Sermon 125 "Did Jesus Have a Wife?"

Funny how a tiny incomplete fragment of a papyrus can cause such a stir. Supposedly this fragment has this statement:

 "Jesus said to them, 'My wife... she will be able to be my disciple."

In Jesus' time and culture, women were considered possessions, with almost no rights or importance. 

Jesus defied these traditions constantly and scandalously, speaking to a Samaritan woman who was living with a guy she was not married to. He taught her the most astonishing theology that He ever taught, but other religious teachers might have scorned or stoned her.

Jesus having a wife? We know that Israel is often considered the wife of God, and the church is called the bride of Christ, all symbolic.

Let's examine what the Bible says about Jesus and His relationship to women, sex, and the disciple He loved.