I’m going to do something in this post that most people are pretty good at – comparing. Even as Christians we tend to do this, and typically, it is not to our benefit. When we compare ourselves to someone else, we often end up breaking the 10th commandment, which deals with coveting (Exodus 20:17). Let me encourage you to guard your heart from this tendency which only works to hinder your walk with the Lord. However, I think we can benefit from comparing the appearances of two well-know biblical characters – Moses and Jesus.

You will remember that when Moses was born, there was something immediately recognizable about him. As it is rendered in Exodus 2:2, “He was a fine child.” Jumping ahead to the New Testament, Stephen adds, “At this time Moses was born and was beautiful in God’s sight” (Acts 7:20). This tells us that not only was Moses a stand out in appearance, but also that God looked with favor upon him. The author of Hebrews summarizes this in saying, “By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful” (Hebrews 11:24). Not only did his family recognize this, but so too the Pharaoh’s daughter who took him and raised him as her own. We could go on to take an in depth look at all of the aspects of his greatness, but that is not my intention in this post. I would simply posit that Moses was a beautiful baby and we have no reason to think that his physical attractiveness diminished when he was fully grown. Even as he was about to die, he still had great strength (see Deuteronomy 34:7).

Lets shift gears – what do we know about what Jesus looked like? Answer: not a whole lot. The gospel writers are concerned to describe his humanity (think: fully God, fully man), but they are not nearly as concerned to describe specific details of what he looked like. Perhaps our best clue comes from the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53.  We read in verse 2, “he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” The reader can immediately spot a contrast between Jesus and Moses. One was beautiful, and One was not. Safe to say – people didn’t follow Jesus because of his looks. And while it would be unwise to say he was “ugly”, it would be more accurate to say he was a typical, ordinary man.

Perhaps a fitting way to conclude is by looking at 1 Samuel 16:6-7. “When they (David’s brothers) came, he looked on Eliab and thought, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” Thank God today for the body he has given you, and resist the temptation to compare.

Special thanks to my friend John Sensenig for these insights.