There is a story in the New York Post, about how models are making good money, particularly during the Christmas season, earning up to $200 an hour posing as Christ for family photo Christmas cards.

The models must have long hair, beards and of course the Hollywood good looks, like how most paintings portray Jesus.

Height seems to be another important feature, as Bob Sagers, who is one of those successful models, stands 6’5″.

During the photo shoots, the models are often asked to wear a robe and hold a staff akin to how Christ is often portrayed in paintings, old and new.

So this leads to the question, what did Christ actually look like?

Surprisingly, the writers of the Gospels provided no details about Christ’s appearance, which in itself is a clue, writes Penny Noyes in her article for Christianity.com.

This is because, we are often told when Biblical figures had notable features, including King David, who is said to have had Hollywood good looks, big eyes and red hair (1 Samuel 16:12). King Saul was also good looking and stood a head and shoulders above the typical Jew of his day (1 Samuel 9:2) and Samson had long hair because of his Nazarite vow (Judges 16:22-31)..

By not providing a description of Christ, the Gospel writers implied that there was nothing unique or outstanding about Jesus. He was a typical average male for that day.

Based on that, Jesus was probably around 5’5″ tall or shorter and since people did a lot of walking, he would have been fit and trim. If Jesus was taller, it is doubtful that Zaccheus would have needed to climb a tree to see Christ (Luke 19:3-4).

The Lord would have had short black and probably curly hair. In fact, the Apostle Paul writes that it was a disgrace for men to have long hair in 1 Corinthians 11:14-15. Since Paul hung around with some of the disciples who actually traveled with Jesus, it’s doubtful that he would have said that if Christ had long hair.

In contrast, John the Baptist probably had long hair because like Samson, he took a Nazarite vow (Luke 1:15) as did the Apostle Paul on two occasions in Acts 18:18 and Acts 21:23-26. In the first mention, his hair was cut as part of the Nazarite sacrificial ceremony, that took place at the completion of the vow.

As an Orthodox Jew, Jesus may have had a ‘payot’ or long sidelocks which was popular at that time. Based on Leviticus 19:27, Jewish men allowed their sideburns to grown, so they appeared as curled strands on the sides of their face.

In terms of facial hard, the style at the time was scruffy. Typically, they had a few days growth but did not let it get much longer and there is no actual mention in the Gospels of the Roman guard pulling out Jesus’ beard at His crucifixion. It only says that Jesus was repeatedly slapped in the face (John 19:3).

Based on the description of the Messiah in Isaiah 53, we can conclude he was an average looking man.

Isaiah writes, “He has no stately form or majesty, That we would look at Him, Nor an appearance that we would take pleasure in Him” (Isaiah 53:2). In other words, people would not be attracted to him because of his Hollywood good looks.

The early church frowned on any depictions of Jesus because the prohibition against making graven images in Exodus 20:4-6.

As a result, the earliest drawing of Jesus doesn’t show up until 235 AD in Syria and portrays the Lord with short hair and beardless.

It isn’t until between 300 AD to 400 AD, that we start seeing Jesus portrayed with with long hair and a beard, as Jesus was portrayed in the drawing on the right from the catacombs of Commodilla in Rome.