Was Jesus short?

When our boys were young and prone to get in to trouble, I would sometimes tell them that the average height of a Jewish man in Jesus’ day was 5’1”.  If that warning didn’t click with them right away, I would then remind them that their mother is also 5’1”…Which means, boys, that your mom sees eye-to-eye with God – so don’t mess with her!

Most estimates have first-century Jewish men ranging in height anywhere from 5’0” to 5’5”.  The Bible doesn’t say anything about how tall Jesus stood.  It’s not like the Bible totally ignores physical descriptions of people – whenever there is a unique feature about a person, it’s acknowledged: Esau was red and hairy (Genesis 25:25), Saul was head-and-shoulders taller than everyone (1 Samuel 9:2), and David was “ruddy” and handsome (1 Samuel 16:12).  While the gospels may tell us about what Jesus taught and how He lived, they give us no clue as to how we would pick Jesus out of a crowd.

The only approximate description of Jesus comes from the prophet Isaiah, when he gave a rather unheroic description of Jesus’ appearance:

Isaiah 53:2-3
He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground.
He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him,
no appearance that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement for us to come to Jesus because He “looks the part” of what we want in a savior.

Instead of what Isaiah detailed, our modern-day pictures of Jesus align more with today’s standards.  Have you ever noticed how our portrayals of Jesus have him about 6’1”, a solid 210 pounds, and the tallest person in the picture?  In all media – paintings, movies, color book pictures, Bible covers – He always has long hair and often looks Swedish.  When in reality, Jesus was probably around 5’1”, had short dark hair, a middle-eastern complexion (likely much darker than us Westerners assume), a round face, and average-at-best looks.

But why even bring this up, right?  Does how we visualize what Jesus looked like make any real difference?  Honestly…yeah, it could…because it’s the start of a very slippery slope.  You see, whenever we imagine Jesus having physical traits more “like us” instead of what’s true, it is a very short trip to begin taking other aspects of God and making them in our image.  When Jesus is “like us”, we immediately assume that all those not-like-us or not-liked-by-us are the ones who aren’t acceptable to God.

I love Todd Agnew’s song My Jesus, as it challenges many of our assumptions.  Here is a portion of the lyrics:

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for Your sins.
But the Word says He was battered and scarred or did you miss that part?
Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him.

'Cause my Jesus bled and died.
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these.
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable.
So which one do you want to be?

'Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church.
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet.
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud,
And I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd.

How we imagine Jesus strongly influences how we expect to partner with Him in the here-and-now.  Let’s make sure that our portrayals of our hero, high priest, and king accurately reflect who He is – and not some picture of the American dream.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Imagining Jesus

When you think of Jesus, what comes to mind?

Shoulder-length brown hair with a neatly trimmed beard?
Does he have a “I just want to be your buddy” attitude?
Always ready to have people gather around for talk?
Not very authoritative, rather subdued?
Just “ok” with whatever we want to do?

The assumptions we make about Jesus will not only affect how we approach and communicate with Him, but our perception of who Jesus really is will be demonstrated in the way we live.

In the beginning of his letter, Paul reminded the Colossians who Jesus is – in relation to the Father, in relation to creation, and in relation to the church.  These verses contain seven specific truths about Jesus – can you see them?

Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation;
because by Him everything was created, in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities –
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.

He is also the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that He might come to have first place in everything.

For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,
and through Him to reconcile everything to Himself
by making peace through the blood of His cross –
whether things on earth or things in heaven.

He is the image of the invisible God – No one can see the Father, except through Jesus.  He is our tangible connection to God.

He is the firstborn over all creation – The firstborn had the responsibility to govern, maintain, and prosper the family and family’s property.  Jesus fulfills that role for all creation.

He is the Creator – This is why Jesus can claim the rights of the firstborn over all creation, because He was the one who invented all of it.  He is the architect and builder.  Nothing visible to our eyes, and nothing invisible to our eyes came about unless Jesus set it up. 

He is the head of the church – Jesus established His church as the family for all who would trust in Him for forgiveness of sin and for eternal life.  Jesus loves the church body as a groom loves his bride, and Jesus willing leads His people.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead – Jesus was the first to come back from the dead with a glorified body.  He truly is the beginning of the newness we will obtain in Him.

He has the fullness of God dwelling in Him – Jesus is not part man/part God.  Instead He is fully God and fully man, which makes Him the perfect mediator between God and mankind.

He is the reconciler – Jesus’ mission was to reconcile us rebellious sinners and the fallen creation back to Himself.  Through His death on the cross, He brought us the ability to have peace with God.  It’s important to remember that our reconciliation happened both on His own initiative and on our behalf.  We could never have been reconciled without the cross.

Is this how we view Jesus?  Is this how we see our King?

Don’t just laze around in the comfortable Jesus-stereotypes.  Remember who He is…and then be overwhelmed at the truth that he knows us fully and still desires an eternal relationship with each one of us.

Keep Pressing,
Ken