Was Jesus married?

## Consider this...

**No wife mentioned**
The Bible frequently refers to Jesus’ family as well as to women who accompanied him during his ministry and who stood by when he was executed, yet it never mentions his having a wife. (Matthew 12:46, 47; Mark 3:31, 32; 15:40; Luke 8:2, 3, 19, 20; John 19:25)

**Only mother to care for**
Just before he died, Jesus arranged for the care of his mother. (John 19:25-27) If Jesus had been married or had fathered children, he would have made sure that such close family members were provided for as well.

**Head of Church**
The Christ sets an example for husbands as head of the Church: "Christ also loved the congregation and gave himself up for it." (Ephesians 5:25)

**Was Jesus married?** While on earth, the Messiah Jesus, was depicted as a bridegroom (John 3:28, 29) who was making preparations to marry the Church, or Congregation (2 Corinthians 11:2). The actual marriage would take place in Heaven, after Jesus' death, where Christ is head of the congregation, just as a husband is to his wife (Ephesians 5:23). "The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth" (John 3:31). So it would have been inappropriate, and even adulterous (Matthew 5:28), had Jesus married a woman on earth, as some of the "teachings of demons" have suggested (1 Tim. 4:1).

## Spiritual bridegroom

John 3:22-31, *New International Version*
After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. (This was before John was put in prison.)

 Jesus told his disciples:
“Let the one who can make room for it
[singleness] make room for it” (Matthew 19:10-12).  He set the pattern for those who choose not to marry in order to devote themselves more fully to  God (John 13:15; 1 Corinthians 7:32-38).

An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.' The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.” The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.

## Notes

1. ↑ *Teachings of demons*, or teachings of slander, are often found in Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha "false-wrightings". Today's entertainment industry has even capitalized on the *teachings of demons* that promote that Jesus married Martha and had children. The Apostle Paul warned his pupil, Timothy, exactly of this by saying that "in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to misleading inspired statements and teachings of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1).

## Resources

* jw.org, Bible Questions Answered, Was Jesus Married?