Alleged 4th century fragment referring to Jesus' wife

In recent weeks, a fragment of an alleged fourth century document containing a reference to Jesus' wife has set the media all atwitter.  The Google search I just carried out on "Jesus wife" received "about 275,000,000 results," which is a lot of hits.  The case for the document and its possible implications is set out in a paper by Harvard Divinity School professor, Dr. Karen L. King, and is entitled, "“Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…’”A New Coptic Gospel Papyrus."  There have been so many doubts raised about the authenticity of the fragment, however, that it is not at all clear that it is genuine.  King herself says that the fragment doesn't really prove that Jesus had a wife, only that  some fourth century believed that he did.

Leaving aside the authenticity (or lack thereof) of the fragment, a couple of thoughts come to mind.  First, all of the media attention given to it gives further proof to how enamored American society is with Jesus of Nazareth.  He remains an iconic figure and a newsworthy one.  Second, it would apparently be a big deal if it could somehow be proven that Jesus did actually have a wife.  Certainly, the Catholic Church would find such an eventually awkward as the whole emphasis on priestly sexual abstinence would be called into question.  More largely, it would force all of us to rethink the doctrine of the incarnation of Christ.  That's not a bad thing.  Suppose Jesus did have a wife.  Would that not confirm the depth of God's presence in human history through Christ?  It would certainly have an impact on our gender politics, especially in the church, if it turned out that Jesus was married.  Thus, just the bare possibility that this fragment opens the door to the possibility that Jesus might have had a wife is highly newsworthy.

Daniel Burke and David Gibson, however, remind us (here) to be very cautious about all of this.  They raise the question, "But how many overhyped archaeological discoveries have proven less than world-changing under careful examination?"  They cite other examples of the uncovering  of supposedly ancient documents or artifacts that grabbed media attention for a moment but proved either insignificant in the long run and/or to be forgeries.

Still, it might be interesting to preach one or more sermons on the subject of, "What if Jesus had a wife."  There is no evidence that he did, but it is fun to speculate on what kind of husband (and father?) Jesus might have made.