What Did Jesus Really Look Like? - "YOU PREPARED A BODY FOR ME"

Those are words that Jesus uttered in a prayer apparently at the time of his baptism.  (Hebrews 10:5; Matthew 3:13-17)  What did that body look like?  Some 30 years earlier, the angel Gabriel had revealed to Mary:  "You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, . . . God's Son. ( Luke 1:31, 35)  Thus, Jesus  was a perfect man, as was Adam at his creation.  (Luke 3:38; 1 Corinthians 15:45)  Jesus must have been a well-informed man, and he probably had features similar to those of his Jewish mother, Mary.

Jesus wore a beard, as was customary among Jews in contrast to Romans.  Such beards were a symbol of dignity and respectability,  they were not long and unkempt.  Jesus undoubtedly attended to or trimmed his beard and had his hair neatly clipped.  Only those set aside as Nazarites, such as Samson, did not cut their hair. -Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5. 

For the better part of 30 years, Jesus was a carpenter, working without the benefit of modern power tools.  (Mark 6:3)  He, therefore, must have had a sturdy build. Early in his ministry, he single handley "drove all those with sheep and cattle out of the temple, and he poured out of the coins of the  money changers and overturned their tables." (John 2:14-17)  It takes a strong and powerful man to perform that feat.  Jesus used that body that God had prepared for him to fulfill his God-given commission:  "I must also declare the good news of the Kingdom of God to other cities, because for this I was sent.: (Luke 4:43)  It took extraordinary stamina to travel throughout Palestine  on foot and declare this message. 

Next time: What Did Jesus Really Look Like? - "COME TO ME, . . . AND I WILL REFRESH YOU"

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