Is it Right to Have Jesus Statues

Let’s start with a Bible passage related to the topic.

Acts 17:24-29: “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.”

The Bible teaches that It is wrong for man to fashion an image of God. It was evil for Israel to make the golden calf and call it the Lord. That wouldn’t change even if the Israelites had never physically bowed before the golden calf. To attempt to represent God with a graven image in itself qualifies as idolatry.

Since it is evil for man to fashion an image of God, then how could it be okay to represent Jesus with a statue or with any work of human hands? It could not be okay. Jesus is still God even though He became human. To try then to represent Him by the work of human hands militates against the proper fear and honor which He should be regarded with.

The fair skinned, long-haired hippie image which is commonly called “Jesus” is a lie. Truth demands that this image be disregarded and purged from affecting our concept of who Jesus is. He must have looked like a first century Jewish Galilean. Even with that taken into account, there is still no warrant to represent Him with the work of human hands. Not only is it wrong to portray Jesus with long hair since that is inaccurate, it is idolatry to attempt to represent Jesus at all by a statue since He is God incarnate.

Though Jesus statues are wrong, the recent story of a photo taken on April 19, 2026 of an IDF soldier using a sledgehammer to destroy a Jesus statue in Lebanon still demonstrates Israel’s real attitude towards Jesus Christ (the IDF confirmed this as a real photo on April 20, 2026). That IDF soldier wasn’t smashing the statue to purify Christian worship.

It’s no mystery that an Israeli would want to smash Jesus. The Jewish people overall already rejected Him and crucified Him. That is the very reason they were displaced from the land which the Lord had given them on the condition that they obey His voice. Modern Israel doesn’t want to be reminded of Him- even if that reminder comes through a statue which misrepresents Him and which should never have been made at all.

The Israeli government’s supposed outrage over this statue being smashed is hypocritical. It is only expressing outrage over this because the soldier got caught. And what if a US soldier was caught vandalizing the Wailing Wall or destroying a Talmud? Imagine the outrage the media would express over this. That hints at who is really controlling things.

As malicious and hateful as that IDF soldier was acting based on the knowledge he had, the real Jesus is risen and immortal. It is impossible for anyone to ever harm Him again. Enemies to His righteous authority rather harm themselves.

Ironically, it should be Christians who are smashing statues that are supposed to represent Jesus- with the intent of properly honoring Him. That is not a call to vandalize. Don’t destroy any property that is not yours. And flee from any church with Jesus statues.