Long-haired Hippy Jesus

[*Light*]

We've all seen drawings of the long-haired, hippy looking Jesus, right? Or what about the Hispanic, Asian, or African-American Jesus? A brother in Christ had got enraged with me earlier because I disagreed with him regarding the physical features of Jesus. He had many paintings of a blond-haired, blue eyed Jesus, with extremely long hair --  and He looked like an effeminate queer to be honest. I simply told him that I DO NOT know how Jesus looked like, and neither does anyone else! 

People often get Nazareth and Nazirite confused. Nazareth thus becomes the place where Jesus grows up (cf. Jn.2:1). And herein we also see the fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah about light coming out of the darkness (i.e., the secular north country: Is. 9:1-2 -- completed with the beginning and the end of Jesus' earthly ministry: cf. Matt. 4:14-16; 28:7), as well as the prophecy of Jesus being a "Nazarene” (Matt. 2:23). Although beyond question our Lord certainly fulfilled all of the spiritual dimensions of the Nazirite vow, there is absolutely no evidence nor, in my view, any indication in scripture that He took a Nazirite vow or that He grew His hair long for that reason. One of the things which always seems to get forgotten in discussions of this sort are the particulars of the vow: 

"And the Nazarite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings. And the priest shall take the sodden shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite, after the hair of his separation is shaven: And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: this is holy for the priest, with the wave breast and heave shoulder: and after that the Nazarite may drink wine." (Numbers 6:18-20)

Thus even if Jesus had taken such a vow, He most certainly would have completed the vow -- and fulfilled the regulations thereof which included shaving one's head and placing the shaved hair in the fire. It is not accidental that although we have four gospels (and other information in Acts and the epistles) there is no physical description of our Lord in the Bible -- until after His resurrection (and even that does not describe His hair as being long: Rev. 1:13-16). This can only be because not only is knowing what our Lord "looked like" unimportant but also because if we had a precise physical description of Him it might tend to take away from what we should be focusing on: who He is and what He did for us. Nothing shows more perspicuously what the Christian life is really about, namely, the truth of scripture: learning it, believing it, living by it, and helping others do likewise. That is the way to honor our Lord Jesus Christ, and the only way to really "SEE HIM" in this world. 

"Whom having [not seen], ye love; in whom, though [now ye see him not], yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:" (1 Peter 1:8).

God Bless!