What Jesus Looked Like

Is This What Jesus Really Looked Like?  

In North America he is most often depicted as being taller than his disciples, lean, with long, flowing, light brown hair, fair skin and light-colored eyes...In the absence of evidence, our images of Jesus have been left to the imagination of artists. 

Richard Neave, a medical artist retired from The University of Manchester in England, realized [forensic anthropology] also could shed light on the appearance of Jesus.

And so the first step for Neave and his research team was to acquire skulls from near Jerusalem, the region where Jesus lived and preached.

Neave emphasizes that his re-creation is simply that of an adult man who lived in the same place and at the same time as Jesus. 

"This is probably a lot closer to the truth than the work of many great masters." 

Two things, or maybe three or four

• I have long thought Jesus did not look like any of the portraits we generally see of Him. 
• The Bible has no interest in detailing how Jesus looked physically. 
• Churches and Christians should avoid depicting Jesus on their walls. Since we have no idea of what He looked like, we have no need of creating such image in children's minds. 
• Neave's forensic attempt is helpful in at least challenging the common North American mental picture of Jesus.