The world we live in today is very much an image oriented society. We love pictures! With the ability to constantly post images on Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, technology has only made our love of pictures that much greater. So what about having a picture of Jesus? Is it okay, or is it wrong to have pictures of Jesus?
False Images
(Exodus 20:4-5) “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord, am a jealous God
To those who lived in the Old Testament, this image in Exodus was often times in the form of a statue representing a false god. For us today, if we are not careful, it could be in the form of pictures and paintings (false images) of Jesus.
Nobody Knows What Jesus Looked Like
No description of what Jesus looked like is given to us in the Bible. Several New Testament writers had first hand knowledge of our Savior’s physical features, but yet remained silent on the subject. They always wrote about who he was and what he did, but never about what he looked like.
Pictures Of Jesus That Are Not Him
The fact that no one knows what Jesus looks like should make a person stop and ask themselves, “Why would I want a picture of Jesus that isn’t him?” All of the paintings and pictures of our Savior today are just ideas of what humans think he might have looked like. A big majority of these pictures will show an image of Jesus with long hair. In (1 Corinthians 11:14) we are told it is a disgrace for a man to have long hair. Therefore, we can be assured our Savior’s hair was not long.
Although God left out a description of what he looked like in the Bible, he has given us his words in Scripture to direct us. Having a family Bible on the coffee table is a much better idea than hanging a false image on the wall.
