The physical appearance of Jesus Christ is not described in the New Testament, but historical and cultural context provides some clues. Here's what we know:
1. **Cultural Background**: Jesus was a Jewish man born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth, in Galilee (formerly Palestine, now northern Israel) during the first century¹. As such, he likely resembled a typical man of his time and place¹.
2. **Biblical Clues**: The Bible offers few clues about Christ's physical appearance. When Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the Crucifixion, Judas Iscariot had to point Jesus out to his soldiers among the disciples, presumably because they all appeared similar to one another¹. For many scholars, Revelation 1:14-15 offers a clue that Jesus's skin was a darker hue and that his hair was woolly in texture¹.
3. **Historical Art**: In Western art, Jesus is often depicted as a bearded, fair-skinned man with long, wavy, light brown or blond hair and (often) blue eyes¹. However, these depictions began in the Byzantine era, from the 4th Century onwards, and were more symbolic than historically accurate². The earliest surviving paintings of Jesus, from the church at the ruined city of Dura-Europos on the Euphrates (dating from the first half of the 3rd Century AD), show him as a beardless and short-haired man².
In conclusion, while we don't have a definitive description of Jesus's physical appearance, it's likely that he looked like a typical Jewish Galilean of his time¹. Please note that the image of Jesus has been interpreted and represented in various ways throughout history and across different cultures².
Source:
(1) What Did Jesus Look Like? | HISTORY.
https://www.history.com/news/what-did-jesus-look-like.
(2) What did Jesus really look like? - BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35120965.
(3) What Did Jesus Really Look Like? - Biblical Archaeology Society.
https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/people-cultures-in-the-bible/jesus-historical-jesus/what-did-jesus-really-look-like/.
