The Bible says nothing about the physical appearance of the man, Jesus of Nazareth. I believe that this fact points out an important point. The Jews were looking for a Messiah who would be an impressive military leader who would throw off Roman rule. He might even, if successful, have become a king.
Kings, for all the history known up to that time, were massively egotistical self promoters, repeatedly building monuments and cities named for themselves. The king was always touted as a god of a man, handsome, brave, rich, powerful; his queen was the most beautiful woman in the land. The greatest kings were known for their wealth, power, and military conquests. How well, or how poorly, they dealt with their subjects was secondary. This attitude toward kings has been repeated down through the centuries since the time of Christ.
Jesus was a nobody, a carpenter from an ignored small country town. He probably looked like everyone else, like one of the modern West Bank Palestinians we regularly see on the nightly news. While He could read and write and was obviously very intelligent (He amazed the Pharisees with His knowledge at age twelve, Luke 2:41-52), He is not mentioned as having specialized theological training or as being recognized as a Pharisee. That He didn't stand out by his appearance is shown by the fact that the traitor, Judas Iscariot, had to point HIm out to the Roman soldiers who came to arrest Him. (Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-51, Luke 22:47-53, John 18: 1-11)
The Iconoclastic Controversy arose in the Christian community over whether or not representations of Jesus and the other persons mentioned in the Bible should be allowed within the Christian Church. The issue still causes controversy. Of the artwork depicting Jesus, possibly the most recognizable in history (known to have been reproduced over 500,000 times) is The Head of Christ by Warner Sallman.
Other representations of Jesus abound and reflect many different understandings of the same man. Most appear to be honest attempts to emphasize some particular aspect of the Lord.
In Undefeated by Stephen S. Sawyer, Jesus is seen as a handsome, muscular boxer The painting is based on Psalm 136:12.
Christ Walking on the Sea , a print by Nathaniel Currier (of Currier & Ives), emphasizes Jesus's gentleness, calmness, and kindness. Some viewers, me included, feel that this print makes Jesus so gentle that He seems to be effeminate. The event depicted is recorded in John 6:16-21, Mark 6:45-52, and in Matthew 14:22-33.
Sister Wendy Beckett , host of the Public broadcasting System program, "Sister Wendy's Story of Painting," in 1999 chose Jesus of the People as the winner of the National Catholic Reporter's competition for a new image of Jesus, a peasant Jesus.
Kings, for all the history known up to that time, were massively egotistical self promoters, repeatedly building monuments and cities named for themselves. The king was always touted as a god of a man, handsome, brave, rich, powerful; his queen was the most beautiful woman in the land. The greatest kings were known for their wealth, power, and military conquests. How well, or how poorly, they dealt with their subjects was secondary. This attitude toward kings has been repeated down through the centuries since the time of Christ.
Jesus was a nobody, a carpenter from an ignored small country town. He probably looked like everyone else, like one of the modern West Bank Palestinians we regularly see on the nightly news. While He could read and write and was obviously very intelligent (He amazed the Pharisees with His knowledge at age twelve, Luke 2:41-52), He is not mentioned as having specialized theological training or as being recognized as a Pharisee. That He didn't stand out by his appearance is shown by the fact that the traitor, Judas Iscariot, had to point HIm out to the Roman soldiers who came to arrest Him. (Matthew 26:47-56, Mark 14:43-51, Luke 22:47-53, John 18: 1-11)
The Iconoclastic Controversy arose in the Christian community over whether or not representations of Jesus and the other persons mentioned in the Bible should be allowed within the Christian Church. The issue still causes controversy. Of the artwork depicting Jesus, possibly the most recognizable in history (known to have been reproduced over 500,000 times) is The Head of Christ by Warner Sallman.
Other representations of Jesus abound and reflect many different understandings of the same man. Most appear to be honest attempts to emphasize some particular aspect of the Lord.
In Undefeated by Stephen S. Sawyer, Jesus is seen as a handsome, muscular boxer The painting is based on Psalm 136:12.
Christ Walking on the Sea , a print by Nathaniel Currier (of Currier & Ives), emphasizes Jesus's gentleness, calmness, and kindness. Some viewers, me included, feel that this print makes Jesus so gentle that He seems to be effeminate. The event depicted is recorded in John 6:16-21, Mark 6:45-52, and in Matthew 14:22-33.
Sister Wendy Beckett , host of the Public broadcasting System program, "Sister Wendy's Story of Painting," in 1999 chose Jesus of the People as the winner of the National Catholic Reporter's competition for a new image of Jesus, a peasant Jesus.
All three of these representations of Jesus are meant in reverence. Some object to them, especially to Jesus of the People, but why? Jesus is the Lord of every individual on Earth and His Church includes people from every race, nationality and country on the Earth. None of these pictures above are blasphemous, unlike those detailed below, which are. The difference is in the intent: to glorify Christ or to show contempt for Him.
Piss Christ
Christ the Yogi
The Truth
Interesting discussions of what Jesus may have looked like are here and here . The truth is, no one knows.
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