Was Jesus Handsome?

[Bro. Ruben]

What I only knew was that He’s a carpenter (am I right?); climates here in the Middle East are terribly harsh especially during summer, so having such a job Jesus might be bit dark in complexion, also maybe long haired and bearded.

I’m sure He’s muscled because He won’t be able to carry the cross that long if He was not and having been beaten, scourged and punished prior to the ascent at Calvary.

But being handsome is a different matter . For me, I guess He’s really handsome because people give high regard to beautiful people; surely He needs an appealing look for His public ministry.

Sounds comical but how can one imagine of Peter and the other disciples calling Him “Lord” if Jesus looks repulsive and hideous? Let’s accept it, God looks at the heart but man on the outside.

My,… curiosity!

 

[music4Him]

Seems that I read somewhere that he wasn't comely to look upon and that he looked like an ordanrary man. I sometimes believe you can be not so beautiful, but if you carry yourself right then people are going to notice you. Just as they did Jesus.

 

[Ulsterman]

In an article by Dr. Orman L. Norwood, of International Board of Jewish Missions, I read;

During the ministry of Jesus, the following description was sent by the President of Judea, Publius Lentulus, to the senate of Rome. This quote is from an ancient Roman manuscript:

“There lives a man of singular character whose name is Jesus Christ, in Judea. The barbarians esteem him as a prophet, but his own followers adore him as the immediate offspring of the immortal God. He is endowed with such unparalleled virtue as to call the dead from their graves, and to heal every kind of disease with a word or touch. This person is tall and elegantly shaped; his aspect is amiable and reverent; his hair flows into those beautiful shades which no united colour can match, falling into graceful curves below his ears, agreeable couching upon his shoulders, and every parting on his head like the head of a Nazarite.

His forehead is smooth and large. His cheeks without either spot, save that of a lovely red; his nose is smooth and formed with exquisite symmetry; his beard is thick and of a colour suitable to the hair of his head, reaching a little below the chin, and parted in the middle like a fork. He rebukes with majesty, commands with mildness and invites with the most tender and persuasive language; His whole address, in deed or word, being elegantly graceful and characteristic of so exalted a being.

No man has ever seen him laugh, but many have seen him weep, and so persuasive are his tears that the multitude cannot withhold theirs from joining in sympathy with his. He is very temperate, modest and wise, and in short, whatever this phenomenon may turn out in the end, he seems at present from his excellent bearing and divine perfection, in every way surpassing the children of men.”

He is "altogether lovely." (Song of Sol 5:16).

 

[rbell]

Most scholars agree...the letter is not authentic. I'll quote just one expert...there are many others...

This "letter" originated in medieval times--probably around the 13th century. One historian, Edgar Goodspeed, writes:

I'll quote his evaluation of the description from p.91 of his book:

"The 'Letter of Lentulus' is evidently a fiction, designed to give currency to the description contained in the printers' manuals about the personal appearance of Jesus. The varying accounts of its provenance are simply devices to explain its survival from antiquity until today. It is probably as old as the thirteenth century; but it was unknown to Christian antiquity, and has no claims to serious attention as throwing any light upon the personal appearance of Jesus."


Besides, I think the letter makes a ridiculous statement: "No man has ever seen him laugh."

Granted, Jesus had burdens we'll never understand, but I bet he enjoyed more belly laughs than most of us! I mean, he had the disciples, didn't he?

FWIW, it is rather funny to see the blue-eyed, blonde-haired version of Jesus...

 

[rsr]

The letter from Publius Lentulus is a pious fraud, perhaps written to legitimize medieval depictions of Christ, although one expert claimed to have been able to trace it back to third century.

 

[PastorSBC1303]

Was Jesus Handsome?

What difference does it make?

 

[Gold Dragon]

These messianic verses in Isaiah are often quoted as indications of Jesus' physical appearance.

NASB: Isaiah 53:2-3


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.

He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

And yet, the crowds flocked to him in the gospels.

 

[donnA]

I was going to post Golddragon's verses then saw he already had. To me, these verse say he was probably not a physically attractive man, nothing about his face would draw anyone to Him. Otherwise they could say thats why people followed Him, listened to Him, believed what He said, I mean we know and understand this concept quite well, they use it to sell us stuff in advertising all the time. Nope, there couldn't be anything about His physical appearance to draw people, there had to be that unexplainable (unless you know the story like we do today) something about Him, something attributed only to God's presence and work in man.

 

[Athanasian Creed]

1 Corinthians 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

For this very reason i seriously doubt Jesus had long hair. And, since God emphasized the fact that He looks on the inside not the outside, i'm sure Jesus, while certainly not ugly, was not 'model material'!

Jesus 'beauty' came from His magnetic personality and from the words which He spoke -

John 7:46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

I find to get a greater understanding of the magnitude of Person Jesus was is to read of His interaction with evil spirits who KNEW without a doubt who He was, though veiled in flesh in His voluntary state of condescension and humility -

Mark 5:6-7 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.

Thank God that He is benevolent and merciful!


Ray

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by Bro. Ruben:
What I only knew was that He’s a carpenter (am I right?); climates here in the Middle East are terribly harsh especially during summer, so having such a job Jesus might be bit dark in complexion, also maybe long haired and bearded.

The word "carpenter" in the Greek typically referres to stone carpentry, or, as we would refer today, a stone cutter. We think of Jesus as a carpenter as though he would have been a Bob Vila type woodworker. But 1st century capenters dealt with stone work. So that idea lends credence to the idea that Jesus would have had a somewhat muscular build.

As for complexion, Jews of that region had a complexion similar to Arabs. Dark, but not black. As for the beard and long hair, that was the custom for men in those days (though they didn't consider their hair to be long).

I’m sure He’s muscled because He won’t be able to carry the cross that long if He was not and having been beaten, scourged and punished prior to the ascent at Calvary.

It was common practice for cricifixion victims to carry their own beams, regardless of their stature. So the fact that he carried his cross is not difinitive to his stature. Now, in Jesus' case, he likely was beaten along the way, again, as was common practice. But, notice that he fell numerous times, and they had to get a stanger out of the crowd to carry the cross for him. Again, it's not difinitive either way.

But being handsome is a different matter .

That's something we simply don't know. We know that Jesus had the ability to blend into a crowd and disappear. That might suggest that Jesus wasn't noticeably ugly, but also not handsome to the point where he drew attention to himself. Other than that, it's really speculation.

surely He needs an appealing look for His public ministry.

Again, not difinitive. In fact, in at least one place, he has to shout "Listen!!" to get the attention of the crowd, suggesting that people weren't listening to him.

Sounds comical but how can one imagine of Peter and the other disciples calling Him “Lord” if Jesus looks repulsive and hideous?

They actually called him "master" (translated "Lord"). But they did so because they loved him, and they were his friend. I certainly hope that my own friends do not esteem me based on my looks, or I wouldn't have a prayer. My wife thinks I'm very good looking, but she's biased.

Let’s accept it, God looks at the heart but man on the outside.

I think stangers look at the outside, but friends look at the inside. Hey, just look at John Hagee, Alan Greenspan, and Bill Gates. Not exactly the best looking folks, yet people listen to them.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by Ulsterman:
In an article by Dr. Orman L. Norwood, of International Board of Jewish Missions, I read;

During the ministry of Jesus, the following description was sent by the President of Judea, Publius Lentulus, to the senate of Rome. This quote is from an ancient Roman manuscript:

“There lives a man of singular character whose name is Jesus Christ, in Judea....

I surmise that this is a fake. Jesus was not known as "Jesus Christ". He would have been known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus son of Joseph.

Note also the "No man has ever seen him laugh" claim. Jesus would have not only laughed, but joked and smiled like any other person. The notion that he never laughed is an attribut given him by custom, not by scripture. In fact, my cousin has a statue of Jesus smiling with children around him. At least one of his family members considers it offensive, though they cannot say why scripturally.

He is "altogether lovely." (Song of Sol 5:16).

This verse is not referring to Jesus, but to lover in a love poem.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by Athanasian Creed:
1 Corinthians 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

For this very reason i seriously doubt Jesus had long hair.

The hair which we consider to be long ws not considered long to the Jews of the day. Shoulder length hair for a Jew was commonplace, and not considered to be long.

 

[standingfirminChrist]

He had no comeliness that we should be holden of Him.

No, He was not handsome.

 

[Johnv]

The verse simply says he wasn't, in today's terms, a grop dead gorgeous hunk. It doesn't mean he wasn't handsome, just that he wasn't overtly handsome. Neither does it imply that Jesus was ugly. All we know is that he wasn't overtly attractive. The rest is sheer speculation.

 

[OldRegular]

Originally posted by Bro. Ruben:
What I only knew was that He’s a carpenter (am I right?); climates here in the Middle East are terribly harsh especially during summer, so having such a job Jesus might be bit dark in complexion, also maybe long haired and bearded.

Jesus Christ did not have long hair because He was not a Nazerite and the apostle Paul states that long hair on a man is a shame to him.

1 Corinthians 11:14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

 

[Bro. Ruben]

Thanks for your wonderful replies.

Wasn’t been told that the sacrificial lamb must be spotless and without blemish?
And Jesus, being the Lamb of God, both in the sight of God and men must be same.

Honestly, I don’t know how the Jews do the process of selecting a lamb to be sacrificed. Only that it must be spotless and without blemish.

If Jesus was not handsome, can one conclude He’s spotless and without blemish? (Of course, we can't disregard Him being a God, too.)

Thanks, again.

 

[Gold Dragon]

Originally posted by Bro. Ruben:
Thanks for your wonderful replies.

Wasn’t been told that the sacrificial lamb must be spotless and without blemish?
And Jesus, being the Lamb of God, both in the sight of God and men must be same.

Honestly, I don’t know how the Jews do the process of selecting a lamb to be sacrificed. Only that it must be spotless and without blemish.

If Jesus was not handsome, can one conclude He’s spotless and without blemish? (Of course, we can't disregard Him being a God, too.)

Thanks, again.

Spiritually, Christians do believe he was spotless, without blemish and without sin.

I believe to say he had no physical scars, birthmarks, etc, is an overliteralization of something I believe God intended to be symbolic. The spotlessness of the OT lambs were to symbolize the spiritual purity that Christ embodied.

 

[Ransom]

Bro. Ruben said:

If Jesus was not handsome, can one conclude He’s spotless and without blemish?

"Not handsome" does not mean "blemished" or "deformed." There are millions of people who are perfectly healthy, but plain-looking.

 

[Johnv]

Originally posted by OldRegular:

Originally posted by Bro. Ruben:
[qb]Jesus Christ did not have long hair because He was not a Nazerite and the apostle Paul states that long hair on a man is a shame to him.

Again, the hair which we consider to be long ws not considered long to the Jews of the day. Shoulder length hair for a Jew was commonplace, and not considered to be long. Has nothing to do with being a Nazarite or not.

But your post contradicts. If Paul is truly saying that long hair on men is a shame in all cases, then the Nazarites were disobeying scripture. Anyhoo, different topic altogether. The long hair that was a common custom among Jewish men was not considered long by them, making Paul's admonition regarding the topic irrelevant.

 

[Pete Richert]

If Jesus was not handsome, can one conclude He’s spotless and without blemish? (Of course, we can't disregard Him being a God, too.)

He was spotless and without blemish because He was without sin.

This has been quoted several times now and I think it is very conclusive.

He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. Isaiah 53:2b