Christ

[Guest man]

Does the bible tell us what Christ looks like?

Does the bible tell us what Christ doesn't look like?

[Zildja]

Does the bible tell us what Christ looks like?

Does the bible tell us what Christ doesn't look like?

The scripture says that the Messiah was a cumly Man. But No it does not give a discripition.

But let me ask you this, Do you think it matters to Him what you look like?

We are all part of the Human family, So to me it does not matter at all what The flesh of The Messiah looked like.

The Painting of the Messiah that we see today, Have caused a lot of conflict, in alot of ways over hundreds of years.

Edited March 5, 2006 by Zildja

[apothanein kerdos]

There's no way to tell, and in the end, it wouldn't matter. Describing how someone looked just wouldn't have made sense in the context of the Gospel I guess.

[Rania]

I found this Here and I certainly don't agree with everything at this link but it does talk about the appearance of Jesus.

Rania

Will you recognize Jesus when you see him?

The Bible makes no specific description of what Jesus Christ looked like, and there are no known images of Him in existence, such as their are, for example, for Roman emperors (e.g. Emperor Nero), or actual "faces from the past" that can be seen with the Egyptian Mummies. There are however some very good indications of what He did, and did not, look like -

There was nothing unusual about His appearance

Throughout the Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, people made no mention of something different about how He looked. If anything, people wondered how such an ordinary-looking man could be The Savior. John the Baptist would not have known that his cousin was The Savior unless an angel had told him just before Jesus' baptism at age 30 (John 1:33). The mob that came to arrest Him could not tell Him apart from Peter or John or any of the others - Judas Iscariot had to actually point Him out, (Matthew 26:47-49) and even then Jesus had to identify Himself, twice, to those who demanded Him by Name as He stood right in front of them in the bright light of their torches (John 18:3-9).

He had a natural, rugged appearance

The Lord did hard physical outside labor, with Joseph in Nazareth, until He was about 30 years old. Back then, the building trade involved very strenuous physical labor with heavy stone and lumber, without any sort of power tools or mechanical digging equipment that are in use today. Unlike many religious pictures that portray Jesus as a pale, skinny, effeminate man with long hair and wearing a flowing white or pink robe (all of which may well be far closer to what Satan looks like), Christ could have looked nothing like that. His appearance would definitely have been that of a well-tanned, muscular, physically-fit young man dressed in durable and practical clothing - which made Him indistinguishable from the "blue-collar" Fishermen who were with Him when He was arrested.

He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

Isaiah 53:2-4

Jesus Christ did not have long hair

Hair styles and socially-acceptable length have varied tremendously over the ages, sometimes very short, sometimes very long. Most religious artists portray Christ with long hair. The man in the Shroud of Turin also has long hair. But did Jesus have long hair?? The apostle Paul actually saw Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 9:1). Paul, a trustworthy man who wrote a large part of the New Testament, knew exactly what The Lord looked like. In 1 Corinthians 11:14, Paul wrote, "if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him." It's quite unthinkable that Paul would have made such a statement if Jesus Christ had long hair. How could anything about The Lord be called disgraceful?

[Guest man]

Rania, thank you for that link.

I believe it is very important that we know what Christ looks like. Paul took the time to give us that comment about long hair, why would he do that if it wasn't important? Instead of telling us what He looked like, he tells us what Christ doesn't look like.

Don't you find that as being odd?

What do you suppose he's trying to get across to us?

[Iryssa]

On that last point, Rania

It is possible (though by no means do I know for sure) that Jesus had longer hair than most men do today: "acceptable lengths," driven by culture, have changed a great deal since then.

Also, I believe the Bible says that Jesus had nothing in His appearance that we would be attracted to, as Isaiah prophecied:

"He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him." (Isa. 53:2)

[deadman1204]

Does the bible tell us what Christ looks like?

Does the bible tell us what Christ doesn't look like?

The scripture says that the Messiah was a cumly Man. But No it does not give a discripition.

But let me ask you this, Do you think it matters to Him what you look like?

We are all part of the Human family, So to me it does not matter at all what The flesh of The Messiah looked like.

The Painting of the Messiah that we see today, Have caused a lot of conflict, in alot of ways over hundreds of years.

This is wrong.

Jesus was a "homely" man. He wasn't good looking, he wasn't a wonderous orator, he wasn't super strong. Iryssa's quote from Is53 shows this. Its actually important. What mattered was Jesus' message. People were to listen to him for his message, not because of his great delivery or because he was easy on the eyes.

[Guest man]

There's no way to tell, and in the end, it wouldn't matter. Describing how someone looked just wouldn't have made sense in the context of the Gospel I guess.

Why do you believe it doesn't matter?

Why would Paul tell us what Christ didn't look like?

Why would some of the writers of the bible feel it was necessary to include a description of Christ in their writing's if it didn't matter?

Not ripping on you but if you could keep it under a page, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[Guest shiloh357]

There's no way to tell, and in the end, it wouldn't matter. Describing how someone looked just wouldn't have made sense in the context of the Gospel I guess.

Why do you believe it doesn't matter?

Why would Paul tell us what Christ didn't look like?

Why would some of the writers of the bible feel it was necessary to include a description of Christ in their writing's if it didn't matter?

Not ripping on you but if you could keep it under a page, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Paul never offered a description of what Jesus did or did not look like.

[apothanein kerdos]

There's no way to tell, and in the end, it wouldn't matter. Describing how someone looked just wouldn't have made sense in the context of the Gospel I guess.

Why do you believe it doesn't matter?

Why would Paul tell us what Christ didn't look like?

Why would some of the writers of the bible feel it was necessary to include a description of Christ in their writing's if it didn't matter?

Not ripping on you but if you could keep it under a page, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

They didn't tell us what He looks like, that's the thing. No one described His looks because His looks are highly unimportant. Only in our culture have looks come into play...back then they did not matter. It was the message people were interested in, not necessarily how the messenger looked. That's why it's not important. Even if we look to Isaiah 53, all it says is that He was not great looking...this doesn't mean He was ugly. It simply means He blended in the crowd...He looked like He fit.

As a side note to whoever said He wasn't super strong....the fact He was a carpenter dispells this. One thing we do know about Jesus is that He had to be very strong or at least had the appearance of strength. Being a carpenter, back then, would require it....that and surviving a flogging and then carrying a cross over a mile after the flogging......