Crash Goes the Da Vinci Code/Part 12

by Dr. Ron Rhodes, Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries, P.O. Box 2526, Frisco, TX, 75034. 214-618-0912. www.ronrhodes.org (Used by permission.)

Previous Article

Was Jesus Married to Mary Magdalene?

DAN BROWN’S POSITION:

“The marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene is part of the historical record.” (Page 245) The Last Supper practically shouts at the viewer that Jesus and Magdalene were a pair.” (Page 244) Based on the Gospel of Philip, Brown asserts that “the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, ‘Why do you love her more than all of us?’” (Page 246)

THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER:

There is no mention of Jesus being married prior to the beginning of His three-year ministry. There is no mention of Jesus being married during His three-year ministry. There is no mention of Jesus being married at the crucifixion. There is no mention of Jesus being married at His burial. There is no mention of Jesus being married at His resurrection. In other words, there is no mention of a wife anywhere!

Aside from this deafening silence regarding a wife are theological arguments against Jesus having been married. For example, in 1 Corinthians 9:5 the apostle Paul defends his right to get married if he so chose to do so: “Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?” Now, if Jesus had been married, surely the apostle Paul would have cited Jesus’ marriage as the number-one precedent. The fact that he did not mention a wife of Jesus indicates that Jesus was not married.

Some try to argue that since it was expected of every Jewish man to get married, then surely Jesus must have followed custom and gotten married. Such an argument is unconvincing. First, note that a number of major prophets were never married—including the likes of Jeremiah and John the Baptist. Second, note that there were whole communities of Jews which included non-married men—such as the Essene community at Qumran. Third, note that Jewish lead­ers often granted exceptions to the general rule of marriage. It was certainly not an unbending requirement, and hence this general requirement does not consti­tute proof that Jesus must have been married.

Further, we must note that Jesus’ marriage is yet future. He will one day marry the “bride of Christ,” which is the church. Revelation 19:7-9 tells us:

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” [Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.] Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’” [And he added,] “These are the true words of God.”

Clearly, the evidence is against Jesus having gotten married in New Testament times.

Now, Brown’s novel claims that a key evidence for Jesus getting married is found in the Gnostic Gospel of Philip. This document, Brown claims, indicates that Mary Magdalene was the companion of Jesus, and Brown says that in the Aramaic, “companion” means “spouse.” Hence, Jesus must have been married.

Further, Brown notes that this document indicates that Jesus often kissed Mary Magdalene on the mouth.

There are several points to make in response to this. First, the Gospel of Philip nowhere states that Jesus was married. Further, the document dates to about

A.D. 275, several hundred years after the canonical gospels. Therefore, it can hardly be considered a reliable source for information about Jesus. Moreover, this gospel was written not in Aramaic, as Brown claims, but in Greek. Still fur­ther, the manuscript for the Gospel of Philip is not whole. In fact, the document says that “Jesus kissed her often on the…” and then the manuscript is broken at that point. Brown and others have assumed the missing word must be “mouth,” but it could just as easily be “head” or “cheek” or even “hand.” There is nothing in the context that demands that Jesus kissed Mary on the mouth. Finally, the Gospel of Philip portrays the disciples of Jesus criticizing Mary because Jesus is said to love her more than all the disciples. However, one must assume that if Jesus was really married, no disciple would criticize Mary. The Gospel of Philip thus provides no hard proof that Jesus was married. Nor do any other “gospels” discovered from the second century and after add support to the claim.

Yet another evidence Dan Brown sets forth for Jesus’ alleged marriage is Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper. To Jesus’ right, we are told, is Mary Magdalene, not John. While it is true that John looks effeminate in The Last Supper, this is quite in keeping with other paintings by this homosexual artist. Indeed, even John the Baptist was portrayed in a feminine way by Da Vinci. Note that neither John nor John the Baptist have womanly bodies in these paintings.

Read Part 13