Real Jesus

According to Popular Mechanics, this is the way Jesus may have appeared. It’s still an artists conception, of course, but it has the advantage of being based on archeological evidence and forensic anthropology techniques.¹

A couple of months ago I posted a blog (See “Inventing Jesus” 1-26-15) that included a relatively modern portrait of Jesus; the point being that the way we imagine Jesus, and the reality of Jesus based on the evidence we have, are often two very different things. We now continue that same general theme, noting in more detail why Jesus did not match the messianic expectations of many, including the most prominent leaders of his time. And although it seems disconcerting at first, seeing Jesus as he really was, gives us confidence that the New Testament character was not simply invented out of convenience or necessity. Furthermore it turns out that our inventions of Jesus are not what we really need anyway.

A Facebook friend recently posted this portrait of Jesus, who in spite of a darkened complexion (the lighting perhaps), exhibits Caucasian features, styled hair and a trimmed beard. His bluish eyes do have a certain intensity and the overall effect seems quite dramatic. But you don’t have to be a historian to realize that this is not how Jesus appeared in the 1st century. I’m guessing, however, that historical accuracy is not what the artist was going for. And we can sympathize. It must be extremely difficult to create a Jesus that appeals to everyone.

“Most families where Jesus lived had at least one animal. Can you guess what animal that was? A donkey!”

“Really?” I thought.

Somewhat randomly, I had decided to find out what sort of lessons our church kids were learning in their classes. As I considered this so-called “Bible Lesson” about Jesus, I became both fascinated and amused. While I did not doubt that Jewish families in the early first century owned animals, the evidence indicates that poorer families could not afford horses or donkeys. The old story about Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem on a donkey is pure fiction. The Bible never says anything about Mary and Joseph having a donkey after that either.