What does Jesus look like?

had conversation with a 13-year-old that had NEVER heard the name Jesus; when I visited Estonia a few summers back, I noticed that there were lots of old church buildings donning crosses at the top of their steeples. Considering other things that are most recognizable in the world, my mind thinks of the golden arches, of the Olympic Rings, the Nike swoosh, and the portrayed face of Jesus. Yes, a picture of Jesus is easily recognized by most people.

But what did Jesus really look like? A major clue is that Jesus looked like an average Jewish man of His time. We are told that He was to come from the tribe of Judah, which made Him a Jewish man. He would have had a darker skin tone and probably wouldn’t have been much more than five foot tall. One of the things that you’ll find most interesting is the idea that he probably did not have long hair. Men of Nazareth, who had taken the Nazirite vow, were to distinguish themselves in several ways from the Israelites. One of the most noted ways that they did this was by not cutting their hair during the time they were under the vow. While Jesus was from Nazareth, we know that He was not under the vow because He had been noted to have drunk wine and touched dead bodies. In Luke 4, Jesus was speaking in a Nazareth synagogue early in His ministry. After Jesus openly told the people that He was fulfilling messianic prophecies, a mob formed to try to kill Him. Luke 4:30 says, “Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.” How could Jesus escape in such a way? Even though we all agree that He could do anything He wanted to, we can also imagine it was in part because he looked much like the common people in the crowd.

So what would Jesus look like today? Isaiah 53 begins with a prophecy about His appearance. Verse 2 reads, “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” People wouldn’t be drawn to Jesus because He was tall and handsome, nor had a distinctive appearance. Rather, I believe that Jesus would look like an average person. Perhaps He would look like that man standing in front of you waiting to checkout at WalMart. Personally, I think He’s going to look like that hungry guy hanging around outside the McDonald’s. Maybe he looks more like the guy with the dirty, worn clothes that you can smell from the next isle at the Goodwill store. After all, Jesus did say in Mathew 25:40, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

Be careful not to confuse what Jesus looks like, with what society thinks He should look like. You could easily let Him slip away from your presence today. What a tragedy it would be to miss Him. Be Blessed.