Mrs. Christ?

…of course, her last name wouldn’t have been Christ.  If we’re going by what naming customs were like in ancient Israel, her last name would be something along the lines of Bar-Joseph (see also: “Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal,” by Christopher Moore).

Heads are wagging and tongues are chattering about the newfound revelation based on a piece of papyrus presented by Dr. Karen King, a Harvard Divinity School professor, which refers to Jesus Christ having a wife.

And honestly, my immediate, five-second reaction (after trying to find a way to blame this on Dan Brown) was, to be completely honest, “Who the f*ck cares?”

Yes, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior.  I believe in Him as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16:16).

None of the above is dependent on Him being a bachelor.

Who and what Christ was--and is--is an issue that we as Christians must respond to with love and with vigor.  But nothing about what He did for humanity was made possible only via bachelorhood.

If anything, I think we err on the side of sanitizing Jesus when he was indeed also human in addition to being more divine than any one of us.  We sometimes forget that He hugged and kissed people, that He didn't always wash his hands before he ate, that He cussed people out (ask me about Matthew 23 sometime), or that He had a temper.  Why is it necessary to our salvation to turn Him into a Ken doll as well?

In his book "They Like Jesus But Not The Church," (the same book I’m basing my current sermon series on) Dan Kimball illustrates his support for female pastors by arguing that if two different pastors could preach on identical texts and come to identical theological conclusions, but one happened to be male and one happened to be female, then women simply cannot be denied full equality in the church.

While I certainly don’t think women need to come to necessarily the same conclusions as men to be considered qualified as pastors, it is an argument with merit nonetheless, and one that can—and should—be applied to other demographics.

If a straight pastor and a gay pastor can both preach the Gospel with equal skill, insight, and theological inspiration, why do the vast majority of our churches shun the latter while accepting the former?

Or…if an unmarried pastor (ie, me) and a married pastor (ie, most of my colleagues here in town) can both preach the Gospel with equal skill, insight, and inspiration…etc.

Or…hopefully, you can see where I’m going with this.

Jesus said He said.  Whether He was married or not doesn’t change the fundamental nature of His message, which was one of good news for all who choose to listen.

So, if He were married, how does any of that change?

Let’s be clear: I’m not saying I think Jesus was married.  There are a number of issues facing the authenticity (or lack thereof) of this papyrus.

But I am saying that my faith is not so fragile that such a revelation would rock it to its core.

And I hope and pray that is very much the faith that Jesus calls us to—faith like the house built on rock, not built on sand.

A faith based on what Jesus offers as a divine vessel, not only as a man, a carpenter, and…maybe…a husband.

It’s still God’s love.  And it’s still for each of you.

Yours in Christ,

Eric

PS: Entirely unrelated, but I had to share this after my senior pastor in California, Russ, and one of my favorite bloggers--Rachel Held Evans--both shared this as well.  If you're an American football fan, you'll get a kick out of it.