The Fake Jesus Image and its Disastrous Influence
The fair skinned, long-haired image of jesus is so deeply entrenched in the minds of many that it is very hard to not be affected by it- even when you are certain that this image is a fake representation of Jesus and even when you deliberately seek to rid it from your mind.
In making and worshiping the Golden Calf, the Israelites chose to believe in a god they were comfortable with rather than the fearful, holy God who had recently revealed Himself to them at Mount Sinai. They wanted to regard God as being with them unconditionally, just like people today and throughout history have. Therefore, they misrepresented Him horribly so they could feel okay about taking the course they had set their own hearts on and satisfying their carnal passions. They still called the idol “the Lord” and offered sacrifices like the true God had prescribed. However, the difference between the true God and the character of their “God” of convenience showed itself when “the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” This sure wasn’t innocent play. The phrase “to play” here is rather a euphemism for revelry and sexual immorality. Idolatry and sexual immorality are closely connected. Receiving the fear of the true God will cause one to flee from sexual immorality. It is no wonder that Moses, a man who revered the true God’s honor, couldn’t stand to see His worship corrupted and His Holy character badly misrepresented.
Isaiah 53:1-3 speaks of the coming Messiah. “Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
The real Jesus incarnate was a holy Jew, not a New Ager. The real Jesus incarnate was not stylish. He did not exhibit a rock star personality like Mick Jagger. He was not a smooth talker who sought to draw people to himself by his flattering charisma (like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama who have seduced the population to elect them into office by such behavior). Yet you would never know this by the popular and common fake Jesus image. People who bear such an image typically play “Jesus” in popular films, plays, and tv shows (such as Jesus Christ Superstar, the Jesus Film, the Chosen series, and even the Passion of the Christ).
The fake jesus is cool according to some of the most morally bad definitions of that slang term which you are likely to come across. Here is one such definition. “Cool people simply live and let live, choosing to live by their own rules, and letting other people live by their own rules as well.” The fake jesus puts forth the spirit of accepting people as they are, as the very look and expression give the impression that he wouldn’t want to get in the way of you living as you please. Many today, even multitudes of church attendees, believe that Jesus would go into a bar and join the drunken party happening there. They are encouraged and emboldened in this belief by the fake Jesus image. The fake Jesus image itself strengthens the false accusation made against (the real) Jesus by His enemies in the Gospels, that He was allegedly a companion of sinners in their sin. People still believe this- even many who claim to be His disciples.
Yet it is the fake jesus who would be comfortable being a guest at the home of someone like Aleister Crowley as he indulged in debauchery and occultism. The fake jesus actually reflects the spirit of the antichrist too well to think it a coincidence. I’ve even known of some brazen haters of the God of the Bible who take a lot of pleasure in dressing up as the fake jesus as they brazenly corrupt themselves and others in sin. The compatibility here is not hard to see.
The concept that Jesus incarnate was a friend (in terms of being a companion) of sinners in their debauchery was actually a false accusation made by His enemies. You’re not going to actually find this concept in the Bible as anything besides that.
Matthew 11:16-19: “But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, And saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John (the Baptist) came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children (Jesus’ actual disciples did not remain gluttons, drunkards, swindlers, or persistent sinners in any form).
The fake jesus image has developed over time with much influence from how ancient Pagans portrayed their gods. And as Romans chapter one speaks about, idolaters make corrupt versions of “God” because they refuse to properly glorify and show gratitude to the true, incorruptible God. People thus make gods suitable to the desires of their own hearts which conveniently don’t have a problem with the personal autonomy and morally corrupt pursuits which they have chosen for themselves. The source then of the fake jesus image is evident, and this image is especially wicked since the real Jesus incarnate actually lived and walked on earth as a perfect representation of the true God.
Hebrews 1:1-3a: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power…”
It’s also not hard to see from passages like this that the promotion of the fake jesus image and the denial of the Trinity go hand in hand, though those who do one don’t always intend to do the other.
Since the most popular fake jesus image, and other fake jesus images abound so much in the world, and since these are so influenced by Pagan, degraded concepts of God, there are few people then whose minds haven’t been affected by Pagan concepts of “God” by the means of fake jesus images. In the case of those who are at least vaguely familiar with the Bible, it is likely that men like Noah, Moses, Daniel, other holy men of the Old Testament, and Jesus’ own Apostles conform more to the real Jesus in their minds than Jesus Himself does in their minds (through the corrupt influence of the fake jesus image). Yet the faithful people of the Bible worshiped and followed the real Jesus.
Christians are told in Hebrews 3:1-6: “Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”
Hebrews 11:24-26: “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.”
Hebrews 13:7-8: “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God (and this is especially so regarding the men God inspired to write His Scriptures and the exemplary individuals in His eyes whom they wrote about): whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Moses breaking the tables of stone as he came down from the mountain and witnessed the idolatry and debauchery related to the Golden Calf must have been a fearful sight. Yet seeing the One whom Moses served displaying zeal for His Father’s house must have been a vastly more fearful sight.
John 2:13-17: “And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”
The real Jesus, the Son of David, was also the Lord of King David. Do you think that He, as an unfallen man with a fully sound mind that exercised the best possible judgment at all times, would have been a worse military commander than King David, or Napoleon or the Duke of Wellington, if He had found Himself in circumstances where He had the chance to lead in an army in battle for a righteous cause? Of course not. And we’ve seen how Jesus was surely no Pacifist like many consider Him to be (and no doubt this is very much through the influence of the fake jesus image).
The real Jesus could possibly have even been delivered from the cross- without even resorting to supernatural help. He surely had the wisdom of mind and strength of spirit to turn that crowd against the Jewish authorities and cause a circumstance where Pilate would have been afraid of a tumult if they were not rather the ones arrested and crucified. Yet doing this was not His Father’s will, so He actually exercised His great wisdom and strength of spirit here by not saving Himself from the shame and agony of the cross. When He returns though His enemies are going to get a lot worse than a crucifixion, especially those Jewish leaders and all those who deliberately fought against Him and the spreading of His Gospel.
Even Jesus as a man, and even with supernatural intervention from heaven taken out of the equation, was hard to kill and hard to stand before- except that His normal mode of operation was to not intimidate people nor make a scene unless that happened to be the outcome of doing righteousness according to God’s Law in His particular circumstances.
Consider the following:
Matthew 7:28-29: “And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
Luke 4:28-31: “And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, And came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.”
John 7:44-46: “And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spoke like this man.”
Yet Jesus normally exercised His strength of spirit in other ways which did not attract people’s admiration or attention. People who persistently scream while they preach and/or are constantly involved in unnecessary confrontation, claiming that they are imitating Jesus, are frauds (or at least extremely undiscerning and immature). Jesus also understood much better than anyone else that violence, great assertiveness, and/or doing things which might cause a scene can easily be sinful actions which stem from the flesh. James and John hadn’t fully learned this lesson when they considered calling down fire on the villages of Samaria which wouldn’t allow Jesus to preach in them in Luke chapter nine. It wasn’t appropriate in this circumstance like it was for Elijah to do in his circumstances.
But don’t think that Jesus was a Pacifist or that his mind towards sin was, or is, ever in any way separated from the precedents God showed in Scripture when He judged sinners with extreme severity. The fake jesus gives the impression that he wouldn’t deliver the Jews from the Romans because he couldn’t do so; or because he doesn’t like violence. The real Jesus could have done so, and has no problem being violent consistent with God’s Law– yet He did not come to appease the pride of the Jews nor to make them happy. He came for another reason. And besides that, the Jews were so wicked themselves in His time that siding with them against the Romans would not have been any more appropriate than it would have been for God to fight for the Jews against the Philistines in Eli’s time or to deliver the Jews from the Babylonians when the Babylonians took the Jews into captivity.
(And by the way, where does this put the Zionists who support the Christ-rejecting nation of Israel’s claim to the land they occupy now? Israel’s god now is Satan. Just look at the Israeli flag and God’s own verdict concerning Jerusalem in its rejection of Christ, given in Revelation 11:8, where Jerusalem is called Sodom and Egypt spiritually. Zionists then are truly supporting a satanic enterprise and need to repent).
In addition to the popular jesus image which so greatly affects modern western culture, many cultures around the world have sought to make Jesus like themselves. Yet I suppose at least one culture doesn’t typically do this, ironically, the only one that can rightfully claim that Jesus would have looked like one of their own- Jewish culture. Many of course promote a black jesus. Yet this is very likely not accurate either. And even if it were accurate, the real Jesus doesn’t show partiality to people based on skin color. You’re only in His grace if you in truth heed the instructions of His Word and regard no sin in your heart. He’s not going to give you a free pass if your skin color matches His skin color when He was on earth. Nor will He turn you away and refuse His favor to you if you fear Him from your heart and work righteousness before Him in truth.
There is nothing in the Bible describing the specifics of Jesus’ appearance as a man on earth., except that the soldiers needed Judas to point Him out at night among the crowd that He was among which consisted of His disciples. You can easily find good, accurate articles from secular scholars dealing with how the real Jesus likely appeared in the flesh. When you think of Him on earth, attach His character to a plain first century Jewish man. He would have looked like a first century Jewish Galilean. More than anything, don’t accept a concept of Him, whether as a man on earth or on God’s right hand now, that is not clearly derived from the Bible. And be sure to let His character when He was on earth as a man be defined from the totality of the Gospels interpreted in light of the rest of the Bible.
Distrust all portraits and images of Jesus (Exodus 20:4-6). It is evil for man to fashion an image of God.
The Shroud of Turin is unreliable. It seems it was not even known before the 1350s in Europe (when things like relics were very popular and forgeries were abounding). It is silly then to think that bears the real Jesus’ likeness in His incarnation.
It’s so hard to rid the mind from the common fake jesus image. Yet we must do this.
The true God has revealed Himself to us perfectly in His Son Jesus Christ. John 1:18: “No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.” Man-made versions of “Jesus” are no different than the Golden Calf. Though they might be portrayed as speaking some of the same words that the real spoke and doing some of the things recorded of Him in the Bible, they cannot possibly represent Him rightly. John 1:14 says: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
No artist or actor can ever replicate that glory- not even close! So, scrap the fake jesus image from your mind completely. It is a shallow, cheap, pathetic counterfeit of the real Jesus.
It is damnable to cling to any false conception of Jesus. A false jesus doesn’t have to be an artistic representation or a person claiming to be Jesus. It could be any concept of Him that is contrary to how He is revealed throughout the entirety of the Bible.
Any concept one has of God which prevents them from being under the true Jesus’ righteous authority and reign is an idolatrous substitute for the true God that robs of eternal life. We are thus warned to keep ourselves from idols.
1 John 5:20-21: “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”
When the real Jesus is seen again, He will not come back as He was in His incarnation, made in the likeness of mortal men.
2 Corinthians 5:16b: “Though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.”
He will rather come back in His glorious, resurrected body to judge, rule, and reign. Don’t think that He will go soft on unrepentant sinners and don’t think He will show partiality based on skin color. His judgment will be without respect of persons- and it will be thorough. Get in line with His righteous authority, find His grace now in truth, and continue therein. We see by the Apostle John’s reaction to the risen Jesus in Revelation chapter one that meeting Him will be terrifying in a sense to even the righteous. How infinitely more so regarding those whom He then deems wicked?!
What was said of Job in his heyday as a judge will be epitomized in Jesus Christ when He returns before all of mankind.
Job 29:7-10: “When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth.”
Aaron’s email is: [email protected]