Jesus's Traits and Physical Appearance.

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Sigma

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Maria Valtorta was a woman who from 1943 to 1950 saw, spoke with, and heard from Jesus often, as well as received from Him visions of scenes of His public life, which she wrote down. With God's help, I've come to own all of her writings, and I'm eternally grateful to Him for these gifts. Her writings are full of content, but I wanted to make a thread sharing excerpts that describe some of His traits and physical features:

..the Master, Who in general speaks very little, just not to be unkind, making such effort only when it is the case of teaching the crowds, or His apostles, or correcting wrong ideas, or comforting unhappy people. Jesus was the <<Word>>, but He certainly was not a <<chatterbox>>! As patient and kind as nobody else, He never appeared to be bored when He had to repeat a concept once, twice, ten times, a hundred times to make it enter the heads hardened by pharisaical and rabbinical precepts, neglecting His own tiredness, at times so exhausting to be painful, in order to relieve the moral or physical suffering of a person. But it is clear that He prefers to be silent, keeping aloof in quiet meditation which may last for many hours, if He is not distracted by someone questioning Him. He generally walks ahead of His apostles, with His head slightly bent, raising it now and again to look at the sky, the country, people, animals. I said to look. But that is wrong. I must say: to love. Because it's a smile, God's smile that from His eyes pours forth to caress the world and creatures: a love-smile. Because it is love that shines forth, spreads, blesses and purifies the light of His eyes, which are so bright, most bright, when He comes out of intense concentration. What are His concentrations like? I think — and I am sure that I am not mistaken, because it is enough to watch His countenance to see what they are — I think they are much more than our ecstasies in which a human creature already lives in Heaven. They are the <<sensible reunion of God with God>>."

"And I got lost contemplating His face (of Jesus) and observing the smallest details. And I repeat them once again. Hair parted in the middle of the head and falling in long locks to the shoulders. Wavy for a good palm, then ending in true curl. Shiny, thin, well combed, a blonde color that especially in the final curl has decided shades of copper. Very high forehead, beautiful, smooth as a band, the slightly sunken temples on which the blue veins bring slight indigo shadows showing through the white skin, of the special white of certain individuals of red-blond hair, a white milk just a shade tending to ivory but with a faintest touch of light blue, delicate skin that seems made of petals of white camellia, so fine that the lighter thin vein shows through and so sensitive that every emotion shows with more intense pallor or redness.

But Jesus I have seen more and more pale, just a little tanned by the sun taken freely in his 3 years of preaching through Palestine. But Mary is white because she was more withdrawn at home, and is a more pinkish white. Jesus is an ivory white with a slight hint of the blue. Nose long and straight, with just a slight curve upward toward the eyes, a beautiful nose thin and well shaped. Eyes received, beautiful, the color that I have so often described as very dark sapphire. Eyebrows and eyelashes thick, but not too long, beautiful, shiny, dark brown but with a tiny spark of gold at the top of each hair. Those of Mary are of a very light brown, thinner and more sparse. Perhaps they appear so because they are more clear, so clear as to be almost blond.

Smooth mouth, tending to small, well-shaped, very similar to that of the Mother, from the lips of the right size, neither too thin to appear like a snake, not too pronounced. At the center are rounded and are accentuated in a beautiful curve, the sides almost disappear, making the mouth appear smaller than it is. The mouth is of a beautiful healthy red that opens onto the teeth which are regular, strong, rather long and very white. Mary’s teeth are small, but also regular and equally spaced.

Cheeks are thin but not skinny. An oval very narrow and long but beautiful, not too high cheekbones nor too elusive. The beard, thick chin and bisected into two curly tips, surrounds, without covering, the mouth up to the lower lip and then goes shorter and shorter to the cheeks where, at the height of the mouth’s corners, it becomes very short, simply putting as a shadow of dusting copper on the pallor of his cheeks. It is, where it is thick, of a dark copper color: blond-red. And so also the mustache, which is not very thick and kept short, so that it barely covers the upper lip between the nose and the lip, and is limited to the corners of the mouth. Small ears well shaped and very united to the head. They do not protrude at all." (The Notebooks: 1944)

Jesus says:
“Keep in mind that Galilee was not a big place and that the Galileans were relatively few, they almost always married among themselves and therefore there were two or three types of physical features that for centuries could be found on their faces. It would not be wrong to say that in all the small countries, if you went back to the origins, there would be two or three original family roots, who married or remarried among themselves, giving a pronounced physical character across the Galilean race. That John [the apostle] also had a physical resemblance with Me should not come as a surprise. He was a blonde Galilean. That was a more rare type than the darker Galilean, but it existed. But his resemblance with Me was even more marked in regard to the spirit."

"The Living Face of Jesus" by the artist Lorenzo Ferri,
based on the writings of Maria Valtorta
1709058598884.png


The image on the The Shroud of Turin is also one of Jesus
1709083489575.png
 
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O'Darby

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According to the Jehovah's Witnesses' materials, Jesus looked exactly like Mel Gibson (or vice versa, I guess)! :) The best cinematic portrayal is surely by Selva Rasalingam in the wonderful, completely literal and biblical Gospel series: Amazon.com

A good guess - or perhaps not a guess - for what Jesus actually looked like would be the Shroud of Turin:

Shroud.jpg
 

Nancy

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Hello Sigma,
I must comment here as I do not think these "visions" were from The Lord. First of all, Jesus was a Jew, He grew up in the middle east so, his "tan" was not because of those 3 years of His 33 years on this earth.

Also- how does any of what you have written edify anyone??

Exodus 20:4


“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:”

God bless you and I pray that you will realize these pictures and statues are nothing but false idols.
 

Sigma

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God bless you and I pray that you will realize these pictures and statues are nothing but false idols.

Do you consider photos or any form of artwork depicting a loved one a "false idol?" Probably not, but hopefully you don't.
 

Sigma

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A good guess - or perhaps not a guess - for what Jesus actually looked like would be the Shroud of Turin:

View attachment 42489

I own the book The Holy Shroud and the Visions of Maria Valtorta, which uses the writings of Maria Valtorta to further validate the authenticity of the Shroud, and the identity of the image being that of Jesus.

Here's another dictation by Jesus from Maria's writings, where He's addressing skeptics of the Shroud of Turin:

"Your scientists, to give proof to your incredulity with regard to that evidence of My suffering, which is the Shroud, explain how the blood, the cadaveric perspiration and the urea of an overfatigued body, when mixed with the spices, can have produced that natural drawing of My dead tortured Body.

It would be better to believe without the need of so many proofs to believe. It would be better to say: "That is the work of God" and bless God, Who has granted you an indisputable proof of My Crucifixion and of the tortures preceding it!

But as now you are no longer able to believe with the simplicity of children, but you need scientific proofs - how poor is your faith, that without the support and the spur of science cannot stand up straight and walk - you must know that the cruel bruises of My kidneys have been the most powerful chemical agent in the miracle of the Shroud. My kidneys, almost crushed by the scourges, were no longer able to work. Like those of people burnt by fire, they were unable to filter, and urea accumulated and spread in My blood, in My body, bringing about the sufferings of uraemic intoxication and the reagent that oozed out of My corpse and fixed the impression on the cloth. But any doctor among you, or anyone suffering from uraemia, will realise what sufferings the uraemic toxins caused to Me, as they were so plentiful as to produce an indelible impression." (The Poem of the Man-God: Vol. V, ch. 609, pp. 339-340)

"The veil of veronica is also a goad to your skeptical souls. Since you, o rationalists, o tepid people vacillating in your faith, proceed through arid examinations, compare the face of the veronica with that of the Holy Shroud. One is the Face of a living person, the other of a dead one. But length, width, somatic types, form, distinctive features, are identical. Superimpose the images. You will see that they correspond. It is I. I Who wanted to remind you how I was and how I had become out of love for you. If you had not gone astray, if you were not blind, those two Faces should be enough to bring you to love, to repentance, to God." (The Poem of the Man-God: Vol. V, ch. 633, pp. 439-440)​
 

O'Darby

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Do you consider photos or any form of artwork depicting a loved one a "false idol?" Probably not, but hopefully you don't.
Yes, the "false idol" objection can be taken to extremes. The question is whether the image is, for you or me, an idol. The Orthodox get the same objection with their icons. (I have a Christ Pantocrator icon on my wall right now, although I am not Orthodox.) The Orthodox explain that the icons are not objects of worship but rather are more like windows through which communion with the Divine flows. A speculative drawing of what Jesus might have looked like, or an historical artifact like the Shroud, is not my idea of a graven image or idol. But if these things trouble someone and are stumbling blocks for him or her - fine, avoid them.

An Orthodox explanation of icons and the "graven image" objection: No Graven Image: Icons and Their Proper Use | Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese.

And here is the ultimate Shroud cite, which I've been a member of for something like 30 years: The Shroud of Turin Website - Home Page.
 
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Nancy

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Do you consider photos or any form of artwork depicting a loved one a "false idol?" Probably not, but hopefully you don't.
No, of course not. Because they are photos of people that were alive when cameras were available and are/were friends/relatives. And, I do not worship them or give them any kind of sensational divinity as, they are useless.
 
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Sigma

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No, of course not. Because they are photos of people that were alive when cameras were available and are/were friends/relatives. And, I do not worship them or give them any kind of sensational divinity as, they are useless.

Good, just as I don't worship photos, or art depictions of any of my loved ones, such as Jesus and His Mother, etc.
 

Sigma

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The Orthodox get the same objection with their icons. (I have a Christ Pantocrator icon on my wall right now, although I am not Orthodox.) The Orthodox explain that the icons are not objects of worship but rather are more like windows through which communion with the Divine flows. A speculative drawing of what Jesus might have looked like, or an historical artifact like the Shroud, is not my idea of a graven image or idol.

I agree, and I like that you have an Orthodox icon of Christ. There's a beautiful Orthodox icon of Mary Magdalene I'd like to buy, although I'm not Orthodox either, but I guess I'm close as I have Catholic beliefs.

And here is the ultimate Shroud cite, which I've been a member of for something like 30 years: The Shroud of Turin Website - Home Page.

Thank you! Jesus's Shroud is great evidence of His existence and sacrifice. I'm grateful for it and His dictations to Maria Valtorta about it, etc
 
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Sigma

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First of all, Jesus was a Jew, He grew up in the middle east so, his "tan" was not because of those 3 years of His 33 years on this earth.

Yes, Jesus lived in the Middle East, but His natural skin tone was ivory. Now, consider in all of Jesus's 33 years, it was during His three year ministry that He spent the most time in the sun, traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles throughout Palestine. Maria received many visions of scenes from His earthly life, some taking place before and during that period, and noticed the effects traveling had on His physical appearance. Therefore, that's why she made a comment it was during that time period she noticed He tanned a little. I'm also ivory skinned, and when I tan (if I don't burn) it's noticeable, but not dark either. And like mine, Jesus's tan wouldn't have lasted, so depending on the season during His travels, He would've been tanner and at other times not so.

Also- how does any of what you have written edify anyone??

Our God become human. He has traits and physical features. That interests me, so I shared with others who might love and appreciate those little details, just as much as anything else about Him. He's not only our God and Savior, but our friend, our family. Everything about Him should interest us, just as everything about all those we care about does. Knowing more about Him even physically and in mannerisms makes our relationship with him more intimate, which is a benefit.
 
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We are created in the "IMAGE" of God - as in "Let US make man in OUR image".

Bring that forward to now. When I see the brethren, I see that Jesus walks a bit like Charlie, smiles like Rob, laughs like Vito, and talks like Gentle George...and so on, and so on.

Jesus lives among the living in His perfect body, Jesus doesn't live in a dark disfigured past. If you want to know what Jesus looks like today, look in the mirror, and if you don't see Him there, neither does God.
 
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Sigma

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We are created in the "IMAGE" of God - as in "Let US make man in OUR image".

Bring that forward to now. When I see the brethren, I see that Jesus walks a bit like Charlie, smiles like Rob, laughs like Vito, and talks like Gentle George...and so on, and so on.

Jesus lives among the living in His perfect body, Jesus doesn't live in a dark disfigured past. If you want to know what Jesus looks like today, look in the mirror, and if you don't see Him there, neither does God.

Poetic. However, God did in fact become human, and thus He had traits and physical features. In the opening post, I shared the words of a woman who described God's human appearance in full detail, because she was given the gift of speaking to and seeing Jesus often for a time. Some will be interested in those details about Him, others won't.
 

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Poetic. However, God did in fact become human, and thus He had traits and physical features. In the opening post, I shared the words of a woman who described God's human appearance in full detail, because she was given the gift of speaking to and seeing Jesus often for a time. Some will be interested in those details about Him, others won't.
What is the signifacance of attempting to know Jesus appearance? That is not the way to increase the talent. If you want to increase the talent, feed the poor, cloth the needy, provide drink to the thirsty. "When you did this to the least of these my brethern, you did it unto me".
Searching the grave to find the "REAL" Jesus, when He stated clearly YOU are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the bible tells us clearly that the Holy Spirit is the Spirt of Christ and therefore Christ lives in us and we bear His name as CHRISTians, and project His image to others (Glory). Becoming a spritual man is NOT going to happen dwelling on the physical, material extermities.
 
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Sigma

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Becoming a spritual man is NOT going to happen dwelling on the physical, material extermities.

I didn't say it will.

What is the signifacance of attempting to know Jesus appearance?

Well, it's not that I'm attempting to know. I already know what Jesus looks like because I've read the writings of Maria Valtorta who's seen Him, and described His appearance and mannerisms, etc. Did Maria or I need to know these details? No, but since when did God only do things when He needed to? He gave Maria, and thus anyone who will accept as well, the gift of knowing even the little details of His humanity, such as appearance and mannerism, etc., without having to wait until Heaven, to breed more intimacy between a soul and Himself.
 

O'Darby

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I agree, and I like that you have an Orthodox icon of Christ. There's a beautiful Orthodox icon of Mary Magdalene I'd like to buy, although I'm not Orthodox either, but I guess I'm close as I have Catholic beliefs.



Thank you! Jesus's Shroud is great evidence of His existence and sacrifice. I'm grateful for it and His dictations to Maria Valtorta about it, etc
I think what's going on is that your original post and drawing are viewed as "Catholic things," just as Orthodox icons are viewed as "Orthodox things" - and we know how that goes with evangelical Protestants. The Shroud is just another "Catholic thing," not worth considering. Uh, no. I think everyone would cheerfully fast for a week to know what Jesus REALLY looked like and where the mysterious Missing Years were spent. More to the point, we all carry around a little Jesus icon in our heads, mostly based on the Shroud whether we realize it or not (because the Shroud clearly influenced virtually all ancient depictions of Jesus). I guarantee you, if the drawing in your post or any Hollywood movie depicted a whiny, scrawny, pimply-faced little Jewish nebbish, everyone would be screaming "Blasphemy - that's NOT what Jesus looked like!" :)
 
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dev553344

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I think Jesus was a Jew right? King of Israel. So he would look like them. But when you meet him his face might shine like the sun so I'm not sure you will see his face?
 

Sigma

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I think what's going on is that your original post and drawing are viewed as "Catholic things," just as Orthodox icons are viewed as "Orthodox things" - and we know how that goes with evangelical Protestants. The Shroud is just another "Catholic thing," not worth considering. Uh, no. I think everyone would cheerfully fast for a week to know what Jesus REALLY looked like and where the mysterious Missing Years were spent.

The Shroud shouldn't be consider a "Catholic thing," because it was just Jesus's burial cloth. God preserved it for everyone, of all faiths, as great evidence for His existence and sacrifice. It's just naturally been in the care of the Church Jesus founded, the Catholic Church.

God also gave people like Maria Valtorta the gift of seeing scenes of His public life, and knowing even the little details of His humanity, such as appearance and mannerism, etc., and she wrote down all she heard and saw. Her writings shouldn't be considered a "Catholic thing" either, just because Maria herself was Catholic.

We really don't have to wait until Heaven to know what Jesus looked like, because He made it possible to know here on Earth through the Shroud, and people like Maria Valtorta. We even have writings of Pontias Pilate where He describes Jesus's appearance, and it's just as Maria described. And, she didn't even have knowledge of or access to those writings in the 1940's.
 

Sigma

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I think Jesus was a Jew right? King of Israel. So he would look like them.

Which "them" did he look like, because not all Jews looked alike? We know that Jesus was Galilean, and He said to Maria Valtorta, “Keep in mind that Galilee was not a big place and that the Galileans were relatively few, they almost always married among themselves and therefore there were two or three types of physical features that for centuries could be found on their faces. It would not be wrong to say that in all the small countries, if you went back to the origins, there would be two or three original family roots, who married or remarried among themselves, giving a pronounced physical character across the Galilean race. That John [the apostle] also had a physical resemblance with Me should not come as a surprise. He was a blonde Galilean. That was a more rare type than the darker Galilean, but it existed. But his resemblance with Me was even more marked in regard to the spirit."
 

dev553344

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Which "them" did he look like, because not all Jews looked alike? We know that Jesus was Galilean, and He said to Maria Valtorta, “Keep in mind that Galilee was not a big place and that the Galileans were relatively few, they almost always married among themselves and therefore there were two or three types of physical features that for centuries could be found on their faces. It would not be wrong to say that in all the small countries, if you went back to the origins, there would be two or three original family roots, who married or remarried among themselves, giving a pronounced physical character across the Galilean race. That John [the apostle] also had a physical resemblance with Me should not come as a surprise. He was a blonde Galilean. That was a more rare type than the darker Galilean, but it existed. But his resemblance with Me was even more marked in regard to the spirit."
Well Jesus was created by the Holy Ghost in Mary's womb. But I think if he looked white or different, the bible would have said so. It would have been out of place.
 
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Sigma

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Well Jesus was created by the Holy Ghost in Mary's womb. But I think if he looked white or different, the bible would have said so. It would have been out of place.

You said "Jesus was a Jew right? So he would look like them," but nowhere in the Bible does it say He looked like all other Jews either, and we know all Jews don't look alike. We know what Jesus looked through people like Maria Valtorta. We even have writings of Pontias Pilate where He describes Jesus's appearance, and it's just as Maria described. And, she didn't even have knowledge of or access to Pilate's writings in the 1940's. They both said He had golden hair and a lighter complexion. While Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, He also had the genes of Mary, a Galilean, who had golden hair and light skin as well. Jesus Himself explained to Maria some traits of Galileans was golden hair and light skin, though it was rare.