Throughout history, Christianity has been the inspiration for countless works of art. By far, the most prevalent subject has been Jesus. With angelic Madonna and Child paintings, tragic Savior on the Cross depictions, and celebratory canvasses illustrating the ascension of Christ, the old masters of the European Renaissance made clear two characteristics about our Lord. First, our Savior spent a lot of time with a golden ring around His head. Second, Jesus was most certainly of Western European descent.

With a little study of art history, we will quickly discover that halos were visual representations of holiness—the specialness and righteousness of the deity or saint depicted. And with a little digging around of geographic and cultural history, it becomes clear that Jesus was not Western European. As is obvious to all who really take a look, Jesus was most certainly . . . Palestinian?

Do you doubt? None other than Muslim activist Linda Sarsour has declared it to be so in a recent tweet. “Jesus was Palestinian of Nazareth and is described in the Quran as being brown copper skinned with wooly hair.”[1] If a dubious Quranic description of Jesus’ physical appearance is not enough for you, she followed up with more unquestionable logic. “Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Bethlehem is in Palestine.”[2] Case closed. Drop the mic.

The problem with Sarsour’s reasoning has everything to do with tenses. It is true that Bethlehem is currently part of the Palestinian-controlled West Bank. However, if we’re talking about Jesus’ life on earth, we are not talking about is but was. The was of Bethlehem in the time of Christ points to the indisputable fact that the town was in Israel and was filled with Jews. The same was true up north in Nazareth. It would have been impossible for Jesus to have been Palestinian because Palestine didn’t even exist in the time of Christ. It wasn’t until after Rome’s crushing of the Bar Kokhba Revolt in AD 135 that the nation was rechristened. In an attempt to break the last vestiges of Jewish national identity, Emperor Hadrian renamed the ruins of Jerusalem Aelia Capitolina and the nation Syria Palaestina. “Palestine” was born, but it came well over a century too late to claim citizenship of our Savior.

Jesus was a Jew of the tribe of Judah. He was a descendant of the kingly line of David. It was necessary for Jesus to be Jewish in order for Him to fulfill biblical prophecy. Although His birth was limited to one race, His death extended to all mankind. The Lord’s love, grace, and mercy are too big to be confined to one people. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). That word all is significant. Palestinians, Jews, Europeans, Asians, Africans, Americans—all people everywhere are invited to Christ. In Him we can all find peace with God and with one another.

-Joel

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[1] Sarsour, Linda. “Jesus Was Palestinian of Nazareth and Is Described in the Quran as Being Brown Copper Skinned with Wooly Hair.” Twitter, 6 July 2019, twitter.com/lsarsour/status/1147294666888548354?s=21.

[2] Sarsour, Linda. “Why so Upset by the Truth. Jesus Was Born in Bethlehem Aka بيت لحم in Arabic. Bethlehem Is in Palestine. It’s Currently Militarily Occupied by Israel and Home to a Predominately Beautiful Palestinian Christian Community. Yes, the Birthplace of Jesus Is under Military Occupation. Https://T.co/XiseLoylYL.” Twitter, 6 July 2019, twitter.com/lsarsour/status/1147603611276496898?s=21.