Is There Biblical Proof of Jesus’ Race, and Does it Matter?

While the Bible does not directly mention the race of Jesus, there is circumstantial evidence that can help us understand his ethnicity. We know one certain fact about Jesus: He was a Jew, descended from a long line of Jewish men. Came. The Gospel of Matthew mentions his lineage in great detail. He traces his lineage from Abraham, Isaac’s father, Jacob’s father, Judah’s father, to King David and then to King Solomon, and after that to Joseph, his earthly father (Matthew 1:1-17). Matthew tells us that Joseph was the son of Jacob, the son of Mattan, the son of Eleazar, the son of Eliud.

However, we also know that Joseph was not her real father – God was. The Bible tells us that Jesus was born of Mary, a virgin, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit (verse 18).

The Gospel of Luke also gives the lineage of Jesus, but this time it is the lineage of Mary, his mother. Luke 3:23-38 tells us that Jesus began his ministry when he was about 30 years old, and that he was the son of Joseph, Heli, Mattath, Levi, and Melchi. According to what the Gospel of Matthew states in identifying Joseph as the son of Jacob, not Heli, we can infer that this genealogy is the genealogy of Mary and comes to Joseph through marriage.

On both sides of the family, Jesus had a long Jewish lineage, and even without Joseph’s lineage, his mother was Jewish.

However, while being Jewish is a religion and not a race, it is also a distinct ethnicity. God asked his chosen people, the Jews, not to marry foreigners, lest they be influenced by their gods. However, we do know that they still married people of other races and religions.

Abraham, the father of both the Hebrew-Israelite and Arab nations, was a descendant of Shem, the son of Noah (Genesis 11:10-26). Depending on where they lived in the world, his skin color was probably dark, between reddish brown and black.

King David, a more recent ancestor of Jesus and also a descendant of Abraham, is described as a “red” person with “beautiful eyes and a handsome face” (1 Samuel 16:12). The Hebrew word in the original text, Edmonai, means red skin or skin glowing with health.

David is a descendant of Boaz who married Raut, a Moabite woman (Ruth 1:4) who converted to Judaism. Many Moabites were thought to have darker skin. So while Jesus was Jewish by both ethnicity and religion, we don’t know what this means for his skin color. He was descended from darker-skinned people who were likely to marry foreign women, many of whom were dark-skinned.

The Song of Solomon, said to have been written by King Solomon, another ancestor of Jesus, is thought to speak of a beautiful black-skinned woman (Song of Solomon 1:5), so it is possible, and perhaps even probable, that Jesus was also The female generation of this hymn.

Given all this, it is highly doubtful that Jesus had pale skin or a Caucasian appearance.

Also, note that he probably looked like other people of his time. His appearance was not “special”, but rather ordinary. When Judas, his betrayer, confronted him in the Garden of Gethsemane, the plan was for Judas to kiss Jesus so that the soldiers would know whom to arrest (Mark 14:44). Presumably is translated here. It seems that he was not distinguished from the rest of his friends

Was Jesus black?

Some scholars believe that Jesus was black, but again, there is no evidence for this claim. However, due to the large number of dark-skinned people in his lineage and also because Jesus lived in Africa (Egypt), several believe that Jesus was dark-skinned and more like a North African man of his time, i.e. black. have been.

Others point to Revelation 1:14-15, which describes Jesus at the Transfiguration: “The hair on his head was white, like wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like polished brass and refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

The original Greek word for “wool” in this passage is “Erin,” which means thread. The description of Jesus with “shaggy” hair does not match the typical hair texture of a white person and most likely refers to someone with black or Middle Eastern hair.

Why is Jesus portrayed as white?

This begs the question, if Jesus was most likely not white, why have so many artists depicted him this way?

One theory is about how Christianity spread with the Roman Empire. An image of Jesus with long hair and a white appearance appeared in the 4th century, and Jesus was painted like the images of other gods of that time, that is, like Roman or Greek gods. As Christianity spread across Europe, artists increasingly depicted Christ as reflecting the ideal physical beauty of the time. His mother, Mary, was often painted with blond hair and blue or light eyes.

With the passage of years and the colonization of distant lands by Europeans, the colonists took this “white Jesus” with them and taught the new Muslims how to create art in this way.

Asian Jesus?

Of course, art is subjective and artists have always had creative freedom. Also, artists often depict Jesus in a way that suits their own culture. Asian artists often depict Jesus with an Asian appearance. Latino artists portray Jesus as Latino. African artists depict Jesus as an African. The point is not to record a true likeness, but to present our Lord and Savior in a way that exalts and glorifies Him.

Does the race of Jesus matter?

In fact, it doesn’t matter what Jesus looked like. Isaiah 53:2 describes a Christ with an ordinary appearance. We know that he was born in a manger in a stable in Bethlehem of humble parents from Nazareth, where he was not noticed. In fact, when Philip was about to introduce his friend Nathanael to Jesus, the Bible tells us that Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him: “Come and see” (John 1:46).

The appearance of Jesus is not important. He was not like the mighty and victorious savior whom the Jews hoped would deliver them from oppression. Instead, God sent his Son into the world as a tiny baby, the lowest of the low. His arrival, His ministry, and His crucifixion and eventual resurrection changed the world and changed us forever. This is what matters.

Today in the article : Is There Biblical Proof of Jesus’ Race, and Does it Matter? We reviewed useful information about the Bible and the way of Jesus. If you wish, you can view other articles of Ali Vahidi about Christianity