So…a Harvard professor (Karen King) has discovered an ancient text where Jesus mentions “his wife.”

What do you think?  Would it shake your faith to think that Jesus was married?  As a married person, it would actually strengthen my faith to think that, in the midst of all his work of being Messiah, Jesus also was working on an intimate relationship with his spouse.  Or at least was negotiating the chores of marriage.  “Honey, would you mind cooking tonight?  I’m just pooped from all that fighting with the Pharisees.”  “Jesus, you know, I appreciate just how hard it is being the son of God and all, but the garbage in this place is really piling up.  Would you mind?”

The text goes on to quote Jesus as saying that his wife, Mary, could be a disciple, too.  It’s kind of nice to think that, even in the midst of the mundane tasks that surround married life, even there, discipleship is possible.

And, who knows?  Maybe it was Mary who helped Jesus figure out how to relate appropriately to women….the woman with the flow of blood?  Mary would have known how she felt.  The woman caught in the act of adultery?  Mary might not have understood the adultery, but she certainly got the double standard for women.  (Was anyone threatening to stone the man in that instance?)  Or the Canaanite woman Jesus called a dog….I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus himself got called worse when he got home that night.

Singlehood is a good means of living a holy life.  As Paul says somewhere, When you’re married, you’re necessarily tied to things of this world.  Being unmarried makes you freer to focus on the things of God.

But having a Messiah who could focus on the things of God in the midst of being married and tied to the world?  That’s one tough Messiah.

Was there a Mrs. Messiah?  I don’t know that we’ll ever know for sure.  But if there was, I, for one, wouldn’t be disappointed.