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Have you ever wondered what Jesus really looked like. I can't help myself, I have thought about this. Nearly every man made image you may see of Jesus Christ portrays him as a Caucasian man of medium height, with a full beard and brown eyes, at least this is the way Leonardo da Vinci painting portraying Jesus and his disciples sharing the Lords supper depicts Jesus. The painting was completed around 1498, almost 1500 years after Jesus ascended into heaven. So this makes the likely hood that Leonardo da Vinci had any first hand knowledge of Jesus appearance, pretty unlikely. There are a lot of other inaccuracies with the painting as well. For instance the height of the table, in Jesus days the table was short and people ate in a reclined position. Also the bread on the table is a large fluffy loaf that would have been baked with yeast, pass-over bread would have been unleavened and flat. Finally the plates and glasses are made of gold and silver. The dining ware at the last supper would have been made of wood or clay. All these thing lead me to believe that Mr. da Vinci didn't really know any better than I do what Jesus looked like.
In terms of physical appearance the average Judean man of Jesus time would have likely had brown or even black hair, olive skin, and brown eyes and was about 5 feet 5 inches in height. Historians have speculated about Jesus's appearance and physical attributes for a long time. This much we do know, Jesus was a carpenter. He did manual labor so it is likely he was lean in appearance and spent a lot time exposed to the sun and other elements. These things would have affected his appearance. We know Jesus was about 30 years old when he began his ministry, but the Bible tells us virtually nothing about what he looked like, except that he didn’t stand out in any particular way. When Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the Crucifixion, Judas had to point Jesus out to the soldiers from among the disciples, presumably because they all appeared similar to one another.
Matthew 26: 47-50 NIV While he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. With him was a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed him. Jesus replied, “Do what you came for, friend.”
There is only one verse in all the bible that describes Jesus physical appearance and it is not very flattering.
Isiah 53: 2 NIV 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.
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! So why does the bible not describe Jesus physical appearance? It is because the purpose of the Gospels was to communicate the truth and his physical appearance isn't essential to that message. Can you imagine how problematic it would be to theology if they decided to focus on it? “Christians with black hair are closer to the ideal of JESUS Christ than blondes are! Personally, I'm glad they didn't focus on his physical appearance! I have always told my wife Joyce that I was perfect in appearance, just like Jesus, and because the bible doesn't describe Jesus appearance she has no way to prove me wrong!
