“The Color of Jesus’ Eyes”

Now, I didn’t expect to have to think about this question. To be honest, I’ve never thought about it. Nonetheless, when I answered the phone this afternoon, that’s the question I got. It was my 24 year-old daughter on the line. She works at a daycare center and one of her fellow staff members was having an argument with her husband about it. Thus, the question: “Dad, I have a religious question for you, ‘What color were Jesus’ eyes?’”

It’s not as far-fetched a question as one might think, I’ve learned. I “Googled” the color of Jesus’ eyes and found at least a webpage full of links on which to click. The articles were mostly about the color of Jesus, not about his eyes so much.

The color of Jesus is a big item, really. It was pointed out by one article that two things could be said with certainty on the subject: that if most of the portraits of Jesus were to be taken as authoritative, then he would be long-haired, blue-eyed and Caucasian; and that as a Jewish man born and bred in Roman occupied Judea, he was most certainly not Caucasian. For that matter he probably didn’t have long hair and most definitely did not have blue eyes.

What matters here is our perceptions and how our perceptions control our beliefs, how our beliefs control our behavior, how our behavior controls our personal ethics and our public policies.

If we only believe in a white, blue-eyed, long-haired Jesus, then how much of a barrier does this put in the way of race relations, of justice?

How can Christianity, a religion decidedly controlled by western, European philosophy, politics and culture ever truly win the hearts of the majority of the population of the world that is neither western nor European in philosophy, politics, culture, race or ethnicity?

We were having a silly conversation about Myers-Briggs personality types the other day at the weekly luncheon of Utica-Rome area clergy and spouses. We were sharing one another’s personality type. When I said that I am an ENFP (extrovert, intuitive, feeling, perceptive), someone mockingly retorted, “What a perfectly normal personality type for a pastor!” To which I replied, “Not only that, but I think it has to have been Jesus’ personality type as well. Because I want Jesus to be just like I am.”

Well, this is the point! We want Jesus to be like us. While this desire most often can become the source of our prejudice, it is also a requisite understanding in our efforts to become more open to our differences. If each person wants Jesus to be just like he is, then isn’t the good news of the grace of God in Jesus Christ best served when we welcome and embrace depictions of Jesus that make her feel that he is just like she?

Maybe it’s as St. Paul described his own approach to ministry, when he said that he tried to be all things to all people. It’s not that we should try to water Jesus down, or make him over into our image. Rather, it’s to allow ourselves to behold Jesus as he is and in the beholding see ourselves as we are: grace-filled persons needing grace; forgiven yet needing to forgive; merciful yet needing mercy; as fulfilled yet empty without God’s fullness.

Jesus as window to God…as icon of life…as mirror to our souls…as color free…as color full, as…

Blessings,

Rick