This morning I was doing physical therapy on my hand from a recent surgery.  The conversation in the room turned to religion.  A lot of the time I like to keep my profession on the down low because the conversations become lest than honest once people find out what I do for a living.  I sat and listened for some time without saying anything.  The physical therapist was the only one who knew what I did for a living and I got the impression that she was kind of enjoying the fact that I had some expertise but was just listening quietly...at least for a while.  

After a while my physical therapist told me that the guy who assisted with the surgery believed that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.  My reaction may not have been the best, I laughed and said "he is full of crap."  A few minutes later he came into the room; so, I took the opportunity.  I said, " I hear you think Jesus was married to Marry Magdalene."  He reassured me that it was, in fact, true.  He then provided evidence suggesting that she was called the "companion" of Jesus and that, at that time the word meant wife, or spouse.  I reassured him this was not the case, but he wouldn't budge even after I explained that I have some expertise in this area.  The reality is that I have never actually done a word study on the word "companion" and I could not recall where in the gospels it used this word in reference to Mary Magdalene even though she does play a prominent role in the story of Jesus.  When I told him he should do a word study he said that he had.  Truth is, he hasn't, at least not in any kind of scholarly way.  My guess is that he read the Da Vinci Code and some articles online.  That isn't really a word study, so I decided I would do one so that I am prepared next week when I see him...I will certainly bring it up.  

Knowing that there are likely different words that could be translated "companion" I decided to search out this mysterious text that referred to Mary Magdalene in this manner.  I'll admit to taking a little bit of a short cut when I begin this kind of research.  I will often us Google to get me going.  I was baffled by the results.  Google didn't find any reference in the canonical gospels that referred to Mary in this manner.  Usually when those who questions the Biblical narrative get a hold of something like this there are numerous articles or posts by the Dan Brown fan-boys and fan-girls.  I found nothing.  I did however not stop.  I was on my phone and my Bible software is difficult to use on my phone, so when I got back to the office I used the more robust and thorough search engine on my computer that could search several different translations.  Once again, I found no reference to Mary as the companion of Jesus. 

I did remember seeing something from Wikipedia when I was going through search results on my phone, so Wikipedia it was...ah ha! I finally found the reference to Mary Magdalene as the companion of Jesus in the gospel of Philip.  I know what you're thinking, you don't remember that gospel being in the canonical gospels.  You are right, it isn't.  That is because it was written at least 200 years after the death of Jesus and is part of a group of writings known as the gnostic gospels discovered in 1945 in Nag Hammadi in northern Egypt.  The gnostic gospels are not included in the cannon for good reason.  They were written long after the events of the New Testament took place, we don't know who wrote them (the gospel of Philip was not written by Phillip), and the church at the time rejected them as fraudulent and heretical.  

There is more.  Once I realized that the reference was in the gospel of Philip I realized that this might not be a Greek word since these gnostics gospels weren't written in Greek, they were written in Coptic.  However, I found out that this specific word was coopted from the Greek; the word is κοινωνός (KOINŌNOS).  Back to my Logos software where I can search in the Greek and see how it is translated in different texts.  There isn't one single text where the context would allow it to mean anything related to Marriage.  It has reference to sharing things, partners on journeys, participation in the body of Christ, and so on, but never marriage.  It can be used in reference a close bond between people, but was often used in reference to a brotherly or sisterly bond.  It could potentially reference marriage much like our english word "partner" could reference marriage or a teammate for a tennis match.  However, it is never used to reference marriage in Scripture.

There was another argument made.  It would have been highly unusual for Jewish men not to be married in the first century and Mary Magdalene seems like the obvious choice given the information we have.  It is true that the norm was to marry, but it was not unusual for an itinerate teacher to remain a bachelor until late in their 30's.  Jesus didn't live that long and he was an itinerate teacher.  It really wasn't unusual for Jesus to be single.  Given the narrative of Scripture there are numerous theological reasons that Jesus would have chosen to remain single even if it would have been uncommon.  

In summary, there is absolutely zero positive, compelling evidence that Jesus was ever married.  At best it is conjecture based on arguments from silence.  I realize that your average person does not have the resources to do this kind of study, but let's make sure we are not gullible and we are not afraid of confronting false teaching when we see it.  Here are some questions I could have asked if I didn't want to take such a head on approach:

• Where does it say that Mary was a companion of Jesus?
• Do you know if that word was used in other contexts to refer to other kinds of relationships?
• Is there any other evidence that you think is compelling other than the use of this word?
• If something was unusual does that mean it is impossible in your mind?
• Do you think it makes sense for an itinerate teacher to drag a wife and children around the countryside as they traveled and taught?

Maybe you're like me, you want to have a great prayer life, but it's a struggle.  Well, put yourself in my position, I'm a pastor and people expect me to have a vibrant prayer life.  The truth is, some times I do and some times I don't.  It's a battle for me.  I've heard the typical advice for having a great prayer life and much of it I found to be less than helpful.  Nevertheless, there are some things that I have found helpful and I'm hoping they will help you too.

1. Pray Now!  No, really pray right now.  Ask God to help you with your prayer life.  Did you do it?  Keep reading, because there is more to this first one than whether you did what I asked you to do.  Pray now is a principle.  There are blogs, posts, and podcasts that will tell you to set aside a specific time each day to pray.  They aren't wrong, but I have a really hard time with that.  My schedule changes enough that doing this is very difficult.  On my normal days I have a specific time and place, but I have more days than I would like that don't allow me to keep that schedule. So, I practice the "pray now" principle.  I pray when I need to pray.  If something happens during the day that needs prayer, I "pray now."  Just two days ago someone was asking me for prayer regarding something going on in their life.  I practiced the "pray now" principle.  I asked if I could pray in that moment and we did.  Start practicing this principle.
2. Organize your prayer list.  I use some Bible software called Logos that has some prayer functions that allow me to keep track of what I am praying for and to schedule what I pray for and what days I pray for those things on.  You could do this using a prayer notebook, but I like technology.  You don't have to use Logos, in fact there are some apps you can get on your phone that might be more helpful to you.  Logos is more of a professional level of software.  Check out this site for a list of apps that might be good for you.  I am thinking about introducing one of these apps to my life group to help us pray for each other.  You can check out several of them here.
3. Pray aloud.  I know, it feels weird, especially when you aren't with other people.  For me this is a big one.  When I just think prayers it is much easier for me to get distracted or even fall asleep.  So, I pray out loud.  You don't have to shout or prayer so people in the next room can hear you, you can just whisper loud enough to keep you focused.
4. Pray with others.  Some people regularly pray with their spouse and this is great, but that isn't something I do, but we do pray together when one of us needs prayer or when we have someone we both want to pray for.  I also pray with my life group, prayer meetings, and so on.  If you are a beginner, this can be really helpful.  Hearing others pray will help you as you learn to pray.  Eventually, you just have to go for it when it comes to praying in public.  Trust me, no one is judging you based on how you pray.  I have heard people say swear words when they pray simply because they didn't know any better.  Take some advice from Nike and "just do it!"
5. Write them down.  I don't do this often, but sometimes when I am struggling or when I just want to be able to go back and remember what I prayed I will write the prayer out in a journaling fashion.  It also helps if I am having an especially hard time focusing.  

There is no way around the fact that prayer requires discipline in order to improve, but hopefully these things will help you on your journey.

New years is a great time to celebrate, in fact, I'd like to think that I threw some of the most epic all nighters when I was doing youth ministry, on New Years Eve every year.  Looking back at the previous year is a good exercise and making goals and resolutions for the coming year can also be a good exercise.  There is certainly nothing wrong with celebrating, but we should also take a smart approach to the coming year.  Here is what you and everyone else should expect in the coming year and, I hope, some thoughtful ideas for how you should approach those things.

1. There will be things to celebrate.  Even the worst years in our lives have opportunities for celebration.  It is good to celebrate, "rejoice with those who rejoice" (Rom. 12:15)  When you do celebrate, don't do it alone, find people and celebrate the good things in their life and let them celebrate with you.
2. There will be things to mourn.  There isn't a single year in the history of the world that has not had tragedy.  It might be tragedy that hits close to home and it might not be.  We shouldn't live in fear of such things and we shouldn't be anxious about them, but we should expect them (Phil 4:6; Rom. 8:15).  the second half of Rom. 12:15 reminds us to "mourn with those who mourn."  Just like opportunities to rejoice should be done in community, so should mourning.  Today, I'm mourning with the Parrish family as the dad and husband was killed in the line of duty as a Deputy in Douglas County, CO.  
3. You should expect the unexpected.  The future is infamous for being difficult to predict.  For some people unexpected things are difficult to deal with.  "Rolling with the punches" is a skill and some pick up on it easier than others.  Nevertheless, you can't plan or prepare for everything.  Learn to adjust and roll with the punches.  There may be unexpected job loss, pregnancies, gifts, sickness, etc.  Good, bad or both, expect the unexpected.
4. Expect growth.  People don't stop growing just because they stop growing taller.  Whether you are young or old, you need to continue to grow as a person.  Each year I pick an author or a person in history to read (or read about) so I can continue to grow as a person and a leader.  This year I have been reading Os Guiness (I started with Schaeffer, but I was having a hard time so I switched it up).  Of course growth isn't just about reading, it is about taking what life brings your way and looking at even the hard things as opportunities for growth (Prov. 24:32).  
5. The world will change.  As the saying goes, "the only certain thing in life is change."  A lot of people have a hard time with change, others do better with change.  Reality is full of change whether we like it or not.  Some change is positive, some is negative, and much of it is painful.  Every change has potential negative effects as well as opportunities.  To the extent that we can, we should prepare for change, but when we can't, roll with the punches.  

I hope 2018 is a great year for you, but even if it isn't filled with all kinds of great things, I hope it will be a year of growth.