We don’t know exactly what Jesus looked like, in the Occident most portrayals of Jesus are blond haired and blue eyed. Some scholars are describing him as Afro-Asiatic in descent given his background, geography, and the common ethnic mixing of that particular time. While we don’t know exactly what he looked like, I always appreciate various African and Black expressions of Jesus. While many are offended by such pictures (while never giving a second thought to European depictions of Jesus), I think it is important for those who have been oppressed (socially and psychologically) to be able to identify with the God who came down and incarnated to identify with us. It is not a visual message of colonial oppression, power, and dominance, but rather of liberation, empowerment, redemption, solidarity, and love.
A Child is Born
Published by Drew G. I. Hart, PhD
Rev. Dr. Drew G. I. Hart is an associate professor of theology at Messiah University and has 10 years of pastoral experience prior to teaching. He currently directs Messiah University's "Thriving Together: Congregations for Racial Justice" program and co-hosts Inverse Podcast with Jarrod McKenna, an award-winning peace activist from Australia. Hart is the author of Trouble I've Seen: Changing the Way the Church Views Racism (2016) and Who Will Be A Witness?: Igniting Activism for God's Justice, Love, and Deliverance (2020). And he is also a co-editor and contributor to the recently published book entitled Reparations and the Theological Disciplines: Prophetic Voices for Remembrance, Reckoning, and Repair (Nov. 2023). Hart received bcmPEACE’s 2017 Peacemaker Award, the 2019 W.E.B. Du Bois Award in Harrisburg, PA, and most recently in December 2023 Life Esteem Ministries recognized him in Harrisburg with the Harambee Award for the Nguzo Saba Principle of Umoja—Unity for his faith-based activism and public scholarship in the community. Drew and his family live in Harrisburg, PA. View more posts
Drew G. I. Hart 
It’s a nice picture, and a nice sentiment.
I wonder why we don’t see pictures of a homely, normal looking Jew anywhere? That’s what Jesus was.
That’s a great question… honestly, Christianity historically has done everything it could divorce itself from Jews ethnically and culturally. Much of today’s watered down theology can be at least connected to if not completely traced back to the West’s severing Jesus from his Jewish body, culture, religion, and context of the time. After that was done, he could be recreated anyway we liked. While I think we can have some artistic and theological freedom to imagine Jesus now in our time and context, it ought to only be done after careful and thoughtful reflection of who Jesus truly was. Then and only then can we have a more faithful understanding of Jesus’ relevance now. Thanks for the comment and stopping by.
Its interesting Drew. A long time ago, I read somewhere that the earliest paintings of Augustine depict him as black. It makes sense – he was an African. The thing is … so many later paintings depict him as white.