The lesser-known faces of Jesus

Christmastime is upon us again, and much of the world has once more turned its thoughts to a baby born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. For most people, Christian or otherwise, it’s the first image that comes to mind at the mention of Jesus during this time of year. Together with the crucified Messiah of Easter and the gentle rabbi walking with His disciples, it makes up the entirety of how our culture commonly pictures Christ.

But there are other faces of Jesus that are not as well-known or as popular. They’re key pieces of a Scriptural mosaic that can offer a clearer image of the Saviour as He is, fully human and fully divine.

The everyday humanity of the Son of God

Regarding the time between Jesus’ birth and the beginning of His public ministry, the Scriptures are notably silent. The only exception is a single boyhood incident recorded in the Gospel of Luke. When Jesus was twelve, His parents had taken Him up to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration, as they did every year. Heading back home, they couldn’t find the boy and anxiously returned to the city, where they found Him in the temple, having a discussion with the religious teachers. When His mother asked why He’d done this, He replied that He had to be in His Father’s house, about His Father’s business. (Luke 2:41-50)

Luke concludes this account by observing that Jesus “went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them” and that He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2:51-52)

This brief glimpse into the life of Christ during His formative years likely doesn’t quite fit with the way many believers picture Him. There’s a temptation to distort Jesus’ deity into the image of an all-knowing divine child, fully formed before His time, in effect only pretending to be a finite human being.

Nevertheless, Luke reassures his readers that Jesus was truly human: subject to His parents, growing not merely in physical stature, but also in wisdom as well as in favour with God and with other people.

The more we ponder Luke’s brief comments, the more we’re awestruck by the mystery and humility of the Incarnation. God Himself came to earth and developed as a human being. For His first 30 years, He lived an unremarkable life in a small provincial community. He learned to speak, walk, read and feed Himself. He learned to socialize and to work with His hands. He grew up to be a tradesman running a small business. He made friends and professional contacts, attended worship, celebrated holidays, took care of His mother and His younger siblings.

Moreover, He did all of this without ever once sinning: the perfect son, the perfect brother, the perfect community member, the perfect friend. And at the cross, as our sin was accounted to Him, even so His righteousness – not just during His public ministry, but in His everyday human experience – was accounted to us.

The transcendent divinity of the Son of Man

When it comes to the physical appearance of Jesus, the Scriptures are nearly as spare as they are with details of His early life.

Seven centuries before the Messiah’s birth, the prophet Isaiah described Him as one who “had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.” (Isaiah 53:2)

And then, about 50 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, John, the last living apostle, had this awe-inspiring vision of the glorified Christ:

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands 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. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.’” (Revelation 1:12-18)

Whatever images our culture associates with Jesus – the baby, the teacher, the dying Saviour, even the risen Lord – chances are these two vignettes from Isaiah and John are both far down on the list.

Most modern Christian art depicts an idealized Christ who would easily stand out in any crowd. And yet, Isaiah insists there was nothing about His physical appearance that would lead anyone to say, “Wow, that’s God in the flesh.” It wasn’t Jesus’ looks but His character, His teaching and His mighty acts that drew people to Him and demonstrated who He was.

As for John’s apocalyptic vision of the Lord, believers may disagree whether it’s a symbolic representation within a prophetic context or an actual description of Jesus’ present appearance. However, one thing is beyond dispute: it’s a transcendent image of the glorified Christ, so overwhelming in its power that it literally floored the apostle.

It’s also a fitting picture of the Son of Man who rules the universe at His Father’s side, holding together all of creation from atoms to galaxies. Jesus is our loving brother and intimate friend, to be sure, but He’s also our Sovereign Lord and the master of all reality, now and forever.

A fully rounded portrait of the Christ

During the Christmas season, it’s only appropriate that our mind’s eye, and that of the surrounding culture, turns to the humble baby in the manger, born to save His people from their sins. Likewise at Easter, we rightly focus on the Messiah as He completes His great sacrifice by suffering on the cross and emerging from the tomb.

Throughout the year, as we ponder all of the different Scriptural faces of Jesus, from the best-known to the least, it will help us move beyond the familiar stereotypes that so easily settle into our imagination. It will broaden our vision and deepen our appreciation of our Lord and lift us to new heights of gratitude and worship. May that be the daily experience of each of us in the coming year and beyond.

Subby Szterszky is the managing editor of Focus on Faith and Culture, an e-newsletter produced by Focus on the Family Canada.