as prohibiting this idea. What do you all think?

i wonder. with him being a rabbi and such.

but on that idea, i don't see anything prohibiting Jesus being married, but when the Bible seems to favor celibacy over marriage/lifelong relationships, i just wonder if Jesus would really get himself in a marriage to where his humanity would be hurting to leave that person that he is one with away for the sake of the Gospel.

 

[wingsoflight]

I can't place a link because I'm a Newbie, but if you would like to read about the marriage of Yeshua and Miriam, you can go to the Church of Celestine Light site and read the chapter "Marriage of Yeshua and Miriam" in the book of Nexus.

 

[wizanda]

If Christ said quite a few issues on marriage.

The one that gets me is to look at a women in lust is to commit adultary.
Now for me personally this only applies when you are attached and then you have to stop seeing the opposite sex as attractive.

Now since I didn't actually know it wasn't allowed untill I was with some one and then God told me off for doing what I always had before with out any problems.

I feel it must have been the same for Christ as it is a very strict LAW to add unless he was sure, which mean God must have taught him, so he would have exsperinced it, as we all learn through our mistakes.

Yet then he states it is better to be solo, so maybe as he grew up he had relationship and then after the wilderness, finally seperated him self to God 100%.

Anyways we can't be sure, yet that is what I feel on this.

 

[Utah Knight]

Time to wake up this thread i will offer some biblical proof and maybe get this thread rolling

1) St. John, 2 chap., verses 2-8. "And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, draweth out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast." Now at a Jewish wedding the guests cannot give orders. By Hebrew law and courtesy only the groom, the grooms mother, and the governer can give orders. The servants should have ignored Jesus's mother and Jesus. The groom should have been asked to allow them to do this and He would order the servants. For Jesus to do this before he became a well known miracle worker would have been unheard of. As well it is unlikely that Mary would have heard of the lack of wine before anyone else, again it would go against custom. But if Jesus was the groom and it was his wedding than this would have been perfectly alright. And throughout the entire chapter the groom is only asked by the governer why he hid the best wine until the end and to give it to the guests. So Jesus could be the groom at this wedding. It doesn't prove it but it definitely opens up the possibility. Jesus might not have been mentioned specifically as the groom because later when people wrote about Jesus they wanted him to appear pure and unmarried. But since they needed to show Jesus miracle they had to leave this part in. But they left it ambigous enough that no one would really question it.

2) Throughout the bible Jesus is called a teacher. By Hebrew law only married men may be teachers. So depending on how closely Jesus followed Hebrew law this could be a sign that Jesus was married. As for teaching people about religion again he would have to be married by Hebrew law. The moment any Jews heard Jesus wasn't married but was trying to teach them they'd all leave. UPDATE: I have found out through a response on this post and my own sources found out that to be a Rabbi a man has to be married. So while Jesus would not HAVE to be married, it would be considered bad form for Jesus to teach children. Now people have stated that Jesus didn't follow all the laws, and quite rightly stated that people were uncomfortable at FIRST with this. Now we can take this as meaning Jesus was never married and people just stopped caring. Or we can think that at first people were uncomfortable but something Jesus did shortly afterwards made them allow Jesus to continue teaching to the children. This could have been marriage. So we have a question mark here. Did the Jewish people just decide to ignore law and tradition for Jesus, a possibility. Or did Jesus get married and people didn't have a problem anymore. Like so much with the bible and religion in general it comes down to faith.

3) The most critical part comes about after Jesus is crucified and it shows us who Jesus may have been married to. St. Mark, Chap. 16, verse 1. "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him." Now by Hebrew law the ONLY women who can anoint a man are family members. For Mary Magdalene to even attempt to anoint Jesus would be unthinkable under Hebrew law, unless she was married to Jesus. So it seems much more likely through this one verse that Jesus and Mary were married.

Now I know the bible doesn't come right out and say Jesus was married. But if Jesus was known to be married would he be seen as pure as he is made out to be? It is very likely that Jesus was not acknowledged as being married because the writers of Jesus did not want it known. As many christians say the people who wrote about Jesus saw it from different perspectives and some were nowhere near Jesus when Jesus lived. So after the fact it would be easy to leave out certain parts that did not match up with what they wanted. And until some writing from Jesus or his disciples is allowed to come out of the vatican vaults there is always the possibility that some parts of Jesus life was left out by the known writers who were not close to Jesus.

 

[suzie]

Jesus would not be married. Jesus was God the Son. Thus although fully human He was fully divine. He was God who took on flesh and became man.Thus, God is our creator and king and would not be married in the flesh. Jesus was teacher, but He was unlike no other, He was Messiah. His role was to be the ultimate sacrafice so that we may live eternally. He did not play a typical human existence so therefore you cannot attribute comman human cultural themes to His life. There was no cultural law or religious law that required rabbis or Jewish men to be married. Therefore that is not proof that He was married.
There is no evidence that Jesus married any of the women that He encountered during His ministry on earth other than teacher and Lord. While Mary Magdalene was present at the cross when Jesus was hung and Jesus entrusted John to His mother Mary's care, he did not do so with Mary Magdalene. The non-biblical writings also do not support such.

 

[Red530]

We can never be sure if he was married or not. It's very hard to decide.