Bible Question:
What was Jesus' physical appearance?
Bible Answer:
The Bible never describes Jesus’ physical appearance while He walked on this planet. Some individuals believe that Exodus 24:10; Daniel 7:9; 10:5-6 or Revelation 1:14-15; 4:2-3 describe Jesus’ physical, earthly appearance. However, a careful and close examination of these passages reveals that Exodus 24:10; Daniel 7:9 and Revelation 4:2-3 describe the appearance of God the Father in heaven. Daniel 10:5-6 and Revelation 1:14-15 describe a vision of Christ in heaven, but not His physical appearance on earth when He had taken on the human form of a male body.
Jesus Was Not Handsome
The only passage in the Bible that refers to Jesus’ physical appearance while He was on this planet is Isaiah 53:2.
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
Isaiah 53:2 (NASB)
The passage tells us that Jesus “had no stately form or majesty” and no “appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” In short, Jesus was not a handsome man.
Jesus Was a Male
Luke 2:16 tells us that Jesus was born into this world as a baby. The gospels tell us that He was a male (Luke 7:49) who bled blood like any other human (John 19:34). He had hands and feet (Luke 24:39). He ate food (Luke 24:42-43) and drank liquids (Matthew 27:48). The apostle John states in 1 John 1:1 that he and others had heard, seen and touched Jesus.
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life . . . 1 John 1:1 (NASB)
This reveals that Jesus spoke a language. He was visible to the naked eye and He was not just a spirit, but He had a physical body.
Many speculate that Jesus’ skin color was olive colored, white, black or brown, but the Bible never describes Jesus’ skin color while He had the form of a human man living on earth. Jesus was born to a Jewish mother. The skin color of Jews today varies in shades of white to dark. The Bible does not record His height, weight, hair color, eye color or physical build. In short, we do not know what Jesus looked like while living as a man on earth since the Bible does not tell us, and there are no historical records that describe His physical appearance.
Conclusion:
Many speculate about the appearance of Jesus Christ, but the Bible never gives us a description of Him. However, Christians will see Him one day and finally understand what He looks like.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (NASB)
Some day we will see Him as He appears. We can rejoice that we do not know what He looked like when He walked among us because His appearance when He walked on earth is not important. God tells us that He does not look at the outward appearance but at the heart. What is your heart like? Are you confused with anger and a preoccupation with the external or with the spiritual condition of your heart? Let’s forget about the external appearance of Christ. What is important about Jesus is that He is our God, our Savior from sin, and His resurrection proves He is our God (Romans 1:4).
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