And on the 8th Day Man Created God in His Own Image, After His Likeness...

           

 

We don't really know what Jesus looked like.  He didn't leave behind any photos, paintings, sculptures, or even detailed descriptions.  The closest we get to anything is a prophecy written hundreds of years before Jesus was even born describing him as having "no beauty that we should desire him." 

 

Consequently, artists have often portrayed Jesus as physically similar to themselves.  Bearded Jesus and clean-shaven Jesus, black Jesus and white Jesus, laughing Jesus, and somber Jesus, 20th-Century businessman Jesus, and now, 21st-Century casual Jesus !  I know the purpose of evangelism is to translate the Gospel into a language the culture understands, but do we sometimes go too far? 

 

 

In trying to make Jesus accessible to our culture, the danger of losing Jesus altogether is ever present (not that Father David Buckley et al have necessarily done that).  When the message of Jesus sounds too much like our own, when we are able to use Jesus to support all our views, when Jesus fails to challenge us we have probably strayed from who Jesus really is.  This is why we need to constantly examine ourselves in light of the Bible.  It is easier to remake Jesus in our image than to remake our lives in His image.

 

josh r