What Do You Think?

[LadyROOT]

I know this is sort of an old question.

But from time to time I get asked . . . was Jesus married?

Other than people (religious people) simply telling me it is not true (nothing backing up their opinion), I have never had any decent biblical proof to counter the statements. When people say that he was married.

How do you answer it when someone starts talking about the topic of Jesus being married?

[troach]

Before I answer your question let me discuss for a moment why I think that The Bible does not specifically say if Jesus was or was not married.

As a modern day hypothetical example, if I were to write an article about the acting carriers and different acting styles of Yul Brynner, Telly Savalas, Sean Connery, Ed Asner, Avery Brookes, and Patrick Stewart it is very likely that I would not mention that all of them are/were bald. Simply because it would not be necessary, it is such common knowledge, most everyone already knows that piece of information about the actors. Plus having hair or not having hair did not affect their acting ability (Appearance yes, Ability no).

Now let us suppose someone reads that wonderful article about the actors 200 years from now. The question about if the actors were bald or not might become a topic of debate regarding their acting ability and popularity. (Assuming no pictures of any of the actors existed. Unlikely I know but let us pretend.)

I think this might be similar to why no one bothered to mention specifically if Jesus was married or not. First being married or not really is not important to the message and the teachings of Jesus. Second Jesus’ marital status would have been so obvious to everyone of that day there would be no need to mention it.

Now as for what The Bible says about was Jesus being married:

There are several fairly good spots that show the answer to this question, though I am only going to list three of them. However what makes finding the answer a little tricky is that one must use a little deductive reasoning and read between the lines, as the saying goes, to get the answer.

First let us start with, 1st Corinthians 9:5 in this section Paul was defending his rights as an apostle with the Corinthians. In this verse he was talking about the other apostles traveling with their family.

Have I no right to take a Christian wife along with me, like the rest of the apostles and the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? (1st Corinthians 9:5 New English Bible 1970) [Cephas is anther name for Peter]

If Jesus had been married would it not be more appropriate, and carry a lot more weight, to point out that Jesus traveled, or did not travel, with his wife rather than talking about what the other apostles did? If Jesus was married that would be the ultimate and final example that the apostles would have followed. Either Jesus took his wife with him when he traveled or he did not.

However, Paul did not reference Jesus as an example but rather pointed out what the other apostles that were married did. Why would he not reference the example set by Jesus in this matter unless Jesus was not married and did not have a wife?

Another section is: Ephesians 5:25 (a section talking about relationships)

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Ephesians 5:25 Webster's bible)

IF Jesus had been married would it not make more sense to use Jesus himself as the example of how a husband should treat his wife thus perhaps making the verse read something like:
Husband, love your wife as Christ loved his.

Then there is John 19:26-27 where Jesus is on the cross.

John 19:26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith to his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
John 19:27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. (Webster's Bible)

Here is Jesus hanging on the cross, wanting to make sure that his mother will be taken care of, with no mention of a wife. I would think that if Jesus had a wife, He would have been just as concerned about her well being as He was about his mother’s. Does it not make since that Jesus would have asked someone to take care of His wife also IF He was married?

While perhaps not totally 100% definitive, I think these examples make a very strong case that Jesus was not married.