What Did Jesus Look Like?

It is told that about 2,000 years ago, that God humbled Himself, and gave Himself to us in the form of a man — because HE loved us so. Since then, many a scholar have probed into the age-old question: What did Jesus look like? Did he have white skin with neatly pressed brown hair? Or did he don bronze skin and have kinky hair? Or did he assume the image of his Jewish ancestry? I would posit that if you are asking yourself these types of questions, then you may be missing an opportunity to know what Our Lord and Savior actually looked like — a few biblical passages might help us to shed light on this wonderful truth.

Matthew describes Jesus as a person who fed 5,000 hungry souls (Mt 14:13–21). John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, described Jesus as a person who opened the eyes of the blind (John 9:6). Luke, the physician, described Jesus as a person who hung out with sinners (Luke 5:30–31), yet did not condemn them (see John 8:1–11) — when HE had both the wherewithal and opportunity to do so. Many of the gospels describe Jesus as a person who made his company with the sick, distressed, and the suffering (Mt 4:23–25). In fact, our Lord & Savior would further proclaim that these are the people that HE actually came for (Luke 5:31–32).

Thus, it would appear that a composite sketch of Jesus would show: (a) that his eyes looked like they had been fixed on those who were in need; (b) his feet looked like they had been walking with the spiritually poor; and (c) his hands looked like they had been comforting the sick. And then Jesus speaking to Philip would assert that, "...Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father..." (John 14:9, NIV). Thus, it would appear that Jesus had a strong complexion of "Love."

1 John 4:7–8 reads, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God (v7). He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is Love (v8)."

Jesus wants us to look like Him as HE looks like His Father. Maybe, we are not able to walk on water, or to speak peace to the wind and the waves — but each and every one of us has the ability to show compassion to those in need. In fact, Matthew 25:31–36 even states that Jesus expects us to show compassion. We may not know the tone of his skin or his facial features — but we know more than enough about Him to look just like Him.

I would like to invite each and every one reading to join me in a new project — a love campaign — to look just like Jesus.

CaringMatters365 | A John 13:34 Initiative | www.caringmatters365.com

— Marcus Rushing, MD