The
Christmas season marks the observance and celebration of
the advent of Jesus Christ out of eternity and into this
world in human form, as it had been prophesied in the
Old Testament.
God became a man, just as he said, without either
ceasing to exist as God or being diminished in any way
as God.
Jesus Christ, the living Word of God, who had
always been with the Father, came to humanity as a human
to save humans.
The Word of God became living flesh in
fulfillment of the written Word of God. That is why
Christians rejoice at this season: God keeps his
word!
But was the
“Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” a child of African heritage or
was he European as he is depicted in the classical
paintings mostly done during the Renaissance in
Italy. Was Jesus Black
or White?
THE GEORGIA INFORMER dealt with this question
once before, in 1994. We print again
some of the answers given then and some of those given
by African American pastors throughout the state who
were contacted at the time.
The flight
of Mary and Joseph into Egypt to hide the Christ child
from the jealous and murderous plot of Herod, as
recorded in the Book of Matthew, led Pastor E. Dewey
Smith of Macon's Beulahland Bible Baptist
Church to conclude, “He could not have been hidden in
North Africa had he European features.” Pastor Smith
further explained:
Daniel in the Book of Daniel and John in the Book
of Revelation both give us a physical description of
Christ.
Both describe him as having hair like wool, eyes
like fire, and feet like polished
brass.”
Pastor
George Moore of St. Philip A.M.E. Church of Decatur,
Georgia said, “If we are referring to Jesus, the man who
walked this earth in human body, He may have been born
black. If
we are referring to Jesus, the Christ, we are talking
about all nationalities and ethnicities.” This fits well
with the idea that Jesus Christ came to save “the
world.”
“If you
accept the Bible as the authentic source of such
information, the color of His Skin is not important,”
say Ronald Terry, Pastor of New Fellowship Baptist
Church of Macon and Assistant Director of Music for the
National Baptist Convention. “However, the
Bible also gives credence to the fact that Christ was
not European, which is not important either. The color is not
important to Christ, for He is the Savior of the
World. We
do know the Book of Revelation describes His ‘feet like
polished brass’ and ‘hair like lamb’s wool,’ so one can
draw whatever conclusion from
this.”
Pastor
Terrance Gray of St. Paul A.M.E. Church of Macon,
Georgia did draw a conclusion from it. He explained,
“The Bible refers to His hair as ‘like lambs wool’ and
His feet ‘like polished brass.’ These references
indicate afrocentric characteristics. I won’t say He
was a Black man, but I know he was not blond with blue
eyes as Michelangelo depicted Him. The history and
geography of the time would indicate that he had enough
melanin to be dark-skinned. Since
Israel was in
bondage in Egypt for some
400 years He was also probably of African genealogy and
of the African bloodline. Taking the
American terminology of one drop of black blood to make
a person (racially) Black, we can see the great
possibility that he would be considered Black. He was also
interwoven with the Canaanite tradition.” Indeed, none of
these facts support the European artists’ presentation
of an Aryan appearance of the Son of
God.
The hair
like wool, eyes like flames and feet of brass
description does not add up to Christ as a Black man,
however, for Pastor (Dr.) William Sheals of
Hopewell
Missionary
Baptist
Church in
Norcross.
He said:
“In eastern countries, white hair commands
respect and indicated the wisdom of years. The eyes like a
blazing fire may portray either his penetrating scrutiny
or fierce judgment. The burnished
feet represent triumphant judgment (i.e. treading or
trampling down) of those who are unbelieving and
unfaithful to the truth of Christ. Matthew gives us
the genealogy of Jesus, which is through Hebrew
lineage.”
Pastor
Donald Jordan of Bethel
C.M.E.
Church of Macon,
GA. Concurred and added: By American
standards, if one had one drop of Black blood in the
body, one is considered Black. Many of Jesus’
ancestors were Black. King Solomon was
Black. His
actual nationality was Jewish. However, Jews
were darker then.
The Garden of Eden was in Africa, which
means Adam and Eve were African.”
“When you
read the Bible you get a different idea about this than
popular culture which depicts Jesus Christ with slanted
eyes for the Japanese or with a curly afro for African
Americans,” explained Pastor David Lee-Pitts of
Macon’s Covenant
lineage as given in the Book of Matthew. And, even though
there are some black Jews, most are considered White
people in America today. That’s not
important.
What is important is weather we have given our
lives to Jesus Christ. He is not a
racist.
Racism in the church is perpetuated by the myth
that whites are superior and blacks are inferior. It is the
responsibility of the church (the Body of Christ) to
stand against that myth and the racism that it
fosters. We
cannot let culture dictate how we relate to each
other.”
Somehow it
seems a shame during this wonderful season of the year
to be concerned about the same things we are the rest of
the year, but we must. There seems to
be enough clear Scriptural and secular history to
support the likelihood that Jesus Christ was not lily
white with baby blues and a long blond page-boy
hairdo.
Students of the Bible, anthropologists and
evolutionists generally agree that mankind had a single
origin.
They disagree on whether that origin was one man
or one cell, but they all pretty much agree that the
place of origin was probably an area historically
inhabited by people of color. Some even say
Black people.
Jesus Christ came into this world as a human
being and like His fellow Hebrews and most other Semitic
people, He was most likely tan in skin color, either
naturally or from walking about in the hot sun of the
region.
Besides, according to the Bible, it was not His
skin that He came to shed for the world. It was His
Blood, shed for ALL and
counting eternally for the salvation of
ALL who would
believe on Him.
A portion of The Apostle’s Creed sums up His life
with these words:…”Jesus Christ [God, the Father
Almighty’s] only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the
Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under
Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the
third ay He arose from the dead; He ascended into
heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father
Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick
and the dead.”
One of the questions the Bible records asked by
Jesus Christ Himself was “Believest thou this?” That is,
no doubt, the most important of all questions to
answer. We
cannot help you with that one. You are on your
own.
Was Jesus A Black Man?