Was Jesus Married?

by Robert Rosskopf

The Biblical record is silent on the marital status of Jesus. In fact, it is silent on the marital status of most prophets. We might be tempted to assume the absence of marriage when it isn't explicitly stated, but this would be a mistake. Marriage is a Jewish law. The very first law given by God to Adam was to multiply and replenish the earth. (Genesis 1:28) In summarizing the story of Adam and Eve, Moses states that a man must "leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." (Genesis 2:24) According to the Babylonian Talmud, a man without a wife, or a women without a husband is incomplete. (Yebomoth 62b) Because of the cultural and spiritual importance of marriage, one would expect to find some rationalization if Jesus was indeed unmarried when he started his ministry. His enemies would likely have used his unmarried status to discredit him. Yet not one person complains that he hasn't fulfilled the law, that he hasn't been properly married. Traditionally, a Rabbi or judge is required to be married. Peter tells us that Jesus committed no sin, which would indicate that Jesus kept the law. (1 Peter 2:22).

That Jesus was called "Rabbi" seems to confirm his marital status, although it is uncertain whether the Rabbinic title has always been exclusive to married men. If we look at the life of Jesus, we find several tantalizing clues.

>Jesus attended a wedding in Cana, where he performed his first miracle. His mother came to him when the wine was getting low. In Jewish custom, it is the groom that supplies the wine. Jesus responded that it wasn't yet time for him to come out, implying that he couldn't deal with it personally. This also may imply that he was the groom, and hadn't yet finished the honeymoon stage that ran concurrent with the wedding feast. Jesus's mother seems to be in charge of the wedding, as she commanded the servants to do whatever Jesus asked. Where did she find 6 servants? Was Jesus in the same house as the wedding feast? He then told the six servants to fill six waterpots with water, and then to bring some to the person in charge of the wedding feast. Known as the master of the feast, it was their duty to arrange the tables and couches, determine the courses and taste the food. After tasting the water, then turned wine, the master of the feast seems genuinely surprised, wondering perhaps if someone else has brought wine to the wedding. The servants knew where the wine had come from and presumably told the master, at which point he summons the bridegroom. This strongly implies that the source of the wine was the bridegroom. It was to the bridegroom that the governor asks why the good wine was saved for later. (John 2)

Mary Magdalene and others actually supported Jesus during his ministry.
(Luke 8:1-3) When Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he appears to Mary before he even ascends to see his own father. Mary is there to dress the body - an act reserved for other men or the deceased's spouse. In the Gospel of Phillip, Mary Magdalene is called the companion of Jesus, and he frequently kisses her on the mouth, making the apostles jealous of his attention to her. "Companion" doesn't necessarily connote marriage, as the same word is used when men go on a mission together. Celsius, a philosopher who lived in the early 2nd century, is quoted as saying that Jesus was married to both Mary and Martha, as well as others who followed him from place to place. He seems to be the only source indicating that Jesus was married.

There is also circumstantial evidence that points to his not being married. His father, mother, and brothers are all mentioned, why not his wife? He gives John the responsibility of watching over his mother; why would he leave out his wife? One possibility is that the record was intentionally altered - cleansed of any reference to a wife to impose a sense of piety. It is certain that such statements would have been unwelcome in the early Roman church, as their views concerning sex were quite different from those of the Jews. To the Romans, the unmarried man was superior to the married man and celibacy was encouraged. Any references to Jesus being married might have been viewed as a corruption of the original text, and deleted.

Another problem is the act of Constantine to destroy all gospels except Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He picked the ones that he liked, and banned all the others. It is fortunate that not everyone followed his edict. But every bible scholar should beware, that the current Bible has been heavily cherry-picked. Things have been lost.

The latter-day prophet Joseph Smith received a revelation that a man and women must be married by special authority to enter into the highest kingdom of heaven, and maintain a marriage relationship therein. (D&C 131:1-4) It is mirrored by the statement of Jesus who when denouncing the practice of divorce, said "...they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." (Matthew 19:6) Paul also taught that a man was incomplete without a woman, and that a woman was incomplete without a man in the eyes of God. (1 Corinthians 11:11)

It seems likely that Jesus himself would have had to abide by this eternal law, particularly if marriage is the highest state of man.