Jesus had a son?! Perhaps even more shocking than the James Ossuary is the bone box in the family tomb with the Hebrew inscription, "Judah son of Jesus." Listed as 80/501 in the warehouse of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, the empty small bone box is nevertheless witness to the existence of a son born to Jesus, presumably with Mary Magdelene as the mother. Yes, "The DaVinci Code" had them as the parents of a little girl, but that was just creative imagination. This Judah appears to be historical reality. Prof. James Tabor speculates he may have died at a young age, and that his identity was hidden by his parents who believed that the Romans would slay all Hebrew claimants to the throne of King David.
So, was Jesus married to MM, or was she just his companion and lover. The other disciples were jealous of her, beause it is said the Jesus kissed her on the (hole in manuscript) {lips} and gave her private messages. Yet, she was held in high honor, and was considered an "apostle to the apostles." She was also buried in the Jesus family tomb, so she was obviously recognized as being intimate with Jesus.
There is no evidence in the gospels of a marriage ceremony between them. Although the traditional New Testaments omits mention of several events and major persons in the Jesus story. Was, then, Jesus practicing an alternative lifestyle? Was this couple intimate without "benefit of marriage?" Until further evidence, it would appear to be the case. This relationship not only provides an historical example for women priests in Roman Catholicism, but a startling example of alternative lifestyples in Jewish Christianity.
Prof. James D. Tabor
James Tabor was one of the first to become curious about the location of the tomb in Jerusalem where Israeli authories had sealed it and buit an apartment complex over it. He located the correct apartment site, but had to wait until the Jacobovici team secured funding and started the search in ernest. The rest of the story is in the Jacobovici-Pellegrino book, THE JESUS FAMILY TOMB, and the DVD produced by James Cameron, THE LOST TOMB OF JESUS.
