|
SUBJECT: Jesus
QUESTION: Was Jesus a Jew and what did He look like?
ANSWER:
Received your e-mail asking if Jesus was a Jew and also what
He looked like. Mr. Armstrong just this week announced a
free book, The Real Jesus that will answer your questions
about Jesus. Simply call 903-561-7070 and they will send it
to you at no cost.
As you stated, this subject can be quite controversial and
we have to ask ourselves why so many would take up so much
time with it when the real issue is what He had to say and
what He expects of us. For the moment, I will give you a
couple of things to consider.
We know that Jesus was a Jew from both His genealogy and by
where He lived.
From the New Bible Dictionary:
JEW: A term which
originally described an inhabitant of Judah (2 Kings 16:6)
and as such was employed in contemporary Assyr. Text (Iaudaia)
from at least the 8th century BC. It was
commonly used by non-Jews to refer to the Hebrews, or
descendants of Abraham in general (e.g.
Jeremiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel). Thus
in Jer. 34:9 ‘Jew’ is used to explain ‘Hebrew’. It is also
used to describe the local Sem. Dialect spoken in Judah
(‘Jews’ language, in 2 Kings. 18: 26-28; Isaiah 36:11, 13;
Nehemiah 13:24). So also ‘Jewry’ stands in AV or Judah
(Daniel 5:13; Luke 23:5; John 7:1)
By New Testament times the plural ‘Jews’ had become a
familiar term for all Israelites. The feminine ‘Jewess’ is
used in 1 Chronicles 4:18; Acts 16:1; 24:24, and the
adjective ‘Jewish’ in Galatians 2:14 (GK);
Titus 1:14.
It is clear that Christ was of a Jewish genealogy and that
Jews come out of Judah. Notice now Hebrews 7 and verse 14
Hebrews 7:14
For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which
tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.
Now let us look at how He may have looked. This from the
book, The Real Jesus:
“What did Jesus look like?
Scripture indicates Jesus was neither outstandingly tall,
nor outstandingly short; He was therefore of the average
height of the average Jewish young man of His day. Research
suggests that men were somewhat larger then than they
subsequently became during the Middle Ages; consequently
Jesus could have been between 5’7” and 5’ 10”.
His physical stature would have been similar to any other
average laboring person who had spent his growing years
lifting, tugging, pushing, pulling, carrying, and enjoying
hard work out of doors.
The Bible states that the body is the “temple of the Holy
Spirit,” indicating that Jesus must have had a strong,
healthy body. Furthermore, the Bible reveals that Jesus was
made in the exact similitude of the Father.
Since Jesus in His pre-human life and God the Father did the
planning and designing of the human body, it is logical to
conclude that Jesus had a flawless or perfect human form.
This, by itself, is not necessarily unique. There are many
millions who are so blessed with that right combination of
muscular development and symmetry so as to appear perfectly
and equally proportioned, yet without the bulging muscles of
a professional weight lifter or the opposite extreme of
gawky thinness.
Jesus looked like what He was: a commonplace Jew of
first-century Palestine. And as such, Jesus could have been
blond, redheaded, or dark-headed. There is no way to really
tell, since members of the family of Judah can regularly
exhibit any of this range of complexions and/or colors of
eye or hair.
If we may speculate, it may be reasonable to postulate that
Jesus could have looked somewhat like his physical ancestor,
David.
There is evidence that David was “ruddy” in complexion,
meaning he was fair skinned, and probably red haired. David
also wore a beard. He was shorter in stature than his other
brothers, yet was well muscled and quite physically strong.
The picture of David as the young dark-haired lad with a
sling in his hand that is popular in some family Bibles may
be erroneous according tot he biblical descriptions of the
man, but then an exact picture would be impossible to draw,
since there is no physical description in sufficient enough
detail.
If following the reasoning that Jesus was from David’s own
lineage, and that David was in fact a type of Jesus Christ,
if there is any such “type and anti-type,” perhaps Jesus
could also have been fair-skinned and red-haired
(freckle-faced also?)
Of course in one sense, it is not important what Jesus
looked like or what He wore! It frankly doesn’t matter what
His skin color, skin texture, color of eyes and hair were!
It doesn’t matter what His clothes were made of. What does
matter is what Jesus said, what He taught, what He
promised!”
back to the top |