Was Jesus the most handsome dude of time?
Artists of ages past are criticized today by identity purists for portraying Jesus as having traits considered handsome in European culture. He was poor, he lived in the wilderness, he was fully man in an age of no antibiotics.
After his crucifixion he was scarred and disfigured from torture. Even after his resurrection, since his own followers didn’t recognize him at first, there is a good chance in his glorified resurrected body he still carried the scars of his torture.
And yet, Psalm 45 is about the Lord, and can be read as a prophesy about Jesus. The psalm says it is addressed to David’s king when David was the earthly king. Moreover, “blessed by God forever” is reminiscent of the priest in the line of Melchizedek. “You are the most handsome of the sons of men” says verse 2.
Blessed forever, and most handsome — even after crucifiction and with scars. Could it be that we do not understand what true beauty really looks like?
The color in the sunset is caused by impurities being hit by the sunlight. Is beauty like that? Is all the pain of the world the “dust” that becomes beautiful when healed to a miniature prism able to cast the colors of God’s glory? Will we in eternity someday be able to look at the aggregated pain in this world and see only sunset?
It is Memorial Day week-end. Each soldier fallen, like Jesus, gave a life for something larger. Each represents pain given toward a higher purpose. If we have eternal life in Christ we will see the glory of the eternal sunset at the end of days, and there will be pains and sorrows no more. In the meantime we honor their sacrifice.
Originally published on Medium in We are all Overcomers.
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Photograph courtesy of Unsplash by Wes Powers
