In 1969, Ogden Kraut published the book, “Jesus Was Married.” In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the book, we’re sitting down with Anne Wilde and David Patrick. Anne was Ogden’s second wife and typed up the manuscript for Jesus Was Married. She believes Jesus was the groom at the Wedding at Cana.
Anne: If you know Jewish tradition very well, you understand that the parents are the ones who arranged a marriage. They are the hosts of the marriage. So it was very common for a mother or a father of the bridegroom to make sure everything went smoothly. So when Mary went to Jesus and said about the wine, why would she do that unless she was the mother, or the parent of whoever was getting married?
I’d also like to introduce David Patrick, an apostle for Christ’s Church (The Righteous Branch.)
David: My name is David Patrick and I am a member of Christ’s Church, also known as The Branch. We have members in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and a few other states, but we are a small group. We have been active as a faith since 1978, though I have not been involved with that since that time. We go around doing various firesides and talks. The subject matter of Jesus was married, or was Jesus married? … In April of 1978, Gerald Peterson Sr. was requested of the Lord to organize a new church. That was April. Then you’ve got proliferation from that time of its membership. It’s ebbed and it’s flowed in its membership over that time. That’s over 40 years ago now.
The Wedding at Cana is the scene of the first miracle of Jesus where he turns water to wine. They make the case that this wedding Jesus attended is his own wedding. Who did he marry? What scriptures lead them to believe this is Jesus’ own wedding?
Anne: [Jesus] did not live in Cana. So this was not at their home. They lived in Nazareth at the time, or at least Mary did. Then she came over from them. And then it says that shortly after the marriage, in Cana, he went to Capernaum. Well, on the way over there, you have to go through Magdala. You go through Tiberius. Magdala and Copernaum are on the Sea of Galilee. Magdala was where Mary Magdalene was from. And in our study and research, we’ve come to the conclusion that Mary Magdalene was one of his wives. Whether or not that was her wedding to Jesus or Martha and Mary, who we also believe were his wives. We don’t really know who the bride was at this time. Joseph F. Smith said he thought it was Mary and Martha at that wedding.
GT: So Jesus was marrying both of the sisters?
Anne: Yes, at the same time. That was Joseph F. Smith, the sixth president of the church. That was his statement.
David: If you go into the Jewish Encyclopedia, you can also see that. What is the groom’s family in charge of? What are they responsible for? The wine and the meat. And so all of a sudden now with the groom’s family meaning Jesus, fulfilling the Jewish responsibility to provide the wine. So yeah, these are not explicitly saying Jesus was married. I consider them Bible clues. And as we cruise through the Bible, we’re going to find these words little tidbits and clues, but it’s never going to outright say it.
What do you make of Anne and David’s conclusions?
Wheat & Tares 
Sounds like they are trying to make wine out of water.
There is no word for “bachelor” in biblical Hebrew, because the first commandment was to leave father and mother, get married and multiply and replenish the earth. Jesus was a good Jew, and followed the commandments. For him to have any religious authority and be called Master and Rabbi, he had to be married in that historical context (beyond LDS religious beliefs that marriage is necessary for exaltation). However, the wedding at Cana happens when Jesus is beginning his ministry, around age 30. That is far too late for Jesus to be the groom, which would have probably happened more than a decade earlier.
Re: requested vote — I have no belief on the subject and no reason to think I would need to have one.. I may wonder, but I also don’t care.
My grandmother who taught Gospel Doctrine for a couple decades was shocked (and possibly offended) when I quoted her Orson Hyde’s statement on the subject from the Journal of Discourses. Hyde’s position seems to have been common also to at least Orson Pratt, Jedediah M. Grant, possibly Wilford Woodruff, and (surprise!) Milton R Hunter in addition to Joseph F Smith. Though Woodruff and Smith became presidents of the Church, I’ve found no evidence that they taught of Jesus’ marriage(s) after becoming president. I think in 2006 the Deseret News, in the wake of the Da Vinci Code, took pains to declare that such Mormon leaders’ opinions were not Church doctrine.
Jesus could not have been married if He was to be a holy, pure, and spotless sacrifice for our sins! Study the Jewish law for sin sacrifice prior to Jesus. This is just another diversion from the TRUTH, and a Satanic ploy to make Jesus appear as though He was not Holy and pure, therefore He couldn’t possibly be an atoning sin sacrifice. Satan is attempting to use this story to divert attention away from our salvation in Jesus. Wake up people! This is the same type of reasoning Satan used with Eve in the garden. Trying to devalue God’s Word to them by asking, “Did God really say?” Satan is sneaky and uses reasoning to try to get us to doubt God. Jesus being married is a lie from the pit of hell! Blasphemy!
Idly wondering why Malinda thinks marriage is not holy, pure or spotless and what she thinks of the age-old Christian phrase “holy matrimony” or the commandment to “multiply and replenish the earth.” Does it boil down to the idea that sex is icky (and therefore Satanic) whether in or out of marriage?
skdadyl made me laugh! I hope Ziff has that as one of funniest comments of the year!
I agree with Anita that Jesus could not have been considered a rabbi if he was not married, and he would never have been allowed to preach in the synagogue if he had been single. I also agree that the wedding at Cana was not his wedding, but the wedding of his younger brother. Mary was obviously hostess and responsible for wine, but that just means that the wedding was for her son. But Jesus had younger brothers, so it was probably the wedding of his younger brother as by age 30 he would have already been married.
But I strongly disagree that he was married polygamously, because #1 I don’t believe it is a righteous practice and #2 polygamy was not practiced among the Jews at the time of Christ.
Mary Magdalene was the first one at the tome to anoint his body, which was the position of the wife or next of kin. Therefore, she was his wife and his next of kin before Mary his mother. Mary and Martha didn’t show up to anoint his body, therefore, they were not among his next of kin.