Christena Cleveland spent much of her childhood in an evangelical church surrounded by traditional images of a porcelain-skinned and flaxen-haired Jesus. But one day she came across a portrayal of Christ that was so astonishing that she gasped.
It was a of a resurrected Jesus surrounded by his awe-struck disciples, including 鈥淒oubting Thomas鈥 touching the wound in Christ鈥檚 torso. The painting looked like an ancient relic discovered in some long-forgotten desert monastery in the Holy Land, a Byzantine-styled fresco filled with sharply contoured figures, bursting with colours of deep blue and blood orange.
But it was another colour in the picture that caught her eye. Jesus was depicted as a man of colour 鈥 somewhere between brown and Black 鈥 and so were his disciples. who would go on to become a theologian and social psychologist, realized she had always pictured a Nordic-looking Jesus who looked like Thor. Now she realized that he looked more like her, a Black woman.
For Cleveland, changing the colour of Jesus changed how she viewed the meaning of Easter.
鈥淲hen I see the Easter story, I see Jesus being a victim of state-sanctioned violence. I see Jesus surrounded by Black and brown people who wish they could do something, but had no power in the moment,鈥 says Cleveland, author of
鈥淎nd I see people being victims of a system that can鈥檛 see their full humanity and assumes the worst of them. And yet there鈥檚 hope in the end,鈥 she says. 鈥淭he universe does bend toward justice, even though the arc is long.鈥
As Christians worldwide celebrate the resurrection of Jesus today, Cleveland鈥檚 story points toward an uncomfortable truth: The true face of the historical Jesus looks nothing like the one many still see in their church鈥檚 stained-glass windows, in Hollywood movies, or in the image many carry in their minds.
Many scholars and archeologists now agree that Jesus was a brown-skinned, brown-eyed man 鈥 more akin to a 鈥 or an Arab man. A commentator once that if Jesus was taking a flight today 鈥渉e might be profiled for additional security screening鈥 by the TSA.
Some may counter with a big: So what? The debate over the colour of Jesus is one of the oldest running arguments in religion. As a man who was raised in a Black church with a giant portrait of a white Jesus hung behind the pulpit, I recall many heated arguments in barbershops and cookouts where armchair theologians insisted that Jesus was Black by citing scriptures like Revelation 1:14-14 (鈥淭he Bible said he had hair that was 鈥榳hite as wool鈥 and feet like 鈥渂urnished bronze鈥 so don鈥檛 tell me Jesus didn鈥檛 have an Afro!鈥).
Who can forget when the former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in 2013 that Jesus, like Santa Claus, 鈥渨as a white man, too,鈥 and 鈥渢hat鈥檚 a verifiable fact,鈥 a remark she later said was meant in jest.
But the question over the colour of Jesus鈥 skin is a serious one this Easter, for two reasons.
First, while the classic Nordic Jesus remains a popular image today in some churches, a movement to replace the white Jesus has long taken root in America. In many Christian circles 鈥 mainline churches, shaped by 鈥渓iberation theology,鈥 and among 鈥 conspicuous displays of the white Jesus are considered outdated, and to some, In a rapidly diversifying multicultural America, more Christians want to see a Jesus that .
But in some parts of the country, the white Jesus never left. The spread of white Christian nationalism has flooded social media feeds with of the traditional white Jesus, sometimes adorned with a red MAGA hat. Former President Trump is selling a 鈥淕od Bless the USA Bible鈥 with passages from the Constitution and Bill of Rights 鈥 a linking of patriotism with Christianity that reinforces a white image of Jesus that is central to Christian nationalism.
Second, there鈥檚 a new debate about the identity of the historical Jesus. Some critics of the Israel-Hamas war are that Jesus was a 鈥淧alestinian Jew,鈥 an assertion that at least one says is false and reprises an ugly historical pattern of 鈥渦sing Jesus against Jews once again.鈥
Not everyone wants a part of this debate. Some Christians roll their eyes whenever they encounter a question about Jesus鈥 appearance. They say the Easter story has nothing to do with colour and Jesus鈥 message. They cite scripture like : (鈥淭here is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.鈥)
There are also those who are religiously neutral and wonder why people have to bring race into everything. As one exasperated commentator :
鈥淚 am so sick and tired of people making a issue out of what colour Jesus was or what colour were the twelve tribes of Israel or if God is black or white. For me, I personally I DON鈥橳 CARE what colour any of them were or are. There is no verses in the bible that I know of that make an 鈥榠ssue鈥 out of skin colour of people in the bible.鈥
What鈥檚 missing in many of these debates over Jesus鈥 skin colour is a more nuanced perspective from thoughtful people on both sides. Here鈥檚 what they say.
Why some say Jesus鈥 colour doesn鈥檛 matter
may be what the New York Times 鈥渢he best-known artist of the 20th century,鈥 but he鈥檚 not considered one of the masters of his craft. His status rests on one remarkable , the 鈥淗ead of Christ.鈥 It鈥檚 been reproduced an estimated 500 million times in portraits that have adorned living rooms, Sunday schools, stamps and prayer cards.
Sallman said the painting was divinely inspired. He was a commercial illustrator who was struggling to sketch a portrait of Jesus for an evangelical magazine one late winter night in 1924. Dejected, he went to bed with no sketch, but said he was awakened at 2 in the morning.
鈥淪uddenly there appeared to my mind鈥檚 eye a picture of the Christ just as if it were on my drawing board,鈥 he said.
Sallman鈥檚 charcoal sketch, which he later adapted into an oil painting of a light-haired, blue-eyed Jesus with Nordic features (Sallman was the son of Scandinavian immigrants) is a prime example of what critics call the white Jesus. It was released in mid-20th century America during an era of fervent patriotism, record church attendance and hysteria over the perceived threat posed by the Communist Party. Thousands of wallet-sized copies were distributed to American soldiers during World War II.
鈥淚t was so iconic that to combat 鈥榗ard-carrying members of the Communist Party,鈥 one American minister wanted every Christian to carry a small print of Sallman鈥檚 Christ in their wallets,鈥 wrote co-author of 鈥淭he Color of Christ.鈥
That version of America has since changed. But there are some who say Jesus鈥 colour should stay the same, or that it doesn鈥檛 matter at all.
is a minister and author who has worked in Republican Party politics. She says the Easter message is bigger than any individual colour. All people are sinners and Jesus died for them all, regardless of their skin hue, she says.
鈥淗eaven isn鈥檛 exclusive for the rich or the fair-skinned,鈥 Barr tells CNN. 鈥淕od鈥檚 arms are outstretched to all.鈥
Barr says that some people who say they want a Black or brown Jesus may want his melanin but don鈥檛 really want his message.
In a for Black Tea News, the online site where she is the CEO, she imagined if Jesus returned to contemporary America as a Black man. There would be initial excitement among some people until Jesus started preaching about giving up sexual immorality and greed, she said.
鈥淏y the time he offends abortion providers by saying God hates hands that shed innocent blood and rebukes Americans for our covetousness, he鈥檇 be called a bigoted coon and thoroughly canceled,鈥 she wrote.
Others take a more philosophical approach to the colour of Jesus.
鈥淲hether Jesus is depicted in contemporary artwork and icons as white, black, brown, Hispanic or Middle Eastern, it shouldn鈥檛 matter, because Jesus鈥 physicality was merely a vessel which was used to carry something a lot more important 鈥 the spirit of his father; God,鈥 wrote in a entitled, 鈥淲hy Jesus鈥 Skin Color Doesn鈥檛 Matter.鈥
When reached by CNN, Pinol says he is sympathetic to those who say that a darker Jesus is more relatable. He concedes that there are barriers to worshipping a white Jesus that he, a white man, may not understand.
Still, when people become too focused on Jesus鈥 physical characteristics, they make it more difficult to develop a deeper relationship with God, he says. To him, the colour of Jesus doesn鈥檛 make a difference.
鈥淚t does not fundamentally change what he stands for and the sort of message that鈥檚 central to Christianity and what Jesus stood for in his life and actions,鈥 Pino says. 鈥淗e could be any colour and that would not change his message.鈥
Why others say it does matter
Some, however, argue that the colour of Jesus does matter 鈥 for a variety of reasons.
Members of various Christian ethnic groups have worshipping a white Jesus. Jesus has been portrayed as , a , as an with a full-faced tattoo, and even as a . It is no longer uncommon to encounter a or brown Jesus on stained-glass windows in churches.
Some Black activists a movement to discard the white Jesus. Black theologians like the have depicted Jesus as a man of colour and a revolutionary. And during the George Floyd racial reckoning in 2020, some statues depicting a white Jesus to be torn down along with Confederate monuments.
Some Black theologians who say Jesus was Black aren鈥檛 being literal: They鈥檙e making a larger statement against how Jesus has been traditionally portrayed 鈥 as a white man at the top of the social hierarchy. The Rev. reflected this thinking in an , 鈥淗ow I Learned that Jesus is Black.鈥
鈥淚 saw why they insisted on saying Jesus is Black,鈥 Stewart, author of 鈥 referring to Black theologians like and author .
鈥淭hey were not talking about his skin colour during his earthly ministry, though it definitely wasn鈥檛 white,鈥 Stewart says. 鈥淭hey were talking about his experience, about how Jesus knows what it means to live in an occupied territory, knows what it means to be from an oppressed people.鈥
Some also say that Jesus鈥 colour matters because of history.
says the image of a white Jesus has been used to justify slavery, lynching, laws against interracial marriage and hostility toward immigrants deemed not white enough. When Congress passed a law in to restrict immigration from Asia, Southern and Eastern Europe, white politicians evoked the white Jesus, he says.
鈥淥ne of the arguments was, 鈥榃ell, Jesus was white,鈥 鈥樷 Blum says. 鈥淪o the theme was, we want America to be profoundly Christian or at least Jesus based, so we should only allow white people in this country.鈥
The MAGA movement uses the image of a white Jesus to weaponize political battles, he says, pointing to signs at the January 6 insurrection displaying a white Jesus, sometimes wearing a red MAGA hat. To Blum, some Christian conservatives see a white MAGA Jesus as 鈥渁n anti-woke symbol.鈥
Another reason that Jesus鈥 skin colour matters is because a person can鈥檛 really understand him or his message without taking into account his skin colour and socioeconomic status, says Cleveland, the author and scholar.
Cleveland echoes the sentiments of some scholars who say that Jesus was a poor, oppressed minority 鈥 a man who one Black theologian as a 鈥渘on-white leader of a non-white people struggling for national liberation鈥 from Rome.
In a for Christianity Today, Cleveland wrote:
鈥淎s an ethnic minority, Jesus didn鈥檛 simply care about people who were victims of Rome-sanctioned violence, he was a victim of Rome-sanctioned violence. Jesus didn鈥檛 simply care about refugees, Jesus was a refugee. Jesus didn鈥檛 simply care about the poor, he was poor.鈥
Cleveland tells CNN that people who say Jesus鈥 colour wasn鈥檛 important ignore history.
鈥淚t limits our ability to understand the historical Jesus, who wasn鈥檛 a white man and didn鈥檛 walk through the world as such. He was under Roman occupation 鈥 not unlike someone living in Gaza right now. We miss a lot of the historical Jesus鈥 story and teachings because they were coming from that perspective.鈥
The Bible holds its own mysteries about Jesus鈥 appearance
Cleveland discovered, though, how risky it can be to challenge the image of the white Jesus. She says that after she wrote her column, she received so many death threats she had to move the location of the college classes she taught for safety.
She says the experience taught her how much white Christian nationalism and the white Jesus have merged.
鈥淲hy would it really matter to you that Jesus wasn鈥檛 white 鈥 unless you need Jesus to be white?鈥 she says.
The debate over Jesus鈥 colour may seem an intrusion on the Easter story, but in some ways it鈥檚 an extension of it. One of the curious elements of the New Testament is that even Jesus鈥 disciples can鈥檛 figure out what he looks like in the Easter stories.
One disciple mistakes him for a gardener, two others walk beside him on a road without recognizing him, and others don鈥檛 recognize him at first when they encounter him on a beach.
It鈥檚 difficult to imagine what Jesus鈥 disciples actually saw on Easter morning. The writer Frederick Buechner once tried, memorably describing them as encountering 鈥渟ome new and terrible version鈥 of Jesus, 鈥渄isfigured by the mutilations of the Cross鈥 while standing up and moving toward them with 鈥渦nspeakable power.鈥
Whatever they saw, and what his followers still see, is ultimately a matter of faith. No matter what you believe, Jesus is arguably still the most recognized name and the most elusive figure in human history.
We may try to refashion him in our own image and within our agendas, but he remains 鈥 as he did on that Easter morning for his disciples 鈥 resistant to any human category we can invent, always beyond our grasp.
John Blake is a Senior Writer at CNN and the author of 鈥.鈥
