Do you think Jesus COULD have been married?

Question

Since Jewish rabbis and teachers were required to be married and at least 30 years old in order to be publicly recognized, and since Jesus was a publicly recognized Jewish rabbi/teacher, then...

1. Wouldn't it make sense to say that He was married?

2. If Jesus WAS indeed married, could He have had children?

3. If Jesus was married and had children, would that really make any difference as to His Divinity as the Son of God and Savior of the world?

I see a lot of Christians pulling the whole "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" thing in regards to Jesus possibly being married, but for me, whether He was married or not, had kids or not, and whether He has living posterity today makes absolutely NO difference to me. I still accept Him as the Son of God and Savior. Your thoughts?

ALSO, if you think it's impossible for Him to be both married and the Savior, then why?

Tanya,

Where in the Bible say that He was either single or married?

Eartha Q,
I don't think that your 4 assumptions are valid:

1. Jesus is God (He is the SON of God, but either way, He can do whatever He wants. Who are we to say God or God's Son can't be married?)
2. He would at least have married a good Jewish woman, not one who was possessed with demons (Jesus was always forgiving sins and telling people not to judge. He even forgave an adulterous woman. If a demon-possessed woman was penitent, which Mary was, that would be enough for Jesus)
3. He could not have gone to the cross with a family to worry about on earth (He left His mother to John, and in Jewish tradition, the next-oldest brother would take care of a man's wife and children in the event of His death. This wouldn't necessarily be any different, since the Bible says Jesus had at least 3 brothers)
4. It was not his purpose (No,but He came as a man and had every earthly experience that a normal man has. Being a carpenter wasn't His purpose either, but he did it. He could've married too)

It looks like some of you seem to think that 'pure' and 'married' are mutually exclusive. The Bible never says sex is unholy or impure. It says simply that sex outside of marriage is impure and unholy.

CMW: Very astute. Let me respond to number 1:

The reason we know Jesus was 'about 30' when He died is because of the age requirement of a rabbi. He taught in the Temple and that wouldn't have been allowed if He were not an 'official' rabbi. Thus, when the Bible said that Jesus 'started His ministry', it is referring to Him becoming a rabbi/teacher. Mary Magdalene often called Him "Master", "Rabboni", and other similar titles that were reserved for two scenarios: Speaking to your husband, or speaking to a rabbi/teacher.

Jesus was most probably 33 (give or take a month or two, depending on what day in the Spring He was born, and what day in the Spring He died 33 years later) when He died.

Answer 1

It is possible (maybe even PROBABLE) that Jesus was married, with children. The first generation of christians didn't believe that there was anything special about his physical body. They didn't believe that he was anything other than human.

As time passed, believers were separated from the human jesus by time AND distance... and the fables about jesus grew and became exaggerated. The early catholic church augmented this by creating the doctrine of Propitiation... saying that Jesus' blood was somehow Magical.... and, by extension, his body became sacred, as well.

At this point, Jesus having a child would have meant the the child would have inherited some degree of his divinity.. .and that was just to wierd to try and figure out. So they made it a part of the doctrine that he COULDN'T have married or had children.

Answer 2

First, would you please cite a source for the qualifications that a rabbi was/is required to be married? I can't find it in any Jewish text online. You also state that a rabbi must be "at least 30 years old."

1. Jesus was only about 30 when He died, so by your criteria, it's unlikely He was considered a real rabbi. Therefore, no marriage requirement (if it existed).

2. IF He had married, I know of no reason why He could not have fathered children. On the other hand, there were no labs back then and maybe He could not. I see no point in speculating.

3. In all the documents written about him, none mentions marriage. What is the purpose of speculating about all this? He existed. This we know from historical documents. Those documents fail to mention marriage, though they do mention family members. You may accept or not accept His divinity, but what is to be gained by trying to guess what else might have happened?

4. Throwing his known life history out the window, and doing something I don't approve of (playing what if), IF, he had married, I can't see how it would affect anything. He is and was who He is and was.

P.S. Re prophecy of passing down inheritance to his "son," that word was also used for disciples at that time.

EDIT: Right about use of word "ministry," but you still did not give me a cite for the marriage requirement and I still can't find it - hunting though. The closest I can come is The Yirmeyahu Review, which states that a it was, "almost mandatory that a man be married."

Enjoyed the back and forth.
†

Answer 3

I completely understand what you are saying. This a very hard subject in my house right now. I agree that he was married and had kids. What I say is this; Jesus was a great man, given a gift from God to us and died for what he believed. Jesus is a man to follow regardless of his divinity. Jesus is not the first man who was claimed to be of a virgin mother, persecuted for his belief, died for his belief and to be the son of God. This was also the story of Zeus. Pray and Search and you will the truth you are looking for.

It is kind of weird how it is left out that Jesus was single or married. It is kind of weird that the two closest women to Jesus are rarely talked about. Makes you think! Huh! God Bless You!

It is not Jesus that is wrong, the people that twist the truth about Jesus are who are wrong.

Earth Q; so by your statement in #2 your are saying even though Mary M. was forgiven for her sins, she still was not as good as a good jewish girl in Gods eyes. Therefor, we are not equal in the eyes of God due to our sins. Watch what you say. I am assuming someone taught you those 4 steps at church. Did you ever think that the biggest deception was the munipulation done to the bible. If Jesus was divine the so are all of his teachings, not just some.

Answer 4

Could've been and probably was, for the reasons you've listed. Assuming that "Jesus" actually existed historically, etc.

"If I started doubting what the bible says, why believe any of it?"

Sage words, Tanya.

And there's the rub. Why should it make such a difference to Christianity if Jesus happened to have been married? Didn't he suffer all the usual travails of human mortality? The answer, of course, is that once you actually start analyzing the gospel legend rather than just blindly accepting it, it's a slippery slope to free thought, which is the natural enemy of organized religion. Why do you think the Church made such an issue of Copernicus and Galileo? Because if a heliocentric "universe" were accepted, people might start questioning such biblical incidents as Joshua's prestidigitation of the sun, etc. It really is in the best interest of Christianity to keep people ignorant. Besides, a married Jesus implies a sexual Jesus, which doesn't jibe with the Church's long-standing policy of morbid sexual repression (which, incidently, owes more to Paul and Augustine et al. than to any of the preserved words of "Jesus").

Needless to say, the argument that "it doesn't say so in the bible" will only satisfy imbeciles.

Answer 5

With the writing of the "fictional" book Da Vinci Code many have speculated about his being married or not. I say No and my reason is that at the foot of the cross Mary (mother) and the other women stood. Jesus puts Mary into John's hands had he been married this occurrence would have happened to the wife also. Or she would have been released from her pledge as Ruth did to Naomi Neither of these things are mentioned.

Answer 6

No. First of all He came to earth to serve men for a season. He died, rose again and then ascended to Heaven. He was human for a while but He was perfect. That means He was tempted by the devil for things much harder to resist than to be with a woman. He always denied the devil. We could never under the circumstances do that. He was here to enlighten us about God's love. Being married and having kids is not for God, it is meant for humans because we can't live on our own and multiply. God/Jesus is pure in all ways. Therefore, I do not believe that Jesus was married, had kids and is now or was then living as a certain person somewhere amongst us.

Answer 7

Yes, I think he could have been married and could have had children. I don't see how it would change his divinity in any way. I think it would be only natural for a man of his age to have been married and to have fathered children by the age of 33 years old. In fact, I sort of hope he was and did.
Vicky

Answer 8

I'd say good for him if he had some love in his world before he died a terrible death. As for do I think he was married I don't really know. Nor do I know if he had children. As for the book by Dan Brown he clearly states the book is a work of fiction. People who have read the book clearly have never seen his fan website.

Answer 9

Jesus Christ who has always existed from the very beginning with His Father, came down to earth with ONE purpose only and that was Salvation for all people being, the Jews and the Gentiles.

Jesus openly said He is not of the world. Therefore Jesus took no part in worldly behaviour.

It makes no sense for Jesus to have been married or to have had children because his sole purpose was to SAVE the world through offering Himself as the ONE and ONLY sacrifice acceptable to God to wash away our sins. No other reason but that!

Hope this helps.

Answer 10

Yeah, I consider it a possibility - because the Rabbi thing you mentioned and because the water to wine miracle (it was traditionally the responsibility of the groom to provide the wine at a wedding).

But I don't know for sure, but IF He was, no, I don't think that would change His divinity one bit. I mean, I got married, and I'm still my father's daughter.