What does Jesus look like? To be honest, we don’t know.

Humanly, He was of Middle Easter descent so probably had an olive-toned skin. He was Jewish and probably had dark hair and dark eyes. I doubt He was very tall. So, humanly He looked sort of average. The Bible says, “He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.” (Isaiah 53:2) Wow! That’s not what we would expect of the Son of God, is it.

Shouldn’t he be tall, strong and handsome with a commanding presence? A Tom Selleck look-alike. That’s not how the Bible talks of him. He Himself said he was “meek and lowly.”

I read somewhere that meekness is power under control. And lowliness is defined as humble. Not exactly how we might describe as the Son of the Most High God. And later in the Bible He is described in vivid detail as a victorious warrior reigning over the new heavens and new earth.

But before the warrior was the lamb. Meek and lowly. John the Baptist said He was “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The lamb was slaughtered in the most brutal of ways by sinful men – me amongst them. My sin nailed Him to the Cross. My sin. Your sin.

Why did He put up with it? He had the ability to call twelve legions of angels to come to His aid. But He didn’t. Why? Because He loved us.

So, back to my question: What did Jesus look like? His eyes were full of love. And they were expressive, expressing joy and humor.

His ears were attentive – they heard what was beneath the words.

His mouth was full of wisdom. His tongue spoke truth and with authority.

His hands were calloused from his work as a carpenter. There was dirt under His fingernails.

He could stoop low enough to speak to a woman thrown at His feet. He could stand tall enough to confront her accusers and they backed down.

His shoulders were strong enough to carry the cross beam of His cross after being brutally beaten. But He fell along the way it was carried by a Simon of Cyrene – probably a black man whose son Rufus, was mentioned by Paul in his letter to Romans as “a choice man in the Lord”. So even when physically weak, there was something about Him that cause Simon to go back home and tell his son about the condemned man he met.

His feet were calloused from walking so many miles.

His legs were well toned from the walking and standing to teach.

Jesus was a human like you and me. But yet without sin. A sinless being Who chose to come to earth to live among us because He wanted to redeem us from our sin. Rescue you and me.

What does Jesus look like? Love. Pure love. Not passive but active. Seeking the lost to bring them home.