Was Jesus White, Black or Yellow When He Was on Earth?
Some depictions of the Messiah are too Caucasian-like, such as blue-eyed Jeffrey Hunter playing the role in the 1961 film King of Kings. You’ll also come across sincere believers claiming that Jesus was black in the sub-Saharan sense when he was on Earth. I’m sure there are others who insist he was Far East Asian. So what was his skin-color according the Holy Scriptures. Let’s start with the fact that…
The Eternal LORD Transcends Skin-Color
The Son has existed from eternity since he’s God and everything was created through him, including every race of people, as observed here:
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
John 1:1-4
This helps explain this prophetic verse from the Old Testament:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
While the child Jesus was born to us when Christ was incarnated (Philippians 2:5-11), the Son of God was given since he had already existed from time immemorial, i.e. forever.
What Race/Ethnicity Was Jesus Christ on Earth?
As far as the physical stock of Yeshua goes, he sprang from the lineage of Abraham (Matthew 1:2 & Luke 3:34) and Abraham was a Hebrew from the Near East, not a European, sub-Saharan black or Far East Asian. For proof, consider his land and language:
- Abraham originally hailed from Ur of the Chaldeans, a city in the lower Mesopotamian region close to the coastline near the mouth of the Euphrates River (Genesis 11:28). This is today southeastern Iraq, which is the center of what is we know as the Middle East.
- Of course God called Abram & Sarai — Abraham & Sarah — to leave Ur and travel some 900 miles West to Canaan (650 miles due West), which would soon become the Promised Land of the Hebrews, aka Israel (Genesis 12:1). The LORD would not give this land over to them until the sin of the Canaanites had reached its full measure thus incurring God’s judgment with the land, in essence, spewing them out (Genesis 15:16 & Leviticus 18:28).
- Abraham named his sons Ishaq (Isaac) and Ishmael, which are Hebraic names.
- Speaking of which, Abram (Abraham) is plainly referred to as a Hebrew in the Bible (Genesis 14:13), which is Ibri (ib-REE) in the Hebrew language and stems from Shem’s great grandson Eber (Genesis 10:21 & 11:14-17). Abraham came from Eber’s line, six generations later.
For details on Abraham and the Israelites/Jews that sprang from his loins, see this article.
Why Did God Choose This Location to Reveal the Truth?
While the LORD chose Abraham because he was an extraordinary man of faith (Romans 4:11), the Bible makes it clear that God did not choose his descendants because they were superior to anyone else on Earth (Deuteronomy 9:4-6), although I’m sure their capacity to 1. develop an advanced written language and 2. preserve vital documents from generation to generation was a factor, both of which were necessary for us to have God’s Word today (Romans 3:2, 9:4 & Deuteronomy 4:8).
Another obvious reason the Creator chose this people and the corresponding general location — the proverbial “cradle of civilization” — is because it was the geographical center of the continents, which used to be one supercontinent, Pangaea or Gondwana, before it split into separate land masses (Genesis 10:25).
Being centrally located, the truths of Judeo-Christianity would more easily spread to the four corners of the Earth and reach:
- The people of the Mediterranean, Europe and northern Asia,
- The people of sub-Saharan Africa,
- The people of the Far East,
- And, eventually, the people of the Western Hemisphere, who are not actually native to the Americas since their progenitors came from East Asia via Beringia to settle in the “New World.”
This shows that…
From the Beginning, God’s Plan of Redemption Included ALL Peoples
This can be observed in comparing Matthew’s genealogy of Christ with Luke’s version. Matthew traces Christ’s heritage back to Abraham (Matthew 1:1-17) whereas Luke traces it all the way back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38).
The reason for this difference is that Matthew wrote his account primarily for Hebraic readers while Luke, believed to be a Gentile (a non-Jew), wrote primarily to Gentiles with the hope that they would learn that God’s love & truth reach beyond the Hebrews to the entire world. With Luke’s list going all the way back to Adam, the first man (Genesis 2:7 & 1 Corinthians 15:45), it illustrates that the Messiah came for all humanity since every skin-color sprang from Adam’s loins (Romans 3:29-30).
This shows that there is, in essence, only one race, the human race. And since Earth used to be one continent, Pangaea, we’re all native to the same continent, the same Earth, regardless of the fact that the land mass eventually split into several pieces, including thousands of islands (Isaiah 51:5 & 66:19).
Secondly, observe what God said when he called Abram, aka Abraham:
1The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:1-3
The Almighty would use Abraham, the father of faith (Romans 4:11), to express his heart and purpose for all peoples of Earth (Galatians 3:8). God’s desire was to redeem humanity from the depths they had fallen after Adam’s sin. Through Abraham, the LORD would send the Messiah to fulfill his awesome plan of redemption for the whole world.
Closing Word
Let me close by stressing something emphasized in the Scriptures:
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
“Jew” refers to the Israelite people descended from Abraham while “Gentile” in this context refers to all non-Hebrew people. In other words, there is no white, black, brown, yellow or red in Christ Jesus. Believers are all brothers and sisters — spiritual family — in the body of Christ. There’s no place for racism, which of course doesn’t mean you can’t take healthy pride in your physical heritage and culture. Please notice I said healthy pride à la Galatians 6:4, not carnal pride.
The world is obsessed with skin-color and race/racism while believers should be focused on the heart of the individual. It’s why Paul said:
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Regarding a person from a worldly point of view means to focus on what’s on the outside, including skin-color. God isn’t like this. The LORD looks to the inside of a person — the heart — as observed when Samuel was trying to discern which one of Jesse’s sons God chose as the next king of Israel:
6When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”
7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:6-7
Related Topics:
REDEMPTION — God’s Plan of Liberation for Humanity & Creation
The Five Earths of the Bible (and the Eight Ages)
The Three Realms—Heaven, Earth and the Underworld
Mother Earth — What the Bible Says
HEBREWS / ISRAELITES / JEWS — Why Did God Choose Them?
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