Thanks to a tweet from PhilCooke, I came across this awful classified ad apparently from the folks who manage the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Fla. As we read in the ad, found on Craigslist.org, the folks at the Holy Land are “DESPERATELY seeking 3 actors to play Jesus NOW.” The ad then goes on to list the requirement for physically portraying our LORD and SAVIOR: “It would be good to have the general look of Jesus – beard – grow one or wear one, long hair or get extensions, taller – to create the look once hired.”

This Holy Land Experience ad brings up an issue that has always bothered me — how does anyone know what Jesus the Christ looks like? Has someone gone to Heaven and taken HIS photo or done a sketch? I’m really curious. Is there a description of HIS so-called beard, long hair and height in the Holy Bible that I cannot see? Who came up with this idea that Jesus Christ was some tall, strapping fellow with fair skin, beautiful long hair and a beard? The book of Isaiah actually makes the LORD sound like a pretty plain-looking man (source).

I assume the Jewish men of those times may have worn beards (as some sects of Judaism call for today) — but other than that, how can anyone dare apply such physical traits to Messiah Jesus as this Holy Land ad does when HIS biographers gave no physical description (as found in the Gospels)?

Here we have a popular icon that has become an idol in the mainstream. People actually fight and destroy relationships over what Jesus “looks” like — the stereotypical blond-hair, blue-eyed white male. I have a pretty good idea where this imagery comes from… why are folks still clinging to it?

Would the Holy Land Experience hire a black, Asian or a Middle Eastern man to portray Jesus Christ to the masses? I don’t necessarily agree with the Holy Land (and I have never visited), but was no one conflicted when they sat down and decided what Jesus the Christ should look like?

Here’s a previous related article on what Jesus actually looks like – ‘Do You Look Like Jesus?’