Bible 101

Lesson 7: Jesus, a Man of Prophecy and History

What did Jesus look like?

There is an abundance of ethnic paintings of Jesus. Filipino artists represent Jesus as Filipino, by the Chinese he is represented as Chinese and by the Africans as African. Dutch and German painters painted a man with blond hair and blue eyes, while Italian painters painted a man with brown hair and brown eyes. Since the earliest paintings were made, Jesus has been represented as perfect in size, height, weight, and proportion. At some point, he became slightly effeminate in his looks, changing with the changing painting styles of the times. The Bible is silent on his looks, with the exception of a Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 53:2: "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He has no form or comeliness and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him". In other words, Jesus had no outstanding features, no beautiful hair, skin, or eyes. Isaiah describes Jesus as a plain looking Jew. We may imagine such a person to have dark (brown or black) hair, olive-toned skin, and a broader than usually depicted nose; further, considering that Jesus held an extremely physical job (He was a carpenter), we may imagine him to have been muscular, with possibly calloused hands. (6)

Congratulations! You have now finished the seventh lesson of Bible 101, and are now familiar with Jesus Christ as Messiah and as a man of history. Why not test your knowledge now by doing the Lesson 7 Knowledge Quiz?

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