Q. Was Jesus Black? (Submitted by: Trifari) A. Since this Web site recognizes the Bible as the ONLY real, authoritative source of information about Jesus, my quick answer is that I cannot be certain. This is because the Bible gives us almost NO physical description of Jesus. Jesus Christ, the God who became a man, was a Jew and a member of the tribe of Judah. He was a descendant of David, King of Israel, who was described by the prophet Samuel as looking "ruddy": "And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Are all the young men here?' Then he said, 'There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.' And Samuel said to Jesse, 'Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.' "So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy [Hebrew: אדמוני אדמני or 'admôniy, Strong's Concordance Number #H132, meaning "reddish of the hair or complexion"], with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, 'Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!'" (1Samuel 16:11-12, NKJV throughout)
Note also that Jesus' ancestor had "bright eyes, and good-looking", although having beautiful ancestors is certainly no guarantee of how a person looks. Isaiah gives us the best description of the physical appearance of Jesus: "For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. HE HAS NO FORM OR COMELINESS; And when we see Him, there is NO BEAUTY that we should desire Him. "He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him." (Isaiah 53:2-3, emphasis added)
|
