What Did Jesus Look Like? 3 Resources to Start the Conversation

In each class, at some point, a student will ask, “What did Jesus look like?” I’ve usually brushed it off with a quick comment. I’d answer that He probably looked middle-eastern since Jesus was from that region and move on with the lesson.

If students had more questions–such as why Jesus often looks like a white guy–I would explain that a lot of religious artwork started in Europe so those white guys drew Jesus to look like themselves and others that they saw. But, this year, I have a different plan. I plan to embrace the conversation and hope we all learn a bit more about God in the process.

Discussion Points: What Did Jesus Look Like?

Jesus was from the Middle East, so He probably had dark eyes, skin, and hair.
He probably had a beard–but might not have had long hair…contrary to almost every picture ever.
Mary appeared to people with different ‘looks’ and drawn in other races and I think it’s ok to encourage people to visualize Jesus in different ‘looks’ as well.
This article outlines one person’s experience with this conversation, and I thought it was fascinating.

Resources to Start the Discussion

What Did Jesus Look Like PowerPoint Minilesson

1) PowerPoint & Article Links

I created three resources to help us ALL start the conversation this fall. First, I made a PowerPoint with links and information about geography, history, archaeology, visions, and relics.

As I go through this information in class, I will ask students to think of images that they have seen of Jesus and analyze how they picture Him in their minds. We’ll also discuss that Jesus appeared during a certain time and place and most importantly Jesus’ race and appearance isn’t the same as God’s race and appearance (because God isn’t HUMAN and has no race, gender, appearance, etc.).

2) FREE Poster: What Did Jesus Look Like?

I created this Poster using Bitmoji and tried to encompass as many possible “Jesus” looks as I could. I included different hair, skin tone, head-covering, eye shape, etc. While debating the options, I also gave Him some wrinkles. Jesus was probably a bit tired from all that walking. I decided to stick with brown/black hair and eyes since blond and blue-eyed would have been very uncommon in that area. Surely one of those Gospel writers would have mentioned striking blue eyes if that was the case.

I plan to hang this up on a bulletin board along with a print-out of the PowerPoint so students can refer back to it and discuss throughout the year.

Pantocrator Coloring Page Minilesson for Religious Education & Diversity

3) Pantocrator Coloring Page

After I’ve gotten the conversation started with the PowerPoint and poster, then I will have the students draw or color their own image of Jesus. This coloring page has 2 versions–one for coloring and one for drawing. The first image is the one you see on the left–students can color Jesus using the skin tone that they choose. The second image includes the body pose. However, the head area is blank so students can use more creativity to draw Jesus’ face and hair. This is a great opportunity to give students a choice and most importantly create at their comfort levels. (Amazon Affiliate Link) I’ve ordered these markers and colored pencils for the students to use.

I created this coloring page using the Pantocrator image because I think that the pose will automatically help everything think “Jesus” even if the face or coloring doesn’t match the traditional image.

I chose John 3:16 as the bible verse on the page to emphases that God came for all.