Schroer: Check out Jesus’ yearbook photos
Published 12:00 am Sunday, December 4, 2022
- Andrew Schroer
Every so often, the clickbait pops up on my newsfeed or on Facebook. “Check out these celebrities when they were kids” or “Can you recognize these celebrities when they were young?” The pictures are from old grade school, junior high or high school yearbooks.
Some celebrities are immediately recognizable at any age. Others are harder to pick out. We all go through our awkward phases – the haircuts, the braces, the glasses. Scrolling through old yearbook photos of the rich and famous is a striking reminder that you usually can’t predict what a person will become or accomplish by simply looking at them when they were children.
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We are now rushing headlong into Christmas. In just a few weeks, we will celebrate the birth of the most famous person in all of history. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew or atheist, any historian worth their salt will tell you that Jesus is the most famous and influential human being in all of history.
As Christians, we know and believe that he is much more than that. Jesus is God himself who became a man to set us free from our slavery to sin, death and the devil. Jesus is the Son of God and our Savior.
But would you have guessed that by looking at his fourth grade yearbook photo?
From the time he was a baby, there were hints of who he would become – the virgin birth, the angels, the wise men. But if you watched Jesus as a child, you would never have guessed who he was or what he would accomplish. He was like any other kid his age – just better behaved.
Even as an adult, most struggled with seeing him as anything more than a great prophet. I mean, sure, he performed amazing miracles, but look at him. He’s just a regular-looking guy. Jesus didn’t have leading man good looks. He wasn’t a musclebound action star. He didn’t wear a Gucci toga or Nike sandals.
There was nothing extraordinary about the way Jesus looked.
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We can understand how many of the people of Jesus’ day struggled to see him as anything more than the carpenter’s son or a simple prophet. Jesus never looked the part. Thankfully, we have the perspective of hindsight. We have the perspective of faith.
Through the eyes of faith, we can see who that baby lying in a manger really is. By faith, we know who that awkward looking twelve year old sitting in the temple really is. By faith, we believe that regular-looking guy, the poor son of a carpenter, is the Lord and King of the universe who saved us from hell by dying the death we deserve for all of the dumb and ugly things we do.
Hindsight is a powerful thing. When we look back at the yearbook photos of celebrities when they were young, we can laugh and smile – knowing now what those children eventually became. As you prepare to celebrate Christmas this year, remember that the point of Christmas isn’t simply to celebrate the birth of a cute baby.
We have been given the gift of hindsight. Look at that baby through the eyes of faith. Remember what he became and accomplished for you.