In the New York Times today — somebody found a 4th century papyrus fragment that says Jesus had a wife.
Well, no shit.
Who did he kiss repeatedly in front of the others?
Who was the only one who had the stones to stick by him all the way to the cross, to his burial and beyond?
Who saw him first as risen and was given instructions to tell the others?
Who pissed off the other apostles so much they eventually whined to Jesus about loving her more than them?
And his typically acerbic response:
“why do I not love you like her?”
Who so irritated and threatened Rome with her prominence that the 6th century pope Gregory declared her a prostitute?
Like they say, true love endures all things.
And if anybody knew true love when he saw it–and was a man in full–it was Jerusalem Slim.
–Burl Whitman
