Was Jesus a Sissy?

[IM4given]

I was reading an article this afternoon about how Jesus is portrayed in our society as a man with long flowing hair, wearing a dress, etc. with effeminate features. which made me wonder if that is how Jesus is taught in some of your homes or churches? I know the RCC wants to teach Jesus as a CHILD - or as a slain man nailed to the cross. The Virgin Mary has the dominate role in their theology. I do not want to get a fight or a debate started, just a nice little Christian Discussion among like-minded believers. I believe that liberalism has crept into so many churches that they accept Jesus as a sissy and do nothing to try to change that image of Him.

http://www.donaldsensing.com/2003_11_01 ... 0502407723

The Sissified Jesus
But maybe the reason that so many clergy seem to be not terribly manly is that the church has made sure that Jesus is presented as something of a wuss, too.

As children in Sunday School we see our first pictures of Jesus as the good shepherd (see above, for example). They are wildly inaccurate. They show a Zest-fully clean Jesus with his Breck-shampooed, blow-dried hair, in a spotless, Bill Blass robe, carrying a little lamb on his shoulders. This is an inoffensive, domesticated Jesus, a tamed Jesus who looks good. This Jesus is a poster boy for people who think that Christian faith is supposed to make them popular. But if this wimpy, smarmy, gender-confused, television-evangelist-looking Jesus ever told you, ?I lay down my life for the sheep? (cf: John 10:11), you?d laugh out loud in derision. And if it ever occurred to you that your life was literally in his hands, you?d cry in despair.

[Guest Guest]

I have never personally been in an IFB church that preached a "sissy" Jesus from the pulpit I am glad to say. I have been a in a few IFB churches that had a long haired Jesus on some of their sunday school materials for children(not a great idea) but the church I have been in the last 6-7 years does neither. :Green

[deafnva77]

In a sunday school materials, I always made sure that Jesus looked like a Jews back in the biblical time. Because to me, It would mean that they have researched about the life of Jews or Jesus carefully, even if they aren't really correct. It's the fact that they were careful about it.

I already had several people told me "well, Jesus wore long hair, why can I?" all because of a portrait of a blue-eyed, long-blond hair man.

[deafnva77]

The only bible figure that had long hair was Samson, but I don't know they tried to blend him in with Jesus or not.

[John81]

I've never been a Baptist church that taught a sissified Jesus but I have been in other churches which taught "hippy flower child" type of Jesus.

Jesus was obviously bold and manly from what Scripture tells us. He was a carpenter, a manly profession (especially in those days!), he walked everywhere so he was in good shape, he boldy confronted the leaders of His day, he drove the money changers out of the temple with a whip of cords He fashioned Himself, and of course He boldly went forth and sacrificed His own life for us.

[HappyChristian]

Interesting article:

One of the biggest errors Hollywood has made is in their depiction of Jesus while he was teaching here on earth. The error comes because the preachers, priests and theologians have themselves accepted a false type of Jesus that nowhere resembles the true Jesus who is described in the New Testament. The images of Jesus that Christians have in their churches, homes, Bibles, Sunday School or Sabbath School books are those which have the outward features of the chief pagan gods of the heathen world. If the apostles could come back to life and visit our churches, enter our homes, and see our movies about Jesus, they would be aghast at witnessing Jesus being portrayed like the chief gods of the heathen world.

In the fourth century it became common for many Gentile peoples throughout the Roman Empire (who had long worshiped pagan gods and goddesses) to begin identifying their deities of old with the newly honored Jesus, Mary, and the ?twelve apostles? (plus other saints of the Old and New Testaments). One particular deity that seemed to blend together the attributes of several gods into a unified portrayal of deity was the Egyptian god ?Sarapis.? This god had been famous for 600 years in Egypt and now his worship was found all over the Roman Empire. He was equated with the Greek Zeus (the chief god over all other gods) along with Asclepius (the god of healing). Professor Everett Ferguson in his excellent work titled Backgrounds of Early Christianity shows an example that the statues of Asclepius (the pagan god of healing) were images that imitated Zeus and that his portraiture influenced artists in depicting both Sarapis [the Egyptian Zeus] and Christ? (p.114).

Remarkably, the pagan god Sarapis of the fourth century appeared very much like what Christians (from the time of Constantine onwards) began to depict as their ?Jesus.? At that time the people began to abandon all of the early depictions of Christ made in the previous hundred years or so (which showed ?Jesus normally as young, beardless and with hair like ordinary men -- not with long flowing feminine type of hair). But now, with Constantine, the people began to want ?Jesus? to appear like the pagan gods, so they selected the model of Zeus after the Egyptian rendition of Sarapis (the Egyptian Zeus) to be their ~ ?Jesus.? What they actually did was to change the name of ?Zeus (Sarapis) into ?Jesus.? The people kept on worshiping Zeus (Sarapis) but they now called him ?Jesus.? Note the picture of Sarapis below.

For the picture: http://www.askelm.com/secrets/sec103.htm

People don't stop to think that Jesus was raised by a carpenter! And you can bet He was trained in that work - which develops muscles. He was no wimpy fellow. Many people accept the long hair because they think He was a Nazarite rather than a Nazarene. The Nazarite was a vow of separation, culminating in a shaved head (the reason Sampson was never to cut his...the vow was to be life-long). A Nazarene was one from Nazareth.

Our church definitely doesn't teach a wimpy Jesus! Thank the Lord for that!

[IM4given]

Since the now locked discussion we had about the pants/dresses controversy, I am also quite concerned that many Christians actually believe that Jesus not only had long flowing hair, pale skin, and effeminate features, (like the RCC commissioned its artists to depict as such) but also that Jesus actually wore a DRESS!

I have been able to find few authentic resources on this subject, but this one seems to be very thorough in describing Jesus tunic:

http://books.google.com/books?id=c-q2Qu ... #PPA325,M1

It would make sense to me, that if Jesus was wearing a seamless tunic, worn only by High Priests, that he also wore the breeches worn by the High Priests - therefore (although I have yet to find any documentation to prove it) I believe that Jesus wore breeches, and a seamless tunic for his clothing, and reject the notion that he wore dresses as he walked from town to town.

[IM4given]

I found a very useful article regarding priestly clothing

http://campus.houghton.edu/orgs/rel-phi ... iestly.htm

maybe this was why the Jews who persecuted Jesus were so angry? Not only for what he said and did, but also because of what he wore? He was not dressed like the ordinary common carpenter, but perhaps he wore the robe and breeches of the High Priests? just pure speculation on my part BTW - do not ask me to quote scriptures on this! :pray

John 19:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout

[Guest Guest]

Great article, Janet! This would "boil my first IFB pastor's blood." He would say..."Jesus was a Jew!" "He looked like a Jew. He also had brown hair and brown eyes (not blond hair and blue eyes, like the RCC likes to picture Him)...and, BTW...He did NOT have long hair!" I can still hear him saying this.

The pictures that I have seen of Him in both my IFB churches depict Him as looking like the Jewish Messiah. He has brown (short hair) and brown eyes. He is masculine looking. So...I am thankful to say---He does not look like a "Sissy."

Where in the OT does it depict what Jesus would look like...Isaiah?

[John81]

Great article, Janet! This would "boil my first IFB pastor's blood." He would say..."Jesus was a Jew!" "He looked like a Jew. He also had brown hair and brown eyes (not blond hair and blue eyes, like the RCC likes to picture Him)...and, BTW...He did NOT have long hair!" I can still hear him saying this.

The pictures that I have seen of Him in both my IFB churches depict Him as looking like the Jewish Messiah. He has brown (short hair) and brown eyes. He is masculine looking. So...I am thankful to say---He does not look like a "Sissy."

Where in the OT does it depict what Jesus would look like...Isaiah?

I don't know if we can know what Jesus looked like with 100% certainty, but there are a couple of contemporary descriptions of Jesus recorded and they say Jesus had blondish-red hair and blue eyes. From some things I've read, in the area of Galilee, this was common.

Saying someone "looks like a Jew" can mean many things. There are some Jews who may resemble some of the old propaganda pictures of the Jew with the hooked nose and swarthy feathers. There are also Jews like Paul Newman or Doris Day who look very different from that.

[PastorHarrison]

Being a preacher and a Pastor, I go out door knocking, soul winning almost daily Mon - Sat and twice Thursdays. I hear at least weekly a comment on long-hair Jesus, flower waiving Jesus and of course, Big fluffy Grand-daddy in the Sky God who doesn't care where or how often ya go to church

The depictions of long haired, pasty faced, pale lanky blue eyed Jesus have permeated even the deepest hollers in Tennessee....and North Florida where I came from. The impact of these depictions in men in dress-like garments has had just as crippling an effect in our society in my opinion. Not much more damage could have been done if they'd put an alcoholic beverage in his hand in the rennaisance paintings....

[Guest Guest]

[quote="PastorHarrison"]The depictions of long haired, pasty faced, pale lanky blue eyed Jesus have permeated even the deepest hollers in Tennessee....and North Florida where I came from. The impact of these depictions in men in dress-like garments has had just as crippling an effect in our society in my opinion. Not much more damage could have been done if they'd put an alcoholic beverage in his hand in the rennaisance paintings....[/quote]

Amen...PastorHarrison.

Besides, the "real" Jews that I know...look like Jews. They are direct descendants of the line of David. That is all I have to say about that! :smile There is much information out there on this. I will see what I can "dig" up.

John...many of the Holly Weird actors and actresses "think" that they are 100% Jewish by blood. "Think" being the key word. :smile

[PastorHarrison]

I tend to think (yeah....my doctor says I shouldnt do that ) that Joseph & Mary due their lineage were in all probability more rugged and characteristic of the Jewish race than European... ie. I suspect strongly, dark hair if not black, dark eyes and a propensity toward tanned skin where exposed (which I suspect was probably limited to arms and knees down (if that) but certainly a tanned and decidedly not appealing face.... remembering that the prophecy said there would be nothing "physically" appealing about him (lest attention be drawn for the wrong reason..... )

But....its my imagination and I have a lifetime pass to the "movies" whenever I wish :Green

[Guest Guest]

:amen: PastorHarrison. My IFB church has a Jewish ministry...and, you are "right on" brother! The 12 tribes are all explained in thorough detail. :thumb

Isaiah 53...

remembering that the prophecy said there would be nothing "physically" appealing about him (lest attention be drawn for the wrong reason..... )

[IM4given]

I think the European notion of what Jesus looked like came from the Renaissance Artists like DaVinci, Michelangelo, etc. These artists were paid by the RCC Pope and various other European Royalty to paint biblical figures, who very often had the faces of the rich guys and their families painted into the portraits. So rather than having a historically acturate depiction of various biblical characters, we have artist renditions of various royal families. Imagine an artist in this day and time painting God or Jesus Christ with the face of Pope Benedict on it, or Prince Phillip, etc, and that gives you an idea of how accurate these Renaissance paintings and art works really are!