Was the relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus closer than what the interpretation in the Bible wants us to know?

That question has been around for a long time and of late has been brought again to the forefront by the fictional novel “The DaVinci Code”. There is also an earlier book “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” that attempted to “uncover the conspiracy” by offering its own poorly constructed conspiracy. The Scorsese movie “The Last Temptation of Christ” also attempted to deal with the issue by putting it in the context of Jesus’ final temptation on the cross. In the book and movie by that name, Jesus is tempted to come down from the cross and live a full life, getting married to Mary and later, Martha, and having children, only to die at an old age. Ultimately he resists the temptation and remains on the cross, there to bring salvation to all of humanity. We are a society that is fascinated by conspiracy and intrigue. One need only look at the plethora of “reality TV”, “Inside Addition”, and the Martha and Michael trials to begin to get a handle on our cultural obsession with the inside scoop. What we can know of Jesus relationship with Mary is found in the scriptures. Even scholarly attempts to uncover “The Historical Jesus” have offered little new insight. However, there does seem to be a special connection between Jesus and Mary that is on a different plain than the relationship between Jesus and his male disciples. We must keep in mind that Jesus had many followers who were not numbered among the 12 disciples, some of whom were women. I believe that because of her devotion, Mary was an important figure in Jesus ministry and in the early church which had an expanded role for women compared to the norm in society at that time. I feel that the attempts through history of connecting Jesus and Mary in a romantic way are more a fulfillment our desire for a good saucy conspiracy story than anything else. You can find more information about the roles of women in the early church as well as a link to “the Gospel of Mary Magdalene” at the following well done web site from PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/roles.html There are also several links and articles on this subject, some of which support the notion of Jesus marriage to Mary at: http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_10126.html