There is a good reason why the Bible never gave a physical description of Jesus Christ. World-renowned evangelist Billy Graham says this is to discourage people from making false idols of Him.
"The Bible doesn't tell us what Jesus looked like, nor did anyone paint His portrait or sculpture a bust of Him during His lifetime," he writes on his website. "We shouldn't be surprised at this; in the ancient world only very wealthy or powerful people were able to have this done. It also wasn't customary among the Jewish people."
Graham believes that the Bible did not describe Jesus' physical attributes because "God knew we'd try to make idols or images of Jesus — and that would be wrong."
Graham then cited one of the Ten Commandments, which states: "You shall not make for yourself an image. You shall not bow down to them or worship them (Exodus 20:4-5)."
He adds that the paintings or images people see now of Jesus are merely products of the imagination of various artists. And even though some renderings of his suffering or character are very moving, the Bible made it clear in Isaiah 53:2 that "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him."
"He apparently was little different in appearance from most men of His day," says Graham. "Never forget: Jesus is far greater than any image, for He is the Son of God who came to save us from our sins."
At the same time, Graham tells Christians never to lose hope on seeing Jesus' face one day, since they will definitely do so when they get to heaven.
"Someday we will see Jesus in all His glory and majesty! Do you have that hope in your heart? You can, by turning to Christ and by faith committing your life to Him. The Bible's promise is for you: 'We know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is' (1 John 3:2)," says Graham.
