Israel Centeno

Some people have tried to bring the issue of race into the figure of our Lord Jesus Christ, debating His physical appearance, His race, and even arguing that He did not resemble the image traditionally depicted in Renaissance art but was rather a small man from the Middle East. This debate, ultimately trivial, is an unnecessary politicization of Christ’s image.

Jesus has manifested Himself to saints, artists, and cultures in diverse ways—not only as He appeared historically two thousand years ago but according to each people’s spiritual understanding. Christian iconography reflects this reality: the first Christians in the East and in Africa represented Jesus differently than medieval or Renaissance Europe did. It is enough to remember that the first churches emerged in regions where the population was not predominantly white—in Northeast Africa, Persia, the Caucasus, and the Hellenistic world. The notion of a “white” Jesus appeared much later, in the High Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when artists portrayed Him according to their cultural context.

But there is something deeper: Jesus is fully God and fully man, and as Saint Paul says, we all aspire to be like Him. “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is not surprising, then, that each believer envisions Him with features resembling their own humanity because, in Him, we seek our redeemed image.

Therefore, this debate about His race is a meaningless distraction. Jesus does not belong to any one ethnicity; He is the Savior of all. What matters is not how He looked during His time on earth but that He is the face of the living God for all humanity.

This translation maintains the clarity and impact of your original text. Let me know if you’d like any refinements!