What about displaying so-called pictures of Jesus?<\/p>\n\t
First, we have no idea what the physical appearance of Jesus was. I am reminded of the old story of the small child in Bible class who drew a crude picture of an airplane, with three people in the back and one in the front. Asked by the teacher what this was, the lad replied, “It is the flight to Egypt, and that is Joseph and Mary and Jesus in the back seat.” The teacher asked, “But who is this up front?” The boy replied, “That is Pontius, the pilot!” And that is just about as near as some folk get to seeing a true picture of Jesus.<\/p>\n
I believe the true picture of Jesus Christ can still be found in the world, but it is not in an art gallery nor on a canvas. The true image of our Lord can only be shown in the lives of His disciples. The apostle Paul wrote, “According to my earnest expectation and hope, that in nothing shall I be put to shame, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain<\/em>” (Philippians 1:20,21). That was the true picture of Christ, and it must still be presented in the same way today. Again Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, Who loved me: and gave Himself up for me<\/em>” (Galatians 2:20). If you want to see a true picture of Jesus Christ, look at the life of a true Christian. Hopefully, in the mirror.<\/p>\n When people looked at Paul, they saw Jesus Christ. He wrote of himself and other apostles, “Always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh<\/em>” (II Corinthians 4:10,11). Give to the world this kind of true picture of Jesus, and souls will be saved as people are brought to Him.<\/p>\n It is false piety and a frail faith that seeks to be enabled by some material representative of our Lord. Material things can never enhance nor display the beauty of that which is spiritual. The eye of the Christian must be on things apart from graven images and painted cloths: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal<\/em>” (II Corinthians 4:18). No artist can represent accurately the image of Jesus Christ on canvas, but any humble, sincere Christian can show Him to the world in a pure life.<\/p>\nClem Thurman Question: What about displaying so-called pictures of Jesus? Answer: First, we have no idea what the physical appearance of Jesus was. I am reminded of the old story of the small child in Bible class who drew a crude picture of an airplane, with three people in the back and one in the front. Asked…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[73,953],"class_list":["post-18210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-jesus","tag-religious-icons"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61057,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-four-gospels\/","url_meta":{"origin":18210,"position":0},"title":"Why Four Gospels?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 29, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Shane Carrington \"Take your child to work day.\" What a great idea! How many young people see Dad as a father, yard-mower, car-washer, and neighbor, but never see him in his role as employee? Truthfully, we all take on different jobs that say many things about who we are.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9581,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-would-a-boy-take-pictures-of-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":18210,"position":1},"title":"Why would a boy take pictures of me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why would a tenth-grade student in English as a Second Language class want a picture of me? He actually took two pictures of me. Do you think I should trick him into giving me the camera and erase the photo from his camera? Can you answer me back? I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2461,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-jesus-said-to-keep-the-commandments-shouldnt-we-keep-the-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":18210,"position":2},"title":"Since Jesus said to keep the commandments, shouldn’t we keep the Sabbath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Christ was asked in the Bible, \"Lord, what must I do to enter the kingdom of Heaven?\" Christ replied, \"keep the commandments\" and named a few of them. Since keeping the Sabbath was one of them, shouldn't we keep the Sabbath today? Answer: You are referring to the question\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23981,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-some-of-the-pictures-on-your-web-site-show-jesus-with-long-hair\/","url_meta":{"origin":18210,"position":3},"title":"Why do some of the pictures on your web site show Jesus with long hair?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: With no disrespect intended or meant, I wonder, after reading your excellent articles on \"hair,\" why you, in your\u00a0Bible story pictures section, post pictures of our Lord wearing long hair? After reading I Corinthians 11, I personally believe my Lord would do\u00a0nothing that would be shameful. It does seem\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50145,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-circumcision-necessary\/","url_meta":{"origin":18210,"position":4},"title":"Is circumcision necessary?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you consider male circumcision a necessary intervention in life - young or old? I only ask because some Christian denominations believe so. I was circumcised as an adult. I only ask for your guidance. I accept that Jesus was circumcised. It was my Sunday School teacher who broached\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53032,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-jesus-a-bad-teacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":18210,"position":5},"title":"Is Jesus a Bad Teacher?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeremy Crump Have you ever had a teacher that just wouldn't give you a straight answer? I remember a math teacher I had in high school who I'd ask for help and instead of solving the problem for me, she'd give me some hints and then send me back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18210\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nvia Gospel Minutes, Vol. 58, No. 9, Feb. 27, 2009.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"