Would you comment on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had a child? We had a debate about it at Sunday School, and all of us disagreed. What is your thought?

You are absolutely right.

There is no way he could have been married to any woman.

This is a really fine question and I am pleased you would trust me to address it.

1. The Lord Jesus Christ is characterized as the bridegroom, one who is betrothed to a particular woman. In this case the woman is the church.

2. If He had been trying to fulfill the righteousness of the Pharisees He would have gotten married because this was one of the ways a Jew was considered born again. But He was not. He was fulfilling the righteousness of God and the plan of the Father.

3. As the perfect man, His will was subject to the will of God, therefore He was there as He Himself testified to do the will of the Father, not His own will.

4. Had He married and produced children, His offspring would have been half human and half god such as was pictured in Greek mythology. Jesus in His Person was wholly man and wholly God as we have affirmed in our theology for two thousand years. He was not a mixture of the two. He was complete in both aspects.

5. At the time of His death He made provision for His mother with His disciple John as the dutiful son and head of the family since the death of Joseph. Had He been married to anyone He would have likewise have made provision for them at the time of His death which He did not.

6. The presentation has been made that He was married to three women. The two sisters Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene. This was uncommon to Jewish practice   first of all, and since He was establishing Himself as the King of Kings, He would have obeyed the law which told the kings of Israel that they were not supposed to multiply to themselves two things: wives and horses.

7. Many people think, and I do as well, that one of the things that necessitated such a thorough cleansing of the earth in the flood was the cohabitation of fallen angels with the daughters of men resulting in a mixture of half human half demonic people. God would not violate His own principles by doing the thing He condemned angelic beings which did not keep their first estate, which was celibate  and set apart, to lowest depths of hell for.

8. Had He married and had children He would have established a royal lineage and pretenders to the throne  which Scripture foretells He will reign from forever and ever. The Merovingian kings claimed such a descendancy from Jesus, but those who have looked back into their murky origins believe they are actually part of the missing tribe of Dan, the first of the Jews to go into idolatry and from which the rabbinate believed the Man of Sin would come.

There are probably other reasons why this concept is false. It is part of Mormon and other cult teachings, but it has no basis in Scripture and is contradictory to all that is written and testified to concerning our Lord both in Scripture and from reliable sources without.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address this.