Scholars at Harvard Divinity School
announced recently the finding of an ancient Coptic papyrus that suggests that
Jesus might have been married. According
to Professor Karen King, while this document cannot shed any conclusive
evidence on the real marital status of the historical Jesus, it does contain a
statement that reads: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife . . .’” Ever since the
announcement the world has been buzzing and Christendom has been up in arms.
I thought we had beat this one to a
pulp about ten years ago when Dan Brown wrote his big bestseller, The Da Vinci Code—especially after it
became a big blockbuster in the movie theaters.
I also thought we had beat it to a pulp nearly thirty years ago when
Martin Scorsese adapted Nikos Kazantzakis’ 1953 book, The Last Temptation of Christ, into a movie. Needless to say
Kazantazakis’ book back in the early 1950s also took a beating despite that it
missed the Pulitzer Prize for Literature by a couple of votes and nearly got
the author excommunicated from the church.
It seems that Jesus’ marital status has a life of its own as it keeps
resurrecting itself every couple of decades . . . the question becomes, why
does it bother people so much?
I had been hearing rumbles and rumors for
years that Jesus had been married. The
first time I stumbled upon it was in the rock musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, with its overtures of
Jesus and Mary Magdalene had some sort of “thing” going on . . . then there was
Kazantazakis’ book . . . then Scorsese’s adaption of the book . . . then John
Prine mentioned it in his humorous song, The
MissingYears . . . then Dan Brown’s book and subsequent movie, The Da Vinci Code. And, now this . . . a Coptic scrap of paper
from around the fourth century! Surely,
where there is smoke there has to be a fire!
OMG! Jesus married?
First of all, those scholars that made
the announcement never said that Jesus was married. In fact, Professor Karen King stated that the
scrap did not shed any conclusive evidence on the marital status of Jesus. We know from the Gospels that the writers did
not spend any time dealing with the dating life nor the marital status of Jesus
. . . nope, not a work. No real evidence
of Jesus’ marital status is to be found anywhere in what Christendom recognizes
as “holy scripture”. All we have is a
lot of people being creative and suggesting—sometimes quite subtly and other
times quite blatantly—that Jesus might have been married. Again, why does that bother some people or a
lot of people?
What if? I find that to be one of the most powerful questions—and
statements—in my faith. Powerful because
it makes me consider the possibilities of God’s creative and powerful presence
in the lives of human beings. Key to
that is the idea of possibilities . . . possibilities that make me consider miracles
. . . possibilities that make me consider healings . . . the presence of the
holy . . . of hope . . . of potential and, of being real enough to strengthen
my faith—not diminish it. So, what if Jesus had been married?
Now I have to confess that if I fully
believe in the monastic order—monks and nuns, and the rituals that they have
practiced for centuries, well then, I don’t understand what the big debate is
all about. Nuns have been marrying years
for what seem like forever! Aren’t they
considered the “brides of Christ”? If
that is the case then Jesus is not a Christian, he is a polygamist Mormon! That might be a scary “what if”!
Years
ago singer Joan Osborne had a hit single that asked the question: What if God
was one of us
Just a
slob like one of us
Just a
stranger on the bus
Trying
to make his way home
For some reason we—who call ourselves
Christian—have a difficult time dealing with the human side of Jesus. We have a difficult time accepting his human
nature. We don’t want to see Jesus being
like one of us. I think that is what
made all those books, movies, and song so controversial . . . they were getting
a too close to home . . . too reflective of us . . . and that makes us
uncomfortable. None of likes to be
reminded of what we are or what we could become. Especially if we are truly going to be
followers of God. If we keep Jesus in
that super holy, up in the sky, sort of guy we always have an excuse. Who can touch the heavens and who can be like
Jesus? But don’t the scriptures tell us
that Jesus was one of us—fully human? Is
that what scares us about the possibility that Jesus might have tied the knot?
It does not bother me if folks want to
conjecture about whether or not Jesus was married. I can take Jesus either way . . . I can take
Jesus either way because it makes me consider what if? What if Jesus were like us . . . then I think that his
life and story are that much more powerful.
Why? Because it shows us the way
when we follow him. It shows us the
potential. It shows us God’s hope. It
shows us what could really be. Consider
this: What new possibilities might it open up to us if we did begin to think of
Jesus as a spouse, partner or perhaps even a father? Kind of mind-boggling, isn’t it?
This is not mean to be a scholarly
piece of writing . . . nor is it meant to be what the ancient church used to
call an “apology” . . . it is just my ramblings and stammerings about an
interesting topic that just does not want to seem to die. It gets resurrected more than Jesus
does! Everyone is entitled to his or her
opinion . . . his or her own belief. I
think that is what God wants for each of us—a faith that we can believe
in. I am not hear to change anyone’s
ideas . . . my faith is strong enough to handle other’s faith. I just hope the faith of others is strong
enough to handle mine.
This little controversy affirms for me
what I have come to believe about my faith in the last couple of decades, and
that is that I am a follower of Jesus. I want to be known as a follower of
Jesus . . . being called a Christian is okay, but it also alludes to a certain
set of doctrines . . . doctrines most often created by men (check out your
church history on that one). Whether
Jesus was married or not does not matter to me . . . it is where he leads me
that matters to me and others. OMG!!
Really? Jesus was married? So what!