A question which has intrigued many biblical scholars, and which has been made more popular by fictional books like Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, is whether Jesus ever married. There are no explicit statements in the Bible that Jesus was married or that he was not married; thus, any conclusions either way must be based upon circumstantial evidence. Orthodox church tradition says that Jesus was unmarried, but could orthodoxy and tradition about Jesus be wrong?
The primary circumstantial argument for the idea that Jesus married is based upon the culture of Jews in the region at that time. Most ancient cultures were pro-marriage and pro-children. For most of human history, survival was precarious and tribal groups could be wiped out by a single drought, series of crop failures, or military conflict. Marriage and having lots of children was therefore a key to survival.
Cultures which promoted reproduction survived better than those which didn't, and in this respect ancient Judaism was no different. Men were expected to marry and have as many children as possible, and these expectations sere written into religious codes; men who didn't marry and have children violated important religious standards. This was especially true of rabbis who were expected to set a good social, moral, and religious example for the rest of the community — and Jesus appears to have been a sort of rabbi figure.
Critiques of Jesus Being Married
There are problems with this argument. First, the fact that men were expected to marry and most men probably married does not tell us very much about any particular man. It's a fallacy to assume that every individual member of a group has all the same characteristics of every other member of that group. The best that this argument can achieve is to suggest that Jesus was likely married; it cannot justify the conclusion that Jesus was definitely married.
Second, there are examples of Jews at the time who promoted celibacy over marriage and procreation. The Essenes in particular prized celibacy because it allowed them to devote all their time and attention to serving God — a reason very much like that used by monks and priests today. Jesus isn't described as an Essene, but he isn't described as a rabbi, either, and the arguments for him being either are about equal.
If Jesus was an Essene, or at least influenced by them, it wouldn't be surprising if he were celibate. Clues to this possibility can be found in some of the statements attributed to him in which he promotes the value of celibacy and total devotion to God over earthly concerns. Such verses cannot prove that Jesus preached celibacy — they are circumstantial evidence which demonstrate that his celibacy is not impossible or even improbable.
Critics of this argument rightly point out that celibacy, even though it existed, was still a minority viewpoint which contradicted mainstream Jewish tradition. As such, it would have had to be defended against traditionalists — and Jesus is often portrayed arguing with traditionalists when he promotes his ideas about the sabbath, what defiles a person, and so forth. If he really did preach celibacy, why don't we see even a single mention of it in any of the canonical New Testatment texts?
This is a fair question, but it's not a question that justifies any solid conclusions.
Orthodox Position on Jesus Being Married
The orthodox, traditionalist position that Jesus was not married makes two points. The first is a mirror of the pro-marriage argument: nothing in the gospels mentions his being married, and if he were, it would have been important enough to bring up. This isn't a strong argument, but it's no weaker than the pro-marriage argument. Proponents of the pro-marriage argument may respond by saying that the evidence for Jesus' marriage was covered up by church leaders trying to eliminate evidence for anyone who might inherit Jesus' authority.
The second point is based upon doctrine: traditional Christian doctrine is generally anti-sex, portraying sex as a necessary evil at best and only good for procreation. Jesus certainly wouldn’t have had sex in order to procreate, and given the sinful nature of sex without procreation, it would have been sinful for Jesus to get married and have sex. Therefore, it's wrong to think that he would have done such a thing. This argument is a form of begging the question because it depends upon the truth of doctrines which were only formulated in the context of the Christian church, not any doctrines preached by Jesus.
Was Jesus Married?
Is it possible that Jesus was married? Yes, there is nothing which completely excludes the possibility and there are reasons to think it possible. The arguments in defense of this idea are not strong, however, and cannot justify concluding that Jesus was definitely married.
