When the Christ Returns does it matter what He looks like?

[openmind77]

I expect the Christ to return to the world pretty soon (although I don’t believe in the End of the World or the Armageddon or anything like that).

We don’t really know what exactly he would look like (at least I don’t think so).

I believe that when he comes, he will come for the whole world, not just for people in the West. He is especially needed in the East where there are many people who have no religion or a firm belief in a single God.

So my question is, if the Christ returned as an Asian (for instance an ethnic Chinese person), would Christians in the west have difficulty accepting him as the Christ?

In other words does it matter to you personally what he would look like? What if he does not look like the image you have created of him in your mind - would you have difficulty accepting him or maybe you would even reject him?

 

[Tantum_ergo]

I expect the Christ to return to the world pretty soon (although I don’t believe in the End of the World or the Armageddon or anything like that).

We don’t really know what exactly he would look like (at least I don’t think so).

I believe that when he comes, he will come for the whole world, not just for people in the West. He is especially needed in the East where there are many people who have no religion or a firm belief in a single God.

So my question is, if the Christ returned as an Asian (for instance an ethnic Chinese person), would Christians in the west have difficulty accepting him as the Christ?

In other words does it matter to you personally what he would look like? What if he does not look like the image you have created of him in your mind - would you have difficulty accepting him or maybe you would even reject him?

When He returns, He will be returning as He is. Perhaps, despite the fact that we KNOW He was born a Jewish man in Bethlehem and no doubt looked like the average Jewish man (dark hair and eyes, dark Caucasian complexion), He can ALSO look different in the eyes of individuals (especially as that body is now Glorified). . .and perhaps our human eyes will, at His return, behold Him as He is and all those ‘physical characteristics’ that we see as making us ‘different’ will be MEANINGLESS.

 

[TK421]

As far as I am aware, he will return with the appearance of a Middle Eastern Jew, since he ascended in the body. But then again, we have no exact idea what the transfigured body entails. It is also very plausible that he will appear to each person exactly as they would have imagined him to appear. Christ appears in the body on a constant basis in parishes around the world.

Either way, when a soul beholds him in his glorified body, ethnicity is going to be the last thing on their minds.

 

[CarolNoel]

I have no idea what Jesus will look like, but for now I see Him like this.

 

[Matthew_Light]

As far as I am aware, he will return with the appearance of a Middle Eastern Jew, since he ascended in the body.

Elijah ascended in the body (in a fiery chariot) but he returned (in the spirit and power of Elijah) as John the Baptist.

 

[estesbob]

No.

 

[edwest2]

We do not know precisely what He will look like but he was a Jewish man of the house and lineage of David and will return looking the same as He did when He ascended.

biblehub.com/acts/1-11.htm

Peace,
Ed

 

[oldcatholicguy]

I expect the Christ to return to the world pretty soon (although I don’t believe in the End of the World or the Armageddon or anything like that).

We don’t really know what exactly he would look like (at least I don’t think so).

I believe that when he comes, he will come for the whole world, not just for people in the West. He is especially needed in the East where there are many people who have no religion or a firm belief in a single God.

So my question is, if the Christ returned as an Asian (for instance an ethnic Chinese person), would Christians in the west have difficulty accepting him as the Christ?

In other words does it matter to you personally what he would look like? What if he does not look like the image you have created of him in your mind - would you have difficulty accepting him or maybe you would even reject him?

If I’m worried about how Christ will look when He returns, I’m doing it (the Faith and my relationship with God) wrong.

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

For one thing the return of Christ will not mean he will be born into the world again in a different body. Rather he will come back in the fashion as he left as described in the book of acts. He will have the same body he did two thousand years and it will be an event we cannot even begin talk about, but we will know when Jesus has come back and when he has put his enemies under his feet and when he has those faithful united to him.

 

[openmind77]

For one thing the return of Christ will not mean he will be born into the world again in a different body. Rather he will come back in the fashion as he left as described in the book of acts. He will have the same body he did two thousand years and it will be an event we cannot even begin talk about, but we will know when Jesus has come back and when he has put his enemies under his feet and when he has those faithful united to him.

Interesting that the consensus seems to be that the Christ will look pretty much like he did 2000 years ago - a Jewish person from the middle east.

Hopefully none of you will be disappointed if he looks different,

BTW, I can not imagine Jesus putting his enemies under his feet - is that a prediction in the Bible? Afterall, his instructions were to love your enemies.

 

[Matthew_Light]

For one thing the return of Christ will not mean he will be born into the world again in a different body. Rather he will come back in the fashion as he left as described in the book of acts. He will have the same body he did two thousand years and it will be an event we cannot even begin talk about, but we will know when Jesus has come back and when he has put his enemies under his feet and when he has those faithful united to him.

Of course, the Jews were waiting (and still are waiting!) for the literal return of the body of Elijah before the appearance of the Messiah.

And, of course, Jesus tells us that John the Baptist was in fact the return of the (spirit and power) of Elijah, fulfilling that prophecy.

Jews will have none of that, of course!

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Elijah ascended in the body (in a fiery chariot) but he returned (in the spirit and power of Elijah) as John the Baptist.

UMMM. . .I HOPE you aren’t saying that John the Baptist was a reincarnation of Elijah. . .

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

Interesting that the consensus seems to be that the Christ will look pretty much like he did 2000 years ago - a Jewish person from the middle east.

Hopefully none of you will be disappointed if he looks different,

BTW, I can not imagine Jesus putting his enemies under his feet - is that a prediction in the Bible? Afterall, his instructions were to love your enemies.

Do you not know?

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Mathew 25

It would really help you if you read the New testament and not only the portions you like from it.

 

[Matthew_Light]

UMMM. . .I HOPE you aren’t saying that John the Baptist was a reincarnation of Elijah. . .

No.

As the New Testament states, John was the return of the spiritual station and prophetic authority of Elijah, not the same personality.

I think reincarnation of personalities is an incoherent and erroneous concept!

 

[openmind77]

Do you not know?

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Mathew 25

It would really help you if you read the New testament and not only the portions you like from it.

Actually, I do know these verses - 25.34-46 and really like them.

But he is not talking about his ‘enemies’. He is talking about people who do not feed, clothe, or look after (in sickness) those who are the least amongst us.(the least would be the poor and the oppressed). I notice a lot of people bring these verses up and forget who Jesus is talking about - he is specifically talking about people who do not help those who are less fortunate than themselves (not non-believers or anything like that)

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

Actually, I do know these verses - 25.34-46 and really like them.

But he is not talking about his ‘enemies’. He is talking about people who do not feed, clothe, or look after (in sickness) those who are the least amongst us.(the least would be the poor and the oppressed). I notice a lot of people bring these verses up and forget who Jesus is talking about - he is specifically talking about people who do not help those who are less fortunate than themselves (not non-believers or anything like that)

You ought reread it. You do not want to be the goat, you want to be the sheep and judgement has been committed to the hands of the son. The son is the one who will judge, all things being put under his feet by the will of the Father who sent him. We want to be found to be sheeps instead of goats for the goats will be condemned

And who will be doing that condemning? Jesus will. For all power and glory has been given to him.

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, John 5:22

If you think the son will not condemn, you are a mistaken.

 

[openmind77]

You ought reread it. You do not want to be the goat, you want to be the sheep and judgement has been committed to the hands of the son. The son is the one who will judge, all things being put under his feet by the will of the Father who sent him. We want to be found to be sheeps instead of goats for the goats will be condemned

And who will be doing that condemning? Jesus will. For all power and glory has been given to him.

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, John 5:22

If you think the son will not condemn, you are a mistaken.

I think you should read it too. The verses clearly say that the goats are the ones who will not give Him water, will not feed Him, will not tend to Him when he is sick or visit Him in prison. The ‘He’ here is the least among us.

In fact this division into sheep and goats is taking place even as we speak - people are doing this separation for themselves. It is actually very easy to see who does not want to feed and cloth and give healthcare to the poor.They are the goats.

People read these versus and just forget what they actually say and imagine it has something to do with beliefs and ‘holiness’ and sin. It only depends on how you treat ‘the least among us’ - if you don’t do anything for them, only then will you be condemned not for any other reason.

 

[eddie_too]

It is an error to interpret ss as though any one or group of verses can be understood independently from the whole of ss AND the sacred tradition handed down to us from the apostles.

 

[IgnatianPhilo]

I think you should read it too. The verses clearly say that the goats are the ones who will not give Him water, will not feed Him, will not tend to Him when he is sick or visit Him in prison. The ‘He’ here is the least among us.

In fact this division into sheep and goats is taking place even as we speak - people are doing this separation for themselves. It is actually very easy to see who does not want to feed and cloth and give healthcare to the poor.They are the goats.

People read these versus and just forget what they actually say and imagine it has something to do with beliefs and ‘holiness’ and sin. It only depends on how you treat ‘the least among us’ - if you don’t do anything for them, only then will you be condemned not for any other reason.

And what do you think happens to the goats? Are they granted eternal paradise? Who is the king who is going to separate the sheep from the Goats? It is Jesus Christ.

 

[openmind77]

And what do you think happens to the goats? Are they granted eternal paradise? Who is the king who is going to separate the sheep from the Goats? It is Jesus Christ.

The goats separate themselves by their own actions, they are really not that important.

The Christ will come to help humanity save ourselves from the mess we have created and correct many misconceptions we have about God and our relationship with him. Condemning, judging or punishing people is not his main purpose.