To say the public enjoys a good scandal is an understatement. I'd say at least the American public thrives on scandals, especially those involving relationships. Which is why I wasn't surprised that CNN had a news story about an ancient scroll claiming that Jesus had a wife. The article states that no clear conclusions can be made from the piece of papyrus, only that it says, "Jesus said to them, 'My wife...'" I consider this more a stirring-the-pot moment than a clear archeological sign that could possibly impact Christian theology.
For starters, we must consider the source of this archaeological finding. The person who made this discovery was Karen King, who is associated with the Harvard School of Divinity. To get a better idea of her work, I went to Amazon.com to gather information about the content of her books. The first is entitled The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Disciple. Within the description of the book, it states, "This brief narrative presents a radical interpretation of Jesus' teachings as a path to inner spiritual knowledge. It rejects his suffering and death as a path to eternal life..." Interesting that this woman would disregard the Bible's teaching for a text that was rejected as part of the canon and deemed gnostic. Another book is entitled The Secret Revelation of John, which has the following description: "Her work helps the modern reader through many intriguing--but confusing--ideas in the text: for example, that the creator god of Genesis, a self-described jealous and exclusive god, is not the true Deity but a kind of fallen angel; or, in an overt critique of patriarchy unique in ancient literature, the declaration that the subordination of woman to man was an ignorant act in direct violation of the 'holy height.'" Again, I find it interesting that the only reason that Jesus has become newsworthy isn't because He is our Savior, but because a woman who has no respect for the Bible or what it contains has presented the world with the radical scandal of Jesus possibly having a wife.
I have had a couple of days to mull over what I think about this whole concept. It was first presented to me at work because a coworker commented on the news story, and my only response was, "That can't be true." Now that I have thought about it some more, I believe a better response would entail pointing those with questions to specific passages within the Bible. For starters, one could turn to Ephesians 5:25, which says, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." This verse symbolically demonstrates how Christ is the husband and the church is His wife. Another verse that people could refer to is Revelation 21:9, which states, "Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, 'Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.'" This again talks of Jesus symbolically having a wife, not literally. Those who are not well versed in the Bible might not get the connection between Jesus and the lamb, so it would be beneficial to also provide probing individuals with John 1:29 because it contains the following information from John the Baptist's sighting: "The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"
By combining the information from all three of the verses provided in the above paragraph, a Christian will be able to minister to those questioning this new finding by Karen King. It is important to defend the Gospel from such unfounded claims using the Word of God because He knows all and is the only one who can provide the answers to difficult questions.
