Lauren-What Jesus Really Looks Like

Lauren Brooks

What Jesus really looks like

9-14-2008

It’s weird to think that one can make a whole film on different images of Jesus, but watching barely half of the film I was amazed to see the extreme contrasts of these images. I was really fascinated to find out when, where, and what these first images of Jesus really looked liked. I was shocked that they weren’t even a depiction of his face. I guess part of me was expecting a crude depiction similar to that of a stick figure, but instead he was shown using popular symbols. Anchors, vines, sheppards, and fish filled the screen and then it made sense. The majority of these symbols came straight out of Jesus’ teachings and were familiar to the people at the time. My favorite depiction of Jesus was as a grape vine, which comes from his teaching that He is the vine and we are the branches.

I know I also made a comment in class about how disappointed I was in the fact that we have no real likeness of Jesus; the majority of the depictions of his face are submerged into the culture or time period of the artist. It makes me wonder why someone during Jesus’ time did not realize the importance of knowing what he looks like, or maybe the point is that we can’t really know what he looks, or maybe he looks different to different people. I think I will have to go with the latter. I remember one time when I picked my niece up from Sunday School, she was about 5 at the time, she asked what Jesus looked like, and I asked her what she thought Jesus looked like. I don’t think she liked that answer, but after a second she finally told me that she thought he looked like Santa Claus (it was around Christmas time). I guess in some small part, my niece isn’t that far off.

As I reflect on all the images we saw in the movie from Jesus as a baby, to suffering on the cross, to rising to heaven, I find myself asking “What does Jesus really look like to me?” Unfortunately, this is a tough question to answer and can not simply be answered in a single blog entry. I guess when I see that one picture, or drawing that I connect with I will finally know what Jesus’ face really looks like.