Married and Dead Jesus: Does it Make a Difference?

Read your write-up, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus: Searching the Living among the Dead". I have no biblical knowledge. These are certain queries which come to me now…For me Jesus was a man who spent his life for humanity. He might have been like any other human being, so why can't we think that he had a wife and children?

 Hope doing well….take care. 

Love 
Friend (Name Deleted) 

Reply 

Dear Friend, 

Hope you are doing fine.

Thanks for asking these valid questions.  Permit me to rephrase your questions and expand it for fully analyzing the implications:  “He might have been like any other human being, so why can't we think that he had a wife and children?” If he was like any other man in the following aspects; married, dead and now buried in family tomb; does it make a difference? 

Marriage: 

Let me begin with the marriage. If Jesus was married, will it make a difference? Does it affect His humanity? Does it affect His divinity? Does it affect His mission?  In my opinion, If Jesus was married; it will not make a difference in either His humanity or divinity. Marriage is divinely instituted and is holy and pure in the sight of God. If Jesus was married, it would not have affected His humanity or divinity as he was doing no sin. However, it would have affected His mission. He came to die in the place of the whole world. He came so that he might die and we might have eternal life. Or in other words, He came to give us new life, create all things new and not to procreate. So, marriage is not aligned for His unique mission. 

Again, after we address this question theoretically, let us look at what really happened. As I have pointed out, there is not a single historical document which says that Jesus was married. So, it is also a question of integrity in character and intellect.  Will we charge a teacher and his student of marital relationship when they have none? Will we charge a leader and his follower a married relationship when they have none? If someone accuses that we will oppose them. Maybe take them to court even. 

Dead and buried:

 Now, let me raise the second question. If Jesus was dead and still in tomb, does it make a difference? In fact, in one of the interviews, James Cameron himself said that he is for the teachings of Jesus Christ which are relevant now.  To put in another way: a lost tomb of Socrates will not make a difference to the contributions of Socrates. If some one searches for the lost tomb of Jesus, no one will charge them with being against Socrates? So, why is it different in the case of Jesus?  

Here is the distinctness of Christianity. Christianity is not the message of a great guru rather it is the message about the Great Guru. It is not even certain rules and regulations (though some attempt to make it as one) of a law giver rather it is about the Law Giver. Christianity is the proclamation about a person. It is the message about the Messenger.  

The first century disciples did not go around preaching the teachings of Jesus but they declared the person of Jesus. They said that because Jesus is resurrected, we have salvation, hope and joy. For example in the epistle of Romans, St. Paul wrote “Like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:4). In the epistle of Corinthians he wrote “God hath both raised up the Lord, and will raise up us by his own power” (1 Corinthians 6:14). See, their message and hope was not be

cause they follow the teachings of Jesus but was due to the fact that Jesus resurrected as their savior. St. Paul even said: “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1 Corinthians 15:14). 

They even declared that anyone who prays to Jesus saying that “I accept Jesus as my personal savior” can experience God Jesus in everyday life. You might want to observe this interesting passage. “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs” (Mark 16:20). They claimed that Jesus is walking with anyone who accepts him. These were not metaphors. St. Paul often addressed those who accepted Jesus as people ‘In Christ” (Philippians 1:1 for example). If Christ has not resurrected, the experience that anyone who accepts Jesus having should be interpreted as a psychological or mental disorder.

The charge that Jesus is still in tomb contradicts both the objective history and all our experiences. That is what we are objecting too. Hope this clarifies why the tomb of Jesus and not the tomb of any other great person in history create such controversy. If James Cameron has made a documentary on the Lost Tomb of Socrates, it would have created some curiosity and would have ended there.

Waiting for your reply. 
Love
Jerry