DID JESUS HAVE A WIFE?
Rev. 22:18-19
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. In a church scriptorium, a group of old monks huddled over an ancient manuscript.
2. They are holy men devoted to God and studying the holy writings. Suddenly, the group begins to wail in unison over what they are reading. Someone rushes into the scriptorium to find out what has shaken these monks.
3. One of the old men cries out, “We have read it wrong; we have read it wrong all these years. It does not say “celibate;” it says “celebrate!”
B. TEXT
18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book” Rev. 22:18-19.
18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” Mt. 5:18; 24:35.
C. THESIS
1. Tonight's topic goes off into the absurd, but we live in an absurd world. I'm going to talk tonight about the new story of a papyrus fragment that suggests that Jesus had a wife.
2. Never be afraid to face an accusation about the Lord, or the Bible, because the accusations will always be proven wrong in the end.
3. The New Testament was written by men who actually knew Jesus, His mother, His brothers and sisters. They knew His neighbors. They were not shaken by accusations made about Jesus during His lifetime, because they knew Him.
4. Jesus was accused of being a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and "sinners" (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34; with the term "sinners" including prostitutes, Luke 7:39).
5. He was accused of being a "Samaritan and demon possessed" John 4:48. The Jewish leaders tried to deny His miracles (John 9:18-34) but couldn’t, and later made up a story to explain away Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:11-15).
6. The apostles never hid these accusations, because they weren’t true. Jesus DID perform the miracles recorded, which were even attested by non--Christian sources [Babylonian Sanhedrin 43a; "Acts of Pontius Pilate" quoted by Justin Martyr in his defense, Apology I:48; Josephus, Antiquities 18:3: para. 3; Phlegon recorded the eclipse during Christ's crucifixion; Pliny wrote to Emperor Trajan that Jesus was worshiped as God in A.D. 112, Epistles, X:96.]
7. So we’re going to look at this fragment, Non-canonical literature, see how we got the Bible, and observe that it can be completely trusted.
8. The title of this message is, “Did Jesus have a Wife?”
I. THE WIFE OF JESUS?
A. REVELATION OF SPURIOUS FRAGMENT
1. An ancient scrap of papyrus, no bigger than a business card, was held up before cameras by Dr. Karen King, of Harvard Divinity School, at a Coptic studies conference in Rome, Sept. 18, 2012.
2. She claimed it was the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married. A firestorm immediately ensued over the authenticity of this document.
3. Heavy-weight scholars such as Helmut Koester, Francis Watson, Craig Evans, and Hany Sadak have said it appears to be a modern forgery.
4. Others criticized Karen King’s method of introducing the fragment; breaking the story to two American newspapers, before date-testing the document!
5. The media erupted in glee at the story. One author fantasized what Jesus’ wife would nag him about.
6. So why do we need to discuss this? Isn’t it all going to just blow-over? Probably not. The opponents of Christianity love the story and will probably keep bringing it up.
7. The Smithsonian Channel is producing a documentary about it that they will keep putting in front of students for years to come, plus the Harvard Theological Review is going to publish a paper about it in January, 2013.
B. RAMIFICATIONS OF THE STORY
1. Even if this document turns out to have been penned in the 4th century, it has no bearing on the Scriptures. Why?
2. Because there are literally thousands of documents which are in some way connected to the events of the Bible or the people of God.
3. These documents were not considered inspired by God and so were not contained in the Canon of Scripture. Here are a few instances.
II. NON-CANONICAL LITERATURE
A. APOCRYPHA & PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
1. The "Apocrypha" are books added to the Old Testament by the Catholic Church that Protestants say are not canonical. These contain 1st & 2nd Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther, The Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Bell and the Dragon, the Song of the Three Hebrew Children, The Prayer of Manasseh, and 1st & 2nd Maccabees. Many of them contain fanciful or erroneous stories or details.
2. Then there’s another classification of documents called “Pseudepigrapha” (Gr. “lying ascriptions”) which claimed to be written by some famous person of the past, but were forgeries. They were usually written long after the supposed author died.
3. There are also the writings of the Apostolic Fathers which are also not included in Scripture, or authoritative: Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Diognetus, the Fragments of Papias, the writings of Irenaeus, etc. (Nor were the Qumran writings of ‘The Sons of Light & the Sons of Darkness’).
B. THE GNOSTICS
1. Around A.D. 200, there was a strange sect of Christians called the Gnostics who tried to combine Greek philosophy and Christianity.
2. They thought it would be impossible for the Logos (Word) to become flesh, because God was thought to be aloof. Therefore, they thought, Christ must have been less divine and lived a human life.
3. The Gnostic library discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945 reflected this viewpoint. It included 52 texts, including the forged gospels of Thomas, Philip, and Judas. They are fictional documents.
4.Irenaeus and Hippolytus condemned them as lies made up by the Gnostics. The “Wife of Jesus" fragment is a Gnostic-type work, if genuine.
5. This is not so shocking for our time. The Mormon Church has taught for 150 years that Jesus was not only married, but was a polygamist! Then you have the Gay churches that imply Jesus was a homosexual. The world hasn’t changed much!
6. HUMOR
a. A man was seated on a park bench when a little boy of about five sat down beside him. The boy started winding what appeared to be a most prized possession--a watch.
b. "My, what a pretty watch," remarked the man. "Does it tell you the time?" "No sir," replied the boy; "you gotta look at it."
c. God's Truth is everywhere, but you must look for it to see it.
III. HOW DID WE GET THE BIBLE?
A. MEANING OF CANON
1. The word "Canon," as applied to Scripture means "an officially accepted list of books;" the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books which make up the Bible.
2. The Masoretic Text, the basis of the Bible’s O.T., has been extensively verified by the Dead Sea Scrolls (ancient O.T. manuscripts found at Qumran), which dates back to 400 BC.
B. REQUIREMENTS FOR INCLUSION
How were they chosen by the ancient Jewish believers & by early Christians? They used 5 criteria:
1. Is It Authoritative? Did it come from the hand of God? Does it have “Thus says the Lord”s?
2. Is It Prophetic? Was it written by a man of God?
3. Is It Authentic? Was it written by the author?
4. Is It Dynamic? Did it come with the life-transforming power of God?
5. Was It Received, Collected, Read & Used by the people of God?
[See Josh McDowell’s, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, pp. 29-38.]
IV. VERACITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
A. COMPARING MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE
1. The documents of the New Testament are the best attested of any ancient work. Plato wrote his Tetralogies around 400 BC, but there are only 7 copies, the earliest of which is 900 A.D., yet Plato's writings are taught everywhere without question. Aristotle is similar with 49 copies.
2. The New Testament, by comparison, has more than 25,000 ancient manuscripts, some of them dating to the lifetimes of their writers.
3. German Papyrologist Carsten Thiede, Dr. Philip Comfort, and others have identified five manuscripts (P64, 7Q4, 7Q5, P67, P4) as from the time of the Apostles (before 68 A.D.) and three others (P46, P52, P1) as copied by ca. 100 A.D.
B. CONCLUSION: THE BIBLE IS TRUE
1. This means that the New Testament documents are far older than previously thought and that the events recorded in them are accurate, because they were written and taught during the lifetime of the Lord Jesus and his Apostles.
2. To teach in Palestine during the lifetime of Jesus that He worked many open miracles, claimed to be God, died as the Savior of the world, and rose again from the dead -- if not true – would have gotten the same response then as people would today who claimed J.F.K. did those things: they’d be laughed out town.
3. But the events were known to be true and Jesus’ love revolutionized the Roman world and will change yours too, if you believe His words!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: MIRACLE TRANSFORMATION
1. There was a Japanese criminal named Tockichi Ishii. He was utterly and bestially pitiless. He had brutally murdered men, women, and children in his career of crime. He was captured and imprisoned.
2. Two Canadian ladies visited the prison. He could not be induced even to speak; he only glowered at them with the face of a wild beast.
3. When they left, they left with him a copy of the Bible in the faint hope that he might read it. He read it, and the story of the crucifixion made him a changed man.
4. Later, when the jailer came to lead the doomed man to the scaffold, he found not the surly hardened brute he expected, but a smiling radiant man, for Ishii, the murderer, had been born again.
5. The mark of his rebirth was a smiling radiance. (Illus. for Biblical Preaching, Michael Green, p. 81-82).
6. That’s the life-changing power of the Word of God!
7. Is there someone here who needs God to come into your darkness and set you free? He’s ready to do it!
B. THE CALL
1. Prayer for salvation.
2. Prayer for our world facing deception.
3. HANDOUT
DID JESUS HAVE A WIFE?
Exposé on the Karen King document
THE WIFE OF JESUS FRAGMENT
An ancient scrap of papyrus, no bigger than a business card, was held up before cameras by Dr. Karen King, of Harvard Divinity School, at a Coptic studies conference in Rome, Sept. 18, 2012. She claimed it was the first evidence that some early Christians believed Jesus had been married. A firestorm immediately ensued over the authenticity of this document. Heavy-weight scholars such as Helmut Koester, Francis Watson, Craig Evans, and Hany Sadak have said it appears to be a modern forgery. Others criticized Karen King’s method of introducing the fragment; breaking the story to two American newspapers, before date-testing the document! The media erupted in glee at the story. One author fantasized what Jesus’ wife would nag him about. Even if this document turns out to have been penned in the 4th century, it has no bearing on the Scriptures. Why?
Because there are literally thousands of documents which are in some way connected to the events of the Bible or the people of God. These documents were not considered inspired by God and so were not contained in the Canon of Scripture. Here are a few instances.
APOCRYPHA & PSEUDEPIGRAPHA
1. The "Apocrypha" are books added to the Old Testament by the Catholic Church that Protestants say are not canonical. These contain 1st & 2nd Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Additions to Esther, The Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Bell and the Dragon, the Song of the Three Hebrew Children, The Prayer of Manasseh, and 1st & 2nd Maccabees. Many of them contain fanciful or erroneous stories or details.
2. Then there’s another classification of documents called “Pseudepigrapha” (Gr. “lying ascriptions”) which claimed to be written by some famous person of the past, but were forgeries. They were usually written long after the supposed author died.
3. There are also the writings of the Apostolic Fathers which are also not included in Scripture, or authoritative: Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, the Didache, the Epistle of Barnabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Diognetus, the Fragments of Papias, the writings of Irenaeus, etc. (Nor were the Qumran writings of ‘The Sons of Light & the Sons of Darkness’).
THE GNOSTICS
Around A.D. 200, there was a strange sect of Christians called the Gnostics who tried to combine Greek philosophy and Christianity. They thought it would be impossible for the Logos (Word) to become flesh, because God was thought to be aloof. Therefore, they thought, Christ must have been less divine and lived a human life. The Gnostic library discovered at Nag Hammadi in Egypt in 1945 reflected this viewpoint. It included 52 texts, including the forged gospels of Thomas, Philip, and Judas. They are fictional documents. Irenaeus and Hippolytus condemned them as lies made up by the Gnostics. The “Wife of Jesus" fragment is a Gnostic-type work, if genuine.
THE CANON OF SCRIPTURE
The word "Canon," as applied to Scripture means "an officially accepted list of books;" the 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books which make up the Bible. How were they chosen by the ancient Jewish believers & by early Christians? They used 5 criteria:
Is It Authoritative? Did it come from the hand of God?
Is It Prophetic? Was it written by a man of God?
Is It Authentic? Was it written by the author?
Is It Dynamic? Did it come with the life-transforming power of God?
Was It Received, Collected, Read & Used by the people of God?
[See Josh McDowell’s, Evidence That Demands A Verdict, pp. 29-38.] The Masoretic Text, the basis of the Bible’s O.T., has been extensively verified by the Dead Sea Scrolls (ancient O.T. manuscripts found at Qumran), which dated back to 400 BC.
VERACITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT
The documents of the New Testament are the best attested of any ancient work. Plato wrote his Tetralogies around 400 BC, but there are only 7 copies, the earliest of which is 900 A.D., yet Plato's writings are taught everywhere without question. Aristotle is similar with 49 copies. The New Testament, by comparison, has more than 25,000 ancient manuscripts, some of them dating to the lifetimes of their writers. German Papyrologist Carsten Thiede, Dr. Philip Comfort, and others have identified five manuscripts (P64, 7Q4, 7Q5, P67, P4) as from the time of the Apostles (before 68 A.D.) and three others (P46, P52, P1) as copied by ca. 100 A.D. This means that the New Testament documents are far older than previously thought and that the events recorded in them are accurate, because they were written and taught during the lifetime of the Lord Jesus and his Apostles. To teach in Palestine during the lifetime of Jesus that He worked many open miracles, claimed to be God, died as the Savior of the world, and rose again from the dead -- if not true – would have gotten the same response then as people would today who claimed J.F.K. did those things: they’d be laughed out town. But the events were known to be true and Jesus’ love revolutionized the Roman world and will change yours too, if you believe His words!
Jesus said, “If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins” John 8:24. “Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name” Acts 10:43.
