The way I see it Jesus must have had a wife at some point

by sabastious 55 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  sabastious

  The Jesus figure in the Bible, accross almost all Christian denominations, is one of redemption for humankind. The way that Jesus accomplishes that redemption, however, differs between them. According to the Gospels God, or God's son, lived a man's life and died as a man in redemption of mankind. Evidently, living a man's life was a requirement for the redemption to take place. This would be, at least in part, because up until Jesus' existence no divine being had lived the life of a human from birth.

  That being said, take a look at Matthew 5:27-29:

  27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ [ e ] 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29

  Even as a child I remember thinking Jesus was being over the top in this verse and now I know why it bugged me so much. Jesus is always presented within the Bible as a perfect man in thought, intention and action. Yet, here we have a man who has never even kissed a woman on the cheek making a wild generalization about relationships. As the Gospel reccounts Jesus was not one to be a hypocrite and there were many people of that day that would have called him out on such a hypocritical statement including his Apostles.

  I theorize that it is because of this verses inconsistancy with the scriptures, as well as Gospels, that surround it, that Jesus must have had a wife, especially one that died. With that added in this verse makes more sense. Jesus would have means to make such a bold statement because he was choosing to be faithful to the memory of a dead wife. If this were true no one would dare question whether or not he had looked at a woman lustfully since her death as it would dishonor both of them.

  -Sab
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  Devil_Fish

  Mary Magdalene?
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  dark angle

  Interesting link Devil_fish.

  Its a long and old idea that Jesus was married. The nostic Christians in the early first century believed that He was married.:)
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  Awen

  One of the things that always caught my attention was the Jewish Priests use of the term Rabbi when addressing Jesus on occasion. This is in the NWT not in others. The link shows the use is erroneous as the term wasn't used until 200 CE and was first mentioned in the Jewish Mishna (not the Bible). I bring this up because supposedly (I'm not exactly sure) a persson seeking to be a Rabbi must be married as it would be difficult, not to mention improper to give couself to a married couple if you had no experience in marriage.

  If you look at the Apocryplah writings, especially the Gospel of Mar Magdalene it seems that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' wife. It mentions Jesus kissing Mary on the mouth (in several verses) and that Peter was especially jealous of her. It also mentions that Mary (not Peter) was appointed by Jesus to succeed him as leader of the movement after his death. One of the clues as to whether Mary was married (or at least a widow) is that she roamed around freely with the disciples. Women just didn't do this in ancient Israel UNLESS they had money or a man to provide for them since women weren't allowed to hold down secular jobs. This can bee seen by the widow who's son died (whom Jesus raised). Withot a son to provide for her she would be destitute since she also had no husband. This is why sons were valued more than daughters because fo them being able to provide materially.

  Mary Magdalene traveled around wuite extensively with Jesus and no mention was ever made of a husband. To modern readers we woulodn't think twice about it, but to someone in those times it would be something very unusual for a single woman with seemingly no income to spend large amounts of time in Jesus' company. Hence the RCC labeling her as a prostitute to take away some of her glory and to put the focus on Peter.

  So the things the Bible doesn't say, when considered with historical background does seem to support the case for Mary Magdalene being the wife of Jesus. Then again we really don't know.
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  journey-on

  In Gnostic Christianity, Mary Magdalene was his wife.
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  wobble

  You may be on tosomething Sab, we can't have Jesus being seen as either hypocritical or incompetent.

  Over here in the U.K they are screening an Irish sit-com called "Mrs Brown's Boys" , hilarious stuff, very Irish.

  In the episode I watched the other night, Mrs Brown says to the local Priest on the matter of marriage :

  "If you don't play the game, don't make the rules"

  That could be levelled at Jesus if he were truly celibate.

  Despite all of the above, I think the words he is supposed to have spoken about looking at a woman lustfully are very true, and a salutary warning for those in a relationship who intend to remain faithful.
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  metatron

  I have wondered about this seriously for several reasons.

  1) the idea of a Jewish guy getting to 30 years old without getting married sounds very weird in the context of 1st century Judaism. He would be looked upon as a weirdo ...or worse.

  2) How can Christians have any sense of Jesus being a perfect man and having been tested in every way, when he never engaged in sex? Isn't that the biggest, most popular test of all?

  3) the Gospels refer, in passing, to 'his house'.........huh?

  I'd love if Leolaia would hit on this topic.

  metatron
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  Band on the Run
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  Tired of the Hypocrisy

  "2) How can Christians have any sense of Jesus being a perfect man and having been tested in every way, when he never engaged in sex? Isn't that the biggest, most popular test of all?"

  How about being tested with MARRIAGE? I mean there is a test of will and patience.
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  sabastious

  Despite all of the above, I think the words he is supposed to have spoken about looking at a woman lustfully are very true, and a salutary warning for those in a relationship who intend to remain faithful.

  I agree, but I believe that conclusion to be more what the Christian community gleaned from their experiences where scripture was required to be inerrant.

  I think it's quite evident that what actually happened in Jesus day isn't accurately recorded. I also do not believe that the Gospels were originally intended to provide the entire picture as the writer's knew their limitations. Only four Gospels made it into the Bible cannon even though many existed. If Jesus did indeed have a wife it would prove a grave blow to the Catholic church as it would provide evidence for a purposeful changing of their deities personal history to suit their purpose (as they were the ones that put together the Bible in the first place).

  -Sab