I'm seeing these articles going around facebook claiming that new studies on "lost" manuscripts suggest Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had 2 children with her. Going on a quick tangent before we get started, it's interesting is that some people who have spent their lives refuting that Jesus ever existed AT ALL are accepting this (And I can't help but feel that it's for the same reason they refuted his existence altogether before hearing this. If Jesus really did these things, he wasn't God, and if there is no God of the Bible, there are no pesky commandments to abstain from sin, right? It may sound harsh, but that kind of proves that many unbelievers' issue with God's existence isn't one of a lack of proof, but a lack of accommodation for sin.)
At any rate, this matter of whether or not Jesus had children was addressed in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments:
Isaiah 53:7-8
7. He (Jesus) was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
The word 'generation' there means just that. No one can declare that he had any children because he didn't. Like it says, he ws cut off from the living. And just to prove that this passage was indeed talking about Jesus, look specfically at verse 33 of this next passage:
Acts 8:30-35
30. And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
31. And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
32. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:
33. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
34. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?
35. Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him JESUS.
The point is this: No one can declare Jesus' generations because he didn't have any children. He didn't have a wife here on earth, either. His bride will be the body of Christ as shown in Ephesians 5:21-33 (and other places). As Eve was born of a rib from Adam, so was the bride of Christ, the church, the BODY of Christ, born of blood and water when Jesus was pierced in his ribs on the cross:
John 19:33-34
33. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
34. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out BLOOD and WATER.
1st John 5:5-8
5. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
6. This is he that came by WATER and BLOOD, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the WATER, and the BLOOD: and these three agree in one.
By the way, the book that has sparked this whole controversy is titled "The LOST Gospel," written by Simcha Jacobovici. (What a tragically appropriate title, eh?) Mr. Jacobovici isn't exactly the most honest man in the world. The Times reports that Jacobovici has published controversial takes on early Christianity in the past, including a 2002 documentary on the James ossuary, a relic believed to show Jesus had a family. Later, the Discovery Channel named the site one of the top 10 scientific hoaxes of all time.
