Jesus Had Short Hair!
Several years ago musical groups
such as the Beatles presented to society a hair style that was new to our
generation. Soon long-haired young men began to appear on our streets. The
hippie movement adopted this hair style, as did the Jesus freaks and other
religious cults.
Soon many men and boys who are
not hippies, Jesus freaks, religious cultists, or revolutionaries adopted these
hair styles.
When protests began to come from
parts of the Christian world, the advocates of these newer hair styles replied
that they saw nothing wrong with men wearing long hair since Jesus Himself had
long hair. They referred to paintings of Christ which picture Him with long
flowing hair. This sent the older generation and some Christian leaders
hurrying to the Bible and history books to find if, for a fact, Jesus did have
long hair. This is dedicated to the task of revealing such a study.
I. GOD IS CONCERNED ABOUT OUR APPAREL, HAIR STYLES, ETC.
That He is concerned about our apparel
is found in Proverbs 7:10,
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of
an harlot, and subtil of heart.
Notice the words, "attire of
an harlot." There is a wicked philosophy being spread abroad by some
Christians that God is not interested in our attire. This philosophy tells us
that God looks on the heart and we are not to judge by the outward appearance.
The embracers of this philosophy use it to justify inappropriate dress, long hair, mini-skirts, etc. They obviously ignore
such passages as Matthew 5:16 where our Lord admonishes us,
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in Heaven.
They seem to believe that God is
not concerned about what the Christian wears. This is not true. Proverbs 7:10
shows us that there is such a thing as the "attire of an harlot." Now
what that attire is, is not the issue at this point. The issue is that God is
interested in what the Christian wears.
Consequently, the Bible does teach us concerning the outside as well as
the inside.
In I Timothy 2:9 the
Apostle Paul admonishes Timothy to exhort women to wear "modest
apparel."
In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in
modest apparel, with shamefacedness and
sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array.
In Deuteronomy 22:5
we find God exhorting the Jewish men and ladies concerning their clothing.
The woman shall not wear that
which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for
all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.
In I Peter 3:3 God shows an
interest in the outward as He discusses women's hair styles, jewelry, and
clothing.
Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of
plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold,
or of putting on of apparel.
In I Corinthians 11:14
God discusses the hair style of men, and in verse 15 He speaks about the
length of the ladies' hair.
Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man
have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a
glory to her: for her hair is
given her for a covering.
Hence, the most
casual observer of Scripture finds that God does manifest an interest in
the outward. He is interested in the way
His people wear their hair, clothing,
jewelry, etc. The argument that God is interested only in the inside
makes a very spiritual-sounding cliché but it is simply not based on the Word
of God.
Hair was very
important to our Lord. He reminds us in Matthew 10:30 and in Luke 12:7 that the
"very hairs of your head are all numbered," signifying the importance
to Him of every aspect of our life and appearance.
II. THE BIBLE PLAINLY TEACHES THAT IT IS A "SHAME" FOR A MAN TO WEAR LONG HAIR.
I Corinthians 11:14 says, Doth not even nature itself teach
you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
The Greek word for
"shame" in this verse is translated elsewhere in the New Testament as
"dishonor," "vile," "disgrace." In Romans 1:26
the same word is translated "vile."
For this cause God gave them up
unto vile affections: for even their women did change the
natural use into that which is against nature.
You will notice that these
"vile affections" have to do with homosexuality. It is very
interesting that as the trend toward long hair increases, the acceptance of homosexuality increases. This is not to
say that long hair and homosexuality always go together, but it is to
note the fact that both are on the rise in our generation. Several of the major
denominations have now accepted homosexuals. In some cities there are churches
for homosexuals pastored by avowed homosexuals. At least one major denomination
has ordained a homosexual preacher and others are considering following suit.
III. THE BIBLE SAYS NOTHING ABOUT JESUS HAVING LONG HAIR.
The paintings of Christ are
simply artists' conceptions and have no Scriptural authorization. At least one
historian of His day described Him as being a tall man with chestnut-colored
hair, parted in the middle, with short hair which turned up at the end. In the
book, THE MODERN STUDENT'S USE OF CHRIST by Irving Vollmer, published by
Fleming H. Revell, the author says,
Archeologists
object to the conventional pictures of Christ because they are not true to history.
A German painter, L. Fahrenkrog,
says,
Christ
certainly never wore a beard, and His hair was beyond a doubt closely cut.
For this we have historical
proof. The oldest representations going back to the first Christian centuries
and found chiefly in the catacombs of Rome all pictured Him without a beard.
All the pictures of Christ down to the beginning of the first century and even
later are of this kind. Students of the first century and Roman history are
aware of the fact that the time of Christ was characterized by short hair for
men. This author has seen many coins and statues which bear the likenesses of
emperors who reigned during and after the time of Christ. Such likenesses
reveal that the Ceasars and other rulers and emperors had short hair, and of
course, the subjects followed the example set by the emperor. The plain simple
truth is that during the life of Christ, short hair was the acceptable style. That Jesus wore the conventional style
of His day is proved by the fact that Judas had to kiss Him to point Him
out to the soldiers. Had Jesus been
somewhat different, as a long-haired freak, Judas could have simply told
the soldiers that Jesus was the One with the long hair. This, of course, is not
true, as Judas had to place a kiss on Him in order to identify Him.
IV. JESUS WAS NOT A NAZARITE.
Since it is generally believed
that a Nazarite has to let his hair grow long, and since Jesus was from
Nazareth, there are many who mistakenly identify Him as a Nazarite. There is no
such Scriptural evidence. Jesus was a "Nazarene" because He was from
Nazareth, but He was not a "Nazarite," and He did not take the
Nazarite vow. A Nazarite could not eat grapes or drink grape juice or eat
anything made of the vine.
Numbers 6:24 says, Speak unto
the children of Israel, and say unto them, When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the Lord: He
shall separate himself from wine and
strong drink, and shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of
grapes, nor eat moist grapes, or dried. All the days of his separation shall he eat nothing that is made of
the vine tree, from the kernels even to the husk.
Hence, our
Lord could not have been a Nazarite. Observe the last Passover in Luke 22:14-18, And when the hour was come, He
sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.
And He said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover
with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof,
until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of
God. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and
divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you
I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God
shall come.
The Passover was characterized by
the fruit of the vine, and as a Nazarite our Lord would not have been allowed
to partake of the Passover.
He also partook of
the fruit of the vine when He instituted the Lord's Supper. Luke 22:19,20 says, And He took
bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is My body which
is given for you: this do in remembrance of Me. Likewise also the cup after
supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for
you.
Likewise a Nazarite could not
touch a dead body. Numbers 6:6, All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he
shall come at no dead body.
When
our Lord raised the daughter of Jairus in Mark 5:41, the Bible says, And He took the damsel by the hand,
and said unto her, Talitha cumi;
which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
Then He also touched
the bier which contained a dead man's body in Luke 7:12-15. Now when He came nigh to the gate of the city, behold,
there was a dead man carried out, the only
son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was
with her. And when the Lord saw her, He had
compassion on her, and said unto her,
Weep not. And He came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood still. And He said, Young man, I
say unto thee, Arise. And he that
was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother.
Since the Nazarite
could not touch the fruit of the vine or touch a dead body, and since our Lord
did both, we must arrive at the definite conclusion that He was not a Nazarite.
V. IF JESUS HAD BEEN A NAZARITE, HE STILL WOULD NOT NECESSARILY HAVE HAD LONG HAIR.
The Nazarite vow was taken for
only a short period of time. The Bible says it was just for "days."
In Numbers 6:5,6, and 13 we read, All the days of the vow of his separation there
shall no razor come upon his head: until the
days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the
locks of the hair of his head grow. All the days that he separateth himself unto the Lord he shall come at
no dead body. And this is the law of the Nazarite, when the days
of his separation are fulfilled: he shall be
brought unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
After these
"days" were over the Nazarite was to shave his head. Numbers 6:18
says,
And the Nazarite
shall shave the head of his separation at the door
of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it in the
fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace-offerings.
So it is obvious that
the Nazarite was as likely to be bald-headed as he was to have long hair. Of
course, this argument is needless as our Lord was not a Nazarite.
VI. ABSALOM WAS BOTH REBELLIOUS AND LONG-HAIRED.
The only long-haired
person other than a Nazarite mentioned in the Bible
was Absalom, a son of David. It was he who rebelled against his father.
It was he who started a revolution. It is worth noting that even in Bible days
rebellion, revolution, disobedience to parents, and long hair were associated.
Now what should the
Christian's attitude be concerning male hair styles? First, we men should
follow the admonition of the Scripture and have short hair. It should be short
enough so as to be obviously contradictory to the revolutionary symbol. Many
Christians allow their hair to become longer in an effort not to be identified
as believers. Why shouldn't a Christian be just as proud of his
identity with the Word of God as the hippie is to identify himself with revolution?
Men, let us wear our short hair with pride as a symbol of our belief in the
Bible and its Christ.
Romans 12:2, And be not conformed (fashioned) to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God.
