Jesus’ physical appearance
Whenever we see paintings, sculptures or pictures of Jesus in books or on TV, he is always physically depicted in the same manner. He is usually shown with long, dark brown hair, with a beard. Do we have any reason to believe that this is what he actually looked like?
The Bible is silent on Jesus’ physical appearance. Secular history does not provide any help either. That means that “artistic license” is appropriate, as artists try to portray a man, born of a Jewish woman, living in the first century A.D.
In spite of not knowing Jesus’ physical appearance, the imaginations of artists definitely have impacted people and influenced their thinking. Generations of Christians grew up with Warner Sallman’s artwork guiding their thoughts as to what Jesus looks like. Following the genre of artists of the past, Sallman’s artwork cast Jesus in very serious poses. In recent years, artists have portrayed a more emotional Jesus—picturing him with a subtle smile, a wide grin and even laughing.
While we have questions now about Jesus’ physical appearance, those questions will be answered one day. When our lives on earth come to an end, we will see our Lord face-to-face (Psalm 17:15; 1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:2). That is a sight that will never end!