Monday, August 5, 2013

55: the relative (un)importance of physical beauty

Last night at church the speaker referenced Isaiah 53:2
“He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.”
Last Sunday night another speaker talked a little about Paul, the description of him being a short, hunched over man with a hooked nose. Not the most compelling of physical descriptions. Is it possible that Jesus was also less than physically appealing?

When I imagine Jesus (or my future husband, for that matter), I don’t imagine a certain look. I don’t picture his face or his build or his hair color or its length. But I do imagine a certain level of attractiveness. I expect a Hollywood Jesus. Hollywood doesn’t cast unattractive people as their heroes/heroines, and we wouldn’t want them to. We like to look at pretty people. We’re attracted to attractive people.

What if Jesus was not necessarily an attractive person? Is it possible?

What if he had the look of a nerd? What if he had a comb over? What if he pushed up his glasses when he spoke? What if he walked funny?

Maybe He didn’t. But is it possible that, even though Jesus was morally and spiritually perfect, He lived in a sin-riddled physical body that had “no form or comeliness?” And if Jesus had no beauty that we should desire Him, and yet we embrace Him as our love and life, is it possible that my future husband could be less than a handsome physical specimen and yet be a perfectly acceptable, even desirable, lover and life-mate as well?

The thought being, would I have accepted Jesus for His inward qualities despite His physical appearance? And if I accept Jesus, would I accept a human despite his physical appearance?

But I also know that God created us to be attracted to whomever we marry, not repelled.

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