The recent discovery and translation of the fourth-century "Jesus 'wife papyrus" has reopened the discussion as to whether Jesus had a wife /was married. The "Jesus' wife papyrus" says, "Jesus said to them,'My wife ...'" This discovery is interesting in that it is the first Gnostic writing to explicitly state that Jesus had a wife. While a couple of the Gnostic gospels mention Jesus having a close relationship with Mary Magdalene, none of them specifically state that Jesus was married to her or to anyone else. Ultimately, it does not matter what the "Jesus' wife papyrus" or Gnostic gospels say. They have no authority. They have all been proven to be forgeries invented to create a Gnostic view of Jesus.

If Jesus had been married, the Bible would have told us so, or there would be some unambiguous statement to that fact. Scripture would not be completely silent on such an important issue. The Bible mentions Jesus’ mother, adoptive father, half-brothers, and half-sisters. Why would it neglect to mention the fact that Jesus had a wife? Those who believe/teach that Jesus was married are doing so in an attempt to “humanize” Him, to make Him more ordinary, more like everyone else. People simply do not want to believe that Jesus was God in the flesh (John 1:1, 14; 10:30). So, they invent and believe myths about Jesus being married, having children, and being an ordinary human being.

A secondary question would be, “Could Jesus Christ have been married?” There is nothing sinful about being married. There is nothing sinful about having sexual relations in marriage. So, yes, Jesus could have been married and still be the sinless Lamb of God and Savior of the world. At the same time, there is no biblical reason for Jesus to marry. That is not the point in this debate. Those who believe Jesus was married do not believe that He was sinless, or that He was the Messiah. Getting married and having children is not why God sent Jesus.Mark 10:45 tells us why Jesus came, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

SOURCE: www.gotquestions.org

 Pastor’s May’s Commentary: 

When we read scripture, context and content is always important.

Allegedly, text on the papyrus fragment, written in the language of early Egyptian Christians, records Jesus referring to a woman, Mary, as 'my wife", and later saying, "She can be my disciple." Here we have a “papyrus fragment” that  says that Jesus said to them “My wife...” Does this mean Jesus was married? When we look at Mark 5:30, when the women with the “blood issue” touch Jesus and he felt the power leave him, what did he say to her? (5:34)  "34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”  What if we only had a papyrus fragment that said "daughter thy faith hath made thee whole." Would we conclude that this was Jesus biological daughter?  I would hope not without further information other than a text fragment.  Because we have the full text, we know that she was a stranger and Jesus used the term "daughter" affectionately because of the great faith she had in Him, not because of her genealogy.    What was the context and content on what was said when he allegedly said "wife" if in fact it was Jesus talking at all?

If his “wife” died before the crucifixion, most likely this would have been mentioned in the Bible.  If she was alive during his crucifixion, she is not mentioned as being at the cross (John 19:25) or claiming his body. Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple and follower of Christ, claimed his body (Matthew 27:57-60).  Nor is she mentioned anywhere else in the Gospel.

Lastly, lots of errors are made in understand the bible because of misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the terminology that was being used during that time period.   An example of this would be; if I told you to "put the items into the trunk," most likely you would believe that when I referred to the "trunk" I meant the trunk of a car.  However, in the 1940's, if I said the same thing, you would have  believed I meant to put the items in what we commonly call today a "travel case," "travel bag" or suitcase.  How about purchasing a "mouse" in the 1960's and purchasing a "mouse" in 2012.  The mouse in the 1960's would most likely be a rodent, and the one purchased in 2012 would most likely be a computer component.  Even when it comes to gender, we cant use the dress wear of today to define a person's gender of the biblical days.  Men wore skirts (1 Sam 24:4, Ruth 3:9; Eze16:8, KJV); girdles and bonnets (Exodus 28:40 – 29: 9; 1Samuel 18:4,KJV) When we look at 1 Samuel 24:3 it reads,  "3 And he came to the sheep cotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave."  What does this scripture mean?  What does “cover his feet” mean to you today?  What did it mean in the biblical days?  YOU WILL BE SURPRISED!

The answer is located at  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2024:3&version=CEB

Content, context and a full understanding of the language used during the time of the writing is always important when interpenetrating the bible. Mostly, we need the endowment of the Holy Spirit to illuminate our understanding of the message so that it resonates in our hearts.  He also can guide our understanding of how each piece fits together, which is tremendously important for grasping the overall message.

When we lack these components, we end up with opinions and conjectures.  Opinions and conjectures are like rectums, everybody has one, and we know what comes out of them…. Waste!   

18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)  God Bless!