What Did Jesus Look Like?

When I was a kid, I was active in church so I saw lots of pictures of Jesus—mostly the famous ones that you’ve seen, too.  It’s understandable that Jesus would be the subject of so many paintings; it seems we always wonder what people look like if we’ve never seen them.  In the pictures, He usually looked pretty much the same—long hair, serene and angelic face, often halo-topped.  I haven’t really thought about those paintings in years.  A few days ago, God brought them—and other things—to my mind.

NOTES

My (weird) thought processes started with the notion that I don’t want to be the kind of Christian that I grew up thinking was the ideal.  That Christian was perfect—perfectly stiff, unemotional, and boring. 

I don’t think Jesus was that way at all!  I said that in the pictures, Jesus looked “serene”.  The dictionary defines serenity as “a disposition free from stress or emotion”.  I think Jesus was “free from stress” but definitely not “free from emotion”!  I know He cried when Lazarus died.  I know He got angry at the moneychangers at the Temple.  I believe He was disappointed when James and John argued about who would be first in His kingdom—and when Peter denied Him.  But I also think His face lit up when He saw someone He knew.  I think He laughed.  I think He could probably tell a joke better than anyone.  I think He had fun and those around Him had fun, too.  I think He was more than angelic but not stiff and boring.  Bottom line:  He was “perfect”ly human!

Obviously, He had a serious side, as well.  Anyone who dealt with the Pharisees had to have some “seriousness” in their personality.  He had some pretty important “serious” things to tell His disciples and apostles that needed to be passed on to us.  After all, He was here on earth to complete serious business.  But I think we do Him a major disservice when we pigeonhole Him as being serious all the time.

As I’ve mentioned frequently recently, I want to be like Jesus.  My most recent series of postings was about “looking” like Him in my daily life.  I guess that’s why the Lord brought those pictures to my mind this week. 

Now, anyone who knows me will tell you that my personality isn’t a bubbly one!  That’s okay, but I don’t want to be stiff and boring.  I want to be serious when the situation calls for it but laugh my head off at a good, clean joke!  I want to be holy but fun!  Now, I’m not saying that will be easy; but the more I allow the Holy Spirit to invade my life, the more it’s likely to happen.

Hey, looking like Jesus can bring a smile to your face ;-)!