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Was Jesus Married?

Fred R. Coulter - November 8, 2003

One of the raging questions in the world today concerning Jesus Christ is, did Jesus have a wife? ABC News plans to run a special program Monday that entertains a book’s theory that Jesus Christ had a wife. The world is so deceived and loves its little lies down to the very last little person, they haven’t realized that they’re beginning to set themselves up to accept greater lies. And whenever you have thinking based upon opinion rather than truth, based upon emotion rather than fact, you are dead in the water. That’s called relativism. Each person’s opinion is equivalent to truth in itself, though they are absolutely diametrically opposed and contradictory. That’s the way the world thinks. That’s the way the news is presented, isn’t it? "Oh, that’s your opinion. Oh, what’s your opinion? Oh, why don’t you call in on our - whatever news-dot-com is. Give us your opinion. We’re running a poll. What do you think?"

Well, on some topics that may be worthwhile, but when it comes to God, the knowledge of God, that’s the worst thing in the world to do. "Based on the novel..." And I read part of it which says, "This novel is based upon true facts, and the things that are presented here should be viewed as facts." "Based upon the novel The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, the prime-time television program explores whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, thought by some scholars to have been a prostitute, the BBC reports…" Now what have they already done with this? They have already said Jesus is a sinner, right? They have already said that His character is impugned because He married a prostitute, when His mother was a virgin. I mean, you need to think about the consequences of some of the thoughts that go with this. "…ABC’s Elizabeth Vargas told reporters the show was being put together ‘as respectfully as we can’..." Well, let’s show the dissection of people on television as "respectfully as we can."

"...But it already has drawn criticism from a Catholic leader who was among the religious leaders and reporters who screened it yesterday. Joseph DeFeo, the New York based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said ABC relied too heavily on…Father Richard McBrien of Notre Dame [University]..." So even the Catholics believe this, see. "...Who believes Mary Magdalene has been undervalued historically. DeFeo noted most of the people interviewed in the program believe the theory either plausible or are convinced it is true..." Don’t bother with the facts. Not one scripture quote. Not one iota of understanding of the Bible, though they are religious experts. "...DeFeo asserted, according to the BBC, the facts themselves scream out that this is a crackpot theory." At least we got one sentence in there that’s true.

"...Brown’s novel contends Mary Magdalene fled Jerusalem with Jesus’ child [in her womb] after His crucifixion. A secret society that included artists Leonardo Da Vinci passed the story on for centuries, Brown believes. Da Vinci left clues about the relationship in his art, the author thinks. Vargas, raised Roman Catholic, said ABC had no proof that Jesus had a wife, but could not discount the theory either..." You see, they don’t believe that there are absolute truths. "…‘For me, it’s made religion more real, and ironically, much more interesting, which is what we’re hoping to do for our viewers,’ she said..." You know, so much for the truth. "...Vargas said when her parents learned about the program they said to her, ‘Oh my goodness, what are you doing?’..." ["Oh well, Mom and Dad, you just don’t understand. This is the modern age in which we live in."]

Now the way that they present it is this. Have you ever heard of the book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail? That’s based on the same thing, that Mary Magdalene had a boy. Now if it was truly Jesus, now think of the consequences of this. If it was truly the son of Jesus, think about what the offspring could claim. And that this boy grew up to be a man, and of his descendants came the Monrovian-Habsburg dynasty line of kings in Europe. That’s the sum of the...it’s also mixed in with the Illuminati, and the Knights Templar, and the…not the Rosicrucians, but the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were they have the heart and the rose and so forth.

Now then, this book that this woman wrote claims the same thing, follows the same theory, presents it a little differently; and says that if you look at The Last Supper that Leonardo Da Vinci drew, you look carefully at Christ. I think it’s the one next to him. I forget which one is right now. Let’s say the next one to him. You look very carefully, and what you really see is Mary Magdalene, with the long hair and the red ensemble. Now there will be people that believe that. Why? Because they don’t believe the Bible, that’s why. They don’t know what truth is. That’s why. They are not interested in truth. They are interested in strange sounding things. Because most of the world has a hatred and enmity toward God and Jesus Christ. This is a convenient excuse to tear Them down even more, eh? Without a doubt. So since they ignore the facts and the Scriptures, we are going to ignore them and show what the truth is.

Now let’s understand some things that are important that you need to realize. We can’t present everything in one sermon. So take note of this please: we have a whole series of "Prophecies of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament," a whole series. You can write in for that, or you can e-mail us with that. We also just finished a series on, "Who Was Jesus?" Very important to understand. And for those in the Church of God it’s also important to understand that that whole theory, that Jesus did not exist until He was conceived in the womb of the virgin Mary, is part of the satanic attack against Jesus; but in this case, within the churches of God - anything necessary to destroy the truth of God, to discredit Jesus Christ. Now another thing, if you don’t have our Beliefs booklet, you write in for it, or you can go out on our website and you can see it. And it tells about the nature of God under the section, "The God Family" and God the Father and Jesus Christ. So with all of that said, we are going to take a little short cut and bypass some of the important details. And we’ll assume that you want to know the truth so that you will write in for these things, or e-mail them. So we will begin with the very simple background, very simple explanation, and ask the question first, who was Jesus, before we can answer the question, was Jesus married? And furthermore, was He married to Mary Magdalene when He was in the flesh?

Now first of all we come to Genesis 1:1. So we’ll start right there. If you want to know the beginning, that’s the place to go, because this tells us a little bit about God. And it is through the Hebrew word Elohim that we will find out about God. And as the Beliefs booklet shows, Elohim is what the English word "God" has been translated from, the Hebrew word Elohim. "In the beginning God [Elohim] created the heaven and the earth." Now let’s come over here to verse 26, because this tells us a little more; and this is borne out in great detail which we cover in these series. So if you want a little more detail be sure and request them, please.

"And God said, Let Us..." Now why didn’t God say, "Let Me..."? If there is only one God, why did He not say "Me" instead of "Us"? Well the truth is, the Hebrew word Elohim means more than one. It is a plural noun, like parent, family, nation. We say of America, "One nation under God." But how many people? Nearly 340 million now. So likewise, the Hebrew word Elohim means more than one, and the Bible reveals that Elohim is two. And that brings up the whole thing concerning the Trinity, and things like that, which then you need also to investigate; and we have literature to answer that for you. Matter-of-fact, we have it right on the web site. So if you come to our website then you can check it out right there.

"...Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness:..." So this tells us about God. Human beings have been created in the image of God. So what we are reflects the reality of what God is. That’s important to understand. We know Who God is. Now as I mentioned in this series, "The Prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament," you will see that all the way through, Elohim refers to the two of the one God family, the one Who became the Father and the one Who became Jesus Christ. Now let’s come to Psalm 2, and we will see that the Lord God Who did the creating, as the New Testament shows, was the one Who became Jesus Christ. So the Lord God of the Old Testament, the one Who became Jesus Christ, was the God of the Old Testament. So isn’t it ironic that those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ, but believe in the Old Testament, are actually rejecting the one Who came to the earth, Who was the God they say that they believe in. Is that not astounding? Rather amazing, isn’t it?

So again, let’s read it here, Psalm 2, let’s begin right here in verse 7. "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten thee." So there was a particular day and point in time, the specific time that one of Elohim was to become a human being. And it was not to be some sort of "special" human being that just sort of ipso facto appeared out of nothing. But because He was the Creator God He did something very special. Now we will see this in just a minute. Let’s look at the prophecy of what it said He was going to do, or what would become of Him, in Isaiah 9. Because God wanted every human being to understand and to know this: that since He was Creator and gave life to all human beings, and made them in a very special way, and caused the reproduction of human beings through fathers and mothers - human beings, you see - He likewise was going to do the same. He was going to go through the same experience. And I think it’s hard for people to believe that because they do not understand the spiritual significance of human beings, the spiritual side and significance of that spiritual aspect of the human mind and heart, which God made akin to His, compatible with Him. So therefore, what He did is a great and astounding thing. And of course there is nothing impossible for God to do.

But here in Isaiah 9:6, it talks of - here is a prophecy of His birth. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God,..." This is telling Who He was; these are names of God. He was God in the flesh. We’ll see that’s fully understood in the New Testament in just a little bit. "...The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (vs. 6-7). And there’s no way you can read into this with just an ordinary human being, or one of the, just the physical kings of the line of David. This was special. How special was it? Well let’s see.

Let’s come to Philippians 2 in the New Testament. And in the New Testament I’m going to be reading from the New Testament Translation, A Faithful Version. Let’s pick it up here in verse 5. Now this is a faithful and accurate translation of the New Testament Greek, being the Stephens Text of 1550. "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Now that’s an interesting statement in itself, isn’t it? It’s something that you have to let. Which means this: the mind of God is also compatible with the mind of a human being, correct? Have to be. Though some people act like chimpanzees, you cannot "let" the mind of a chimpanzee into your mind, can you? But you can let the mind of Christ be in you. And that means the way of thinking. Which means that your mind - which contains the spirit of man, which unites with the Spirit of God - is really quite a profound creation of God for the very purpose of recreating Himself.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus..." Not only just the attitude that He had, but the way that He thought, the way that He loved God, the way that He obeyed God, and everything about the whole mind of Christ, you see. Verse 6, "Who, although He existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself..." On that day that we read in Psalm 2, "This day I have begotten You..." And you can read that all about the account there beginning with John the Baptist and his birth, and the miraculous conception of Jesus’ birth, and so forth. "...Existed in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself and was made in the likeness of men, and took the form of a servant. And being found in the manner of man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 5-8, AT). Now that’s what Jesus Christ did to become a man, for the very purpose of saving the creation that He created.

Now let’s come to 1 Timothy 3:16 and let’s see how the apostle Paul wrote of this. See, the apostles knew this. They understood this. They wrote of it. But later, when philosophers and pagan priests got a hold of it to twist and turn it to create a religion, then they had to lie about it and change it. You see, one of the most hideous things that can ever occur is for those who claim to represent the God, the Creator of heaven and earth, that they are His representatives, to lie. That’s why people hate religion, and frankly, that’s why God hates religion. We’ll talk a little bit more about that later. But it seems as though this winter it’s an unprecedented attack against Jesus Christ - publicly.

Now 1 Timothy 3:16 (AT), "And undeniably, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the Gentiles, was believed on in the world, was raised up to glory." Now that’s Who Jesus was. Let’s see how He revealed Himself to His apostles. Because in order to understand, was Jesus Christ married to Mary Magdalene, we have to understand Who He was. Now we understand that He was God before He became a human being. Now let’s see how He manifest Himself to His disciples, His apostles, to begin to reveal it. Let’s come to Matthew 16. Of course, He had to reveal it to them in different stages. And also, as He told them after He was resurrected, that He would reveal to them things that they were not able at that time to bear. So here, Matthew 16, and let’s pick it up here when Jesus asked the question, "Whom do men declare Me to be?"

Matthew 16:13, "Now after coming into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus questioned His disciples, saying, ‘Whom do men declare Me, the Son of man, to be?’ And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.’ And He said to them, ‘But you, Whom do you declare Me to be?’ Then Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but My Father, Who is in heaven’" (Matt. 17:13-17, AT) So to have the true understanding of Who Jesus really is and was, it has to be by revelation. Cannot be by intellect; it cannot be just - because many people read the Bible and they don’t understand it, right? So it takes something more - revelation from God the Father. Then He said He would build His church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Now we come to the last verse in chapter 16, verse 28 (AT). Then He says something quite astounding here. He says, "‘Truly I [tell] say to you, there are some of those standing here who shall not taste of death until they have seen the Son of man coming in His kingdom.’" Now verse 1 of chapter 17, because it goes right on. And here is an astounding vision that Jesus is going to give the apostles - Peter, James, and John - to show His true identity. Verse 1, "And after six days, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and his brother John, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His face shined as the sun, and His garments became white as the light. [And] Then behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah..." (Matt. 17:1-3, AT). Now it says appeared because it’s a vision, talking with them.

"And Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You [desire] will, let us make three tabernacles here: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’" Now why did He show this vision to them? Number one, because they knew that God spoke directly to Moses. They understood that. Number two, they knew that God spoke directly to Elijah. So that’s why the vision is with Elijah and Moses, to show that since God spoke to them personally, Jesus Christ was God in the flesh speaking to them, personally. Very important. Now when they came down from the mountain - we won’t go through the rest of it except to say that, verse 5, "But while He was speaking, a bright cloud suddenly overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the clouds said, ‘This is My Son, the Beloved, in Whom I delight. Listen to Him!’ And they were afraid." And then come down here, after the vision stopped, verse 9, "Now as they were descending from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, ‘Tell the vision to no one until the Son of man has risen from the dead’" (vs. 4-5, 9 AT). They didn’t even know what the resurrection was about at that time. God had to reveal that a little bit later.

Now let’s see how else He is revealed as the Lord God of the Old Testament. And you might ask, "Well what bearing does this have on whether Jesus was married or not? Why not just deny that He was married to Mary Magdalene and let it go at that?" Because you have missed the whole important purpose and one of the main reasons that Jesus had to die. Not the primary reason, but a main reason. So we’ll understand that as we go along. But let’s come here to John 1, because this is talking about Who Jesus was so that we have that firmly established in the New Testament. Now John 1 is very eloquent in bringing out Who Jesus was and in particularly, the very fact that He was God.

John 1:1. So John begins his gospel this way: "In the beginning was the Word,..." Now that takes us right back to the very first verse that we looked up in Genesis 1:1, doesn’t it? "... And the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Now what does this tell us? This is proof that the Hebrew word Elohim, God, means more than one Person and reveals there are two. Now you can also write in for the sermon that I did, "How Did Jesus Christ Reveal the Father?" All of these tie in together. Because when you understand it, the Bible is the most magnificent book in the world, and reveals great and marvelous things about God. But if you don’t believe God you’re never going to understand the Bible. It’s that simple. It would be like this: if someone came up and said, "Here is a two million dollar bar of gold." And you said, "Aw, no, that’s not gold. That’s lead. No, it can’t be gold. It’s got to be lead." So you went down to the junk dealer and you said, "Well I’ve got this gold-looking bar of lead. How much will you give me for it?" "Well, I’ll give you forty bucks." "Ok." Now that sounds kind of stupid, doesn’t it?

Now you see, people will check out gold, won’t they? They will give it the gold test, won’t they? Make absolutely sure that it’s gold so they wouldn’t do something stupid like selling it for forty bucks for a bar of lead. But they don’t even have the decency to do that with the Bible, which is worth eternal life. Rather than prove the truth of the Bible, they take it and twist it, and turn it, and connive it, and create religions, and create doctrines, and create little followings, and create mass lies with which to deceive people. Now it’s very simple here. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." Now notice the next verse: "All things came into being through Him,..." (John 1:1-3, AT). He was the one Who created the heaven and earth. He was the one Who said, "Let there be light." He was the one Who brought forth the waters, and the fish, and the birds, and all of the creatures, and created mankind in His image.

Now notice, "...And not even one thing that was created came into being without Him." So much for evolution. "In Him was life,..." Does any human being have eternal life in him, inherently by himself? No. "...And the life was the light of men." To give knowledge and understanding of God. "And the light shines in the darkness [which this earth is covered with spiritually], but the darkness it does not comprehend it" (vs. 3-5, AT). It wants to believe fairy tales: Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. And I’ll tell you about the final consequences of it at the end of the sermon here because it will be profound. Let’s go on.

Then it talks about John the Baptist, God sent him, he was not the light. Now verse 9 (AT), "The true light was that which enlightens everyone that comes into the world." Now I need to give a full sermon on that again, which is, how involved is God in the creation of every human being, in spite of the mistakes of human beings through adultery and fornication and things like this? He is still creating human beings in His image, in spite of the sins of men. Now that’s profound to understand. So He is the one Who gives the light. That’s why every human being has the potential to receive the Spirit of God and be connected with God and to have the mind of Christ. And that’s what conversion is all about. It is not only to make you a better person, it is make you an eternal spiritual person at the resurrection. Far greater than most people have ever understood.

Verse 10 (AT), He was in the world, and the world came into being through Him, but the world did not know Him." Now can you imagine this: Henry Ford standing by his first car, everybody coming to see it. They all thought, "Well this is a marvelous thing." Of course, some would come along and say, "Well that really didn’t happen that way. This wheel came together and this bearing came together and..." you know, it just sort of evolved. And here’s Henry Ford standing by his first car, and everyone says, "Who are you?" "Oh, I’m Henry Ford. I made it." "No you’re not. You couldn’t be. I don’t believe that." Oh they wouldn’t do it to a human being, would they? "You’re Henry Ford? You made this? Do you realize you are making the horse obsolete? You’re going to be a great man!" But God comes in the flesh, to His own creation, and they don’t even know Him. That is truly an amazing thing, isn’t it? Yes indeed.

Furthermore verse 11, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him;..." So because of all that, He does something very different. "But as many as receive Him, to them He gave authority to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name; who were not be gotten by bloodlines, nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man; but by the will of God" (vs. 11-13, AT). So God has the power and ability to do something in everyone’s life beyond what you were, or are, or where you came from, to deal with you in a direct, unilateral basis in your life. And that’s what salvation is all about. And that’s what repentance and baptism is all about.

Now let’s continue. "And the Word became flesh,..." There it is again. The Word was what? Verse 1 - God. God became a man. That’s what it says. "...And tabernacled..." (vs. 14, AT). Now that means temporarily lived among us. Now that’s amazing. You know, this is amazing. Let’s come to John 5, and let’s see something else, the power and authority that has been given to Him, and to no one else. John 5:19...