Continuing on yesterday’s post but with a slightly different twist. Did you ever notice when reading the Gospels that there is no description of what Jesus looked like. Nothing. No height. No body shape. No eye or hair color. Don’t you find this a little odd for the greatest person who has ever lived? Certainly one would think that Matthew, Peter & John, 3 of Jesus’ disciples who wrote parts of the New Testament, would have mentioned something. After all, they spent 3 years with Jesus, day and night. Then Mark, who also was well-acquainted with Jesus, mentions nothing about His appearance nor does Jude who was the physical brother of Jesus. What we do know is that there was nothing special about Jesus to make Him stick out in the crowd. Forget the halo that Renaissance painters like to portray Him with and any kind of other-worldly glow. How do we know this? Because John the Baptist didn’t know who He was until God told him. Much later Herod was unimpressed by Him. Isaiah also tells us that there was nothing about Jesus' appearance that we would desire Him. Why there is no physical description of Jesus we can only speculate which is what I am going to do now.
First of all, let’s return to the faith thing. Would God want us to fixate on what Jesus looked like or on who Jesus was and what He taught? Ah, there is part of the answer! Part of having faith in Jesus is believing that He actually lived, died and was resurrected by God. That He was God’s Son, even though we know nothing, in the Bible or in history, of what He looked like.
Secondly, God was being merciful to us. What do I mean by that? Suppose that there was a detailed description of the physical likeness of Jesus in the Bible. Can you imagine how this would have played itself out down through history? If, for example, it said that Jesus was 6' tall this would have been seen as the ‘perfect’ height. I can just see some over-zealous individuals putting shorter people on the rack in order to make them 6' tall or chopping off the feet of taller people in order to get them down to 6'. If it had been recorded that Jesus had a long, skinny nose, guess what? A long, skinny nose would have been the only acceptable nose. I can only imagine the disfigurement that would have occurred in trying to get the ‘perfect’ nose. Worse yet, suppose that it was recorded that Jesus had hazel eyes. There would have been some parents who would have attempted to change the color of their children’s eyes. Or they may have shunned them. Or, worse yet, blinded them. At the very least people who didn’t fit the ‘Jesus look’ would have either been taking extreme measures to get it or they would have been abandoned, persecuted, tortured or killed by others. It is definitely something to think about.
The fact is that it doesn’t make any difference to our faith what Jesus looked like. And that is precisely the point. It’s not about the appearance but the heart. In the same way, Jesus doesn’t really care what we look like. What He cares about is our heart!
Lord, in Your divine wisdom You have chosen not to give us any physical description of Jesus. But You have given us a vivid description of His words, deeds and character. May our focus be on becoming more like Him in our spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
First of all, let’s return to the faith thing. Would God want us to fixate on what Jesus looked like or on who Jesus was and what He taught? Ah, there is part of the answer! Part of having faith in Jesus is believing that He actually lived, died and was resurrected by God. That He was God’s Son, even though we know nothing, in the Bible or in history, of what He looked like.
Secondly, God was being merciful to us. What do I mean by that? Suppose that there was a detailed description of the physical likeness of Jesus in the Bible. Can you imagine how this would have played itself out down through history? If, for example, it said that Jesus was 6' tall this would have been seen as the ‘perfect’ height. I can just see some over-zealous individuals putting shorter people on the rack in order to make them 6' tall or chopping off the feet of taller people in order to get them down to 6'. If it had been recorded that Jesus had a long, skinny nose, guess what? A long, skinny nose would have been the only acceptable nose. I can only imagine the disfigurement that would have occurred in trying to get the ‘perfect’ nose. Worse yet, suppose that it was recorded that Jesus had hazel eyes. There would have been some parents who would have attempted to change the color of their children’s eyes. Or they may have shunned them. Or, worse yet, blinded them. At the very least people who didn’t fit the ‘Jesus look’ would have either been taking extreme measures to get it or they would have been abandoned, persecuted, tortured or killed by others. It is definitely something to think about.
The fact is that it doesn’t make any difference to our faith what Jesus looked like. And that is precisely the point. It’s not about the appearance but the heart. In the same way, Jesus doesn’t really care what we look like. What He cares about is our heart!
Lord, in Your divine wisdom You have chosen not to give us any physical description of Jesus. But You have given us a vivid description of His words, deeds and character. May our focus be on becoming more like Him in our spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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