What Does Jesus Look Like?

 

How do you picture Jesus when you read the gospels or think of Christ? Do the flannel graph pictures you saw in Sunday School come to mind? Or perhaps the illustrations from a storybook bible you had as a child or read to your own kids? The gospels themselves don’t give much physical description of Christ. We know from the prophet Isaiah that nothing in His looks made Him stand out as exceptional or majestic (Is. 53:2). When we read the gospels therefore, we picture Him, rightly I think, as an average-looking Middle-Eastern man. But what about His resurrected body? What does He look like now as He sits at the right hand of the Father? We would do well to picture Him no longer as the average-looking thirty-something man who got hungry and tired.

In fact, the apostle John gives us a glimpse of what he saw when He was allowed a heavenly view of Christ. The description startles us, and perhaps even confuses and frightens us.

“I saw... one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined, in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength” (Rev. 1:13-16).

How are we meant to understand this? Should we really picture Jesus now with white hair and a sword coming out of His mouth? Here we must keep in mind the text of Revelation and its purpose. As apocalyptic writing, Revelation is filled with metaphors and figurative language. We are not meant to take everything literally – rather we understand that John is communicating truth through word pictures and images that meant something, especially to this first century audience. These references regarding Christ are actually found in the Old Testament in descriptions of God Himself or the coming Son of Man (Daniel 7 & 10). John mainly wants His readers to make this connection, realizing that Christ is both one with God and the promised Messiah now high and lifted up.

Let’s take a quick look at these images and what they may communicate about Christ.

-- The robe and golden sash remind of the priesthood as well as royalty. Jesus is our High Priest who intercedes for us (Heb.4:15). He is King over all.

-- His white hair connects Him to the Ancient of Days described in Daniel 7 and reminds us that He is eternal and all-wise.

-- The eyes like flames of fire are able to see right into humanity, to judge the hearts and motives of the people He created.

-- Christ’s feet are described as being like bronze that has been refined in a furnace. This could refer to Christ as a firm foundation for us to build our lives on. It could also refer to His ability to crush any enemy. Both are true.

-- Jesus’s voice is like the sound of many waters. It is loud, unavoidable, authoritative. It cannot be ignored, and we do well to listen.

-- John sees Jesus as holding seven stars. The seven stars, we are told, are the seven angels of the seven churches that John is writing to (Rev. 1:20). The sense may be that Jesus is holding His people close. He is not letting them go. In chapter 2, John sees Jesus walking in the midst of His people.

-- Not only is His voice authoritative, but His words are like a sword. We see in Hebrews as well that God’s Word is like a two-edged sword (4:12-13). He speaks words that expose and judge. He also speaks words of salvation and comfort.

-- Jesus’s face radiates. It seems to John that it is shining. John may have thought back to when he saw Christ at the Transfiguration where “his face shone like the sun” (Matt. 17:2).

            John’s view of Christ was of a divine Man, powerful, radiating, truth-speaking, wise, and with a penetrating glance right into the heart. And it brought John face-down before Him “like a dead man” (Rev. 1:17). It should do the same to us. Let us also picture Christ in this way and in response fall on our faces before Him in awe and humility. And then, may we too feel Christ reach out, place His hand on us, and say, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last” (1:18).

Sisters, I pray that as we dwell on this description of Christ, not the flannel graph one, that we would be transformed, not only in how we view Him but also in how we view this world. We need not fear the rulers of the world, the uncertain future, or the circumstances that seem out of our control. Jesus, high and lifted up, is sitting on His throne. And still He reaches out to us. He walks among us. And one day, all will hear His voice and all will be made right.

--Amy O'Rear