What Would Baby Jesus Look Like?

Mustard Seed Chronicles: Story Time with LU Grandma

1 John 3:2 “Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

A letter to my Lord Jesus, my sweet blessed Savior:

1 John 3:2 is such a wonderful and precious promise, and it is the basis of all our hope and joy as Christians. It is hard to wait! I remember as a child how hard it was to wait for Christmas. Even though I didn’t KNOW You then, I knew of You and why we celebrated Christmas. For me, it wasn’t as much about the presents we might receive as it was the whole celebration with quality family time, special goodies, and time for games with the family. Even church seemed more meaningful during the Christmas season because of the time with family.

For we shall see Him as He is. Lord, I am transported in thought back to the months before Your birth. When we human parents find that there is a new person growing within the mother, we start to imagine what type of child You are weaving within, male or female, who will they look like and what type of personality they will have. We know they will have some of dad’s traits, some of mom’s, as well as grandparents on both sides simply because of heredity.

What was that like for Your mother, Mary, and Joseph, Your earthly father? After all, what would God in the form of a baby look like? There were no ultrasounds back then to give them a sneak peek. Would you glow with the shekinah glory spoken of by Moses? Would you look very different than other babies? Isaiah 53:2 says, “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”

Would God cause You to have the traits and appearance of Mary’s family? Would He include some of Joseph’s or leave his side out totally so there would be no speculation that You were really Joseph’s child conceived out of wedlock? These are things to ponder.

Jesus, I believe you were born in a time before cameras and Facebook so that we would not worship your image instead of You. Artists have tried through time to depict what You might have looked like and what the Nativity should depict. I think we have failed miserably for the most part. Most have made you look very European with a halo on your blond head and with fair skin and bright blue eyes. I don’t believe You looked anything like any of those artists’ imaginations, but there must have been something about You, even as a baby and child that would bring the reaction of the shepherds and the magi. And it was not what You looked like, but whom they were told You are!

They knew who You were even if You had looked like any other Jewish baby in Israel at the time. I will probably never know how it was then, and that is all right. What I know now is that when You appear, I will know You and see You and that will be glorious!

Prayer:

Thank You, Lord, for Your promises. They mean so very much to us. Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come!

I pray this in Your name, Amen!