New Clues To What Jesus Looked Like

You don't have to be a Christian for very long before you start to wonder what Jesus really looked like. As we read about him in the Bible and study his life in our churches and homes, a curiosity about his physical appearance is natural. History and artists have given us some pretty hilarious speculations. But after the specifics of their renderings are debunked, we're still left wondering. Fortunately, several recent sources have given us newer and possibly more reliable evidence of what Jesus actually looked like. 

We all know the picture perfect blond haired, blued eyed Jesus from Sunday school, with his clean robes and iconic shining fiery heart.

  

But it's obvious that these pictures of Jesus aren't very accurate since Jesus was born in the Middle East. His heritage would almost definitely dictated brown eyes and hair, and different facial features. In the last few decades, artists have been working to create more authentic portrayals of Jesus. One great example is found in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.

But Jesus is still a strikingly handsome picture of Middle Eastern masculinity in many newer depictions. This presents a problem as they seem inconsistent with the Bible's description of Jesus, which says, "he had no majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53:2 ESV).

So what did the most famous person in history look like?

In recent years, two perspectives, on the face of Jesus, have shown up that are pretty interesting. They're unique because of their seeming juxtaposition: one perspective is supernaturally backed, while the other is rooted in science.

Supernatural Perspective

At age eight, a young Lithuanian-American girl named, Akaine Kramarick, painted this picture of Jesus. She claims it's her special connection with God that inspired her portrait of Jesus.

Scientific Perspective

Even more recently, forensic anthropologists believe they've come up with the best rendering of Jesus to date. They say he probably looked like this:

So what's the deal with Jesus? Obviously he isn't the Fabio lookin', all american beauty pagent contestant from the felt boards of our childhoods. So what did he look like?

What if more than one person has it right? Could it be that the forensic anthropologists are close to how Jesus looked while on earth,  and Akaine has an accurate portrait of how he looks after the resurrection? Sorta like an eternal before and after?

Of course there is a bunch of stuff in the Bible to contradict a theory like that. But, as with most biblical theories, an argument could be made either way.

Whatever he looks like, we're fortunate that all we have to do is believe in him and we'll get to meet him someday. Personally, I look forward of getting a caricature painted of him and I riding a tandem bike together.

Question: How about you? When you're in heaven, if you could get a caricature of you and Jesus together, what would you be doing in it?