Ever wonder what Jesus' personality was like?

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I often think about this.

If you lived back in the time of Christ, what must He have been like? Personality wise.

I wonder things like, was He funny? did He ever have a crush on a girl? Did He like to play games with the kids nearby as a boy? Did He have a best friend as a kid that He would confide in? Was He outgoing or reserved? Was He handsome? Did He dance at the wedding at Cana? Did He ever feel tempted sexually?

Does anyone else ever have these thoughts?

If I had to guess what Jesus was like I would say that perhaps He was sensitive, passionate, romantic, athletic, authoritative, and loyal. Maybe a little mysterious. I imagine that at the wedding at Cana He danced with Mary, laughed a lot, and played with the little kids. When I watch movies about Christ, I can think of only one who really nailed the part and that was Jim Caviziel in the Passion of the Christ. Wow. Did that movie impact me.

Anyway, does anyone else think about these things? What do you think He was like? If you had to guess?
 
Well, we have his DNA on file from two different Eucharistic miracles on two different continents (they’re identical DNA of course). Do a genome exam on him 😛
 
Yes, I have wondered this many times. I also wonder what the Blessed Virgin was like and how the Holy Family’s daily life was like.

I’m sure He was pretty much like every other human, except He didn’t sin and was quite virtuous & wise. He probably didn’t have any crushes since He knew He wouldn’t marry, but I’m sure He was tempted in many areas, including sexuality.
 
Regarding temptation, our Lord was tempted in every way but without sin (Heb. 4:15). Since his soul was perfectly ordered, all the temptations were from without; i.e., nothing within him inclined him at all to sin (cf. S.T. III, 15).
 
He has been called the Man of Sorrows; presumably because He knew what lay ahead of Him.

But more than that, He sorrowed for everybody else. Remember the Jerusalem ladies along the Via Crucis? He was bound, bleeding, and being dragged to His death, yet He could grieve for what these women and their children/grandchildren were going to face in the war of AD70.

But because He had sorrowed so much, I imagine He was more appreciative than anybody of the goodness of human life. And He had the sort of personality that drew others to Him.

ICXC NIKA.
 
Jesus was not tempted sexually, in the sense that He had crushes or desired sexual intimacy with women. Why? Because sex is ordered for marriage, and marriage was contrary to His Purpose while on earth. His Soul was perfectly ordered so that means He was not tempted in the sense that you or I would be tempted. He didn’t have that conflict/battle between His Flesh and His Spirit. In other words, although the devil tempted Him, He had not the least desire to do what satan was trying to get Him to do. Whereas we might ponder over the temptation, wrestle with it and perhaps in our weakness give in to it, Jesus had complete mastery over Himself. I hope that makes sense…
 
Does it matter?

I think that today we put too much emphasis on personality in general, almost to the point of defining a person by their personality.

The Gospels make no reference to Christ’s appearance or personality. It is irrelevant. All that matters is what Christ said. We also know from Isaiah that the Suffering Servant would be someone who was unremarkable in their appearance (presumably also their personality).

Personality is not a moral virtue, but part of our human makeup, therefore to expect Christ to have had a wonderul human petsonality would be to diminish the humilty into which he was born. Isaiah indicates that as a human Christ would appear unremarkable.
 
graciew said:
Isaiah 53:2
2 Like a sapling he grew up before him, like a root in arid ground. He had no form or charm to attract us, no beauty to win our hearts;

catholic.org/bible/book.php?id=29&bible_chapter=53
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And I would think that this unremarkable appearance and personality was important in order that people are attracted to the message of the Gospel, not to the appearance or charisma of the person preaching the Gospel.

I also think that today we are too obsessed with the personal charisma of the messenger (be that political or religious) when we ought actually to be totally focussed on the nature of the message the person is delivering.
 
I can see questions about the Blessed Mother. She was very humble and self effacing as evidenced by the absence of a Gospel according to Mary. She didn’t take offense from Jesus resistance to her request at the marriage at Cana or the time Jesus said, ''Who is my mother… For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Beyond that, we have little more than folklore about her.

But how could you not have a clue about the personality of Jesus. Have you read the New Testament?

Jesus had a teasing, tongue in cheek sense of human as we saw in the marriage at Cana. Let’s face it, Jesus loved to party.

Jesus values traditions and the law but He valued His creation, man, more.

He’s moments away from death and He’s still forgiving. Jesus was gentle and kind, never kicked a man when he was down, accepted a person’s apology and genuine contrition no matter how grave the sin.

He was a patient teacher, but he didn’t suffer fools well.

Jesus was really really REALLY difficult to anger. Even the man who betrayed Him and sent Him to that horrible death didn’t earn His ire. If you just had to make Him angry, take the House of God and turn it into a flea market.

Jesus was charismatic and very sociable but sometimes, He just needed to be alone. He prayed intensely and often.

He knew what happened to women who weren’t provide for so He made sure someone He trusted took care of His Mama. He was a good and devoted Son.

That’s just the Gospels…
 
The Gospels do not show Jesus to be gentle. He preached a very uncompromising, tough message and He wasn’t afraid to go into the Temple with a whip, upturn tables and whip the moneychangers out of the Temple. I think think that the notion of ‘gentle Jesus’ is a myth. The picture of Jesus from tje Gospels is one more like an austere 1st Century Jewish rabbi than a gentle, smiling man who liked to party. And when He comes again He will be coming as a warrior leading hosts of angels into battle and will have ‘Lord of lords, King of kings’ written on His thigh.
 
I think Scripture is chock full of His personality.
No, I don’t wonder. 🙂
 
For the record, I’m not ignorant of scripture. I just ponder the personhood of Jesus. I study scripture, but still admit that I still think of Jesus as quite mysterious.
 
Rosarydevotion said:
For the record, I’m not ignorant of scripture. I just ponder the personhood of Jesus. I study scripture, but still admit that I still think of Jesus as quite mysterious.
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I was answering your question whether He was handsome.
Sounds like it was not His will to have sort of a " movie star" look. 🙂
 
Brendan_64 said:
The Gospels do not show Jesus to be gentle. He preached a very uncompromising, tough message and He wasn’t afraid to go into the Temple with a whip, upturn tables and whip the moneychangers out of the Temple. I think think that the notion of ‘gentle Jesus’ is a myth. The picture of Jesus from tje Gospels is one more like an austere 1st Century Jewish rabbi than a gentle, smiling man who liked to party. And when He comes again He will be coming as a warrior leading hosts of angels into battle and will have ‘Lord of lords, King of kings’ written on His thigh.
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Uncompromising does not mean not gentile. He didn’t harangue the crowds and thump scrolls to make His point. Cracking the whip in the temple was necessary to fulfill the scriptures and really, when gentle doesn’t do it, sometimes the authority figure has to get firm. I can see John the Baptist being described as an austere 1st Century Jewish rabbi but Jesus who praised the meek and humble of heart, who said, ‘‘Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’’ Jesus didn’t go around with a goofy grin like He was stoned, but He was called the King of Peace for a reason.

As for the second coming, They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory" comes from a synoptic gospel and should be taken very literally. “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself.” Johannine metaphor on top of mysticism. We may not find out what the author means until the second coming. Warrior Jesus at best is a bit of a stretch.

Then there is private revelation. To St. Faustina, Jesus is constantly calling her to seek refuge in His gentle Mercy.

Biblically and Sacred Tradition, Gentle Jesus all the way.
 
Physique != personality.

I personally have no doubt that He had a tall, commanding body. He’d need it, and the accompanying huge voice, to preach to the masses and draw their attention. No doubt the powerful limbs that accompany freedom from original sin, and a life of physical work, would have helped Him to get around.

But it does not matter as we will see, not His natural self but His glorified body!

As to personality, I imagine that toward those not standing in His way, His powerful compassion was preeminent.

ICXC NIKA
 
Antegin said:
Warrior Jesus at best is a bit of a stretch.
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A bit of a stretch? Really?

"And I saw heaven standing open; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and with justice He wages war. And His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems… And He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses… And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, “King of kings, Lord of lords” Revelation 19:11-14,16

That certainly sounds like a warrior King leading his troops into battle.
 
Brendan_64 said:
A bit of a stretch? Really?

"And I saw heaven standing open; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and with justice He wages war. And His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems… And He is clothed in a garment sprinkled with blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses… And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, “King of kings, Lord of lords” Revelation 19:11-14,16

That certainly sounds like a warrior King leading his troops into battle.
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Revelations is a tricky read. It’s so different from the gospel and letters that many, including Catholic scholars question if the same author wrote this book. If you are too literal in the interpretation, you will get it wrong.

More so than the other Johannine works, Revelations is full of SOLICISMS or use of grammatically incorrect language, and has a rather limited vocabulary. Some have suggested that means the actual author of revelations was not as well educated as the author of the Gospel.

I’m no Jill Amy Levine but my take is, Revelations was written by a Jew for Jews in a time of crisis. The author either wrote the Gospel and letters and knew from experience that he needed to be more understandable or this was a whole different author. Either way, going into the Nero persecutions, the author was conveying the dignity, majesty and grandeur with which Jesus would appear, with their blood spilt in martyrdom on Jesus Himself. Reading Jesus as leading a charge into some battle would be an overly simplistic interpretation.
 
I imagine his personality to have been similar to the great saint John Paul II. I feel very close to Jesus when I think about JPII and pray for his intercession. I tend to think of Jesus as having an unremarkable personality which allowed for His spirit to be more palpable and when I read about Him in the bible that big presence is that of His spirit rather than the man.
 
LongingSoul said:
I imagine his personality to have been similar to the great saint John Paul II. I feel very close to Jesus when I think about JPII and pray for his intercession. I tend to think of Jesus as having an unremarkable personality which allowed for His spirit to be more palpable and when I read about Him in the bible that big presence is that of His spirit rather than the man.
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Amen
 
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