Jesus Had Brown Skin:

The Resurrected Christ Easter Lesson for Children

Materials:  Painting of Jesus by Michelle Tshikamba, paper and crayons

Resources: 

Lesson:  Read the scripture verses (John 20:11-17) about Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb and discuss.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Why was Mary sad? (She was sad that the tomb was empty; she thought that someone had taken Jesus’s body.) 
  • Why do you think Mary did not recognize Jesus when she first saw him?
  • If Jesus were to appear today, do you think we would recognize him? 
  • Do we know what Jesus looked like? 

We don’t have any photographs of Jesus, so any pictures that we see of him are artistic interpretations of what he might have looked like. No one knows exactly what Jesus looked like, but we do have a lot of clues as to what he would have looked like based on the time and place in which he was born and lived, and his lineage. (If children are older, you can share some clips from the First Name Basis podcast episode 7:17 – if children are younger, you can paraphrase some key points from the podcast about why Jesus had brown skin.) 

Share:  Show children the painting of Christ by Melissa Tshikamba and share your feelings about the painting and the significance of having diverse representations of Christ. 

Activity:  Give children the opportunity to draw their own pictures of Christ – these can be based on the painting or from their imagination. Encourage them to think about what Jesus might have looked like and the skin color he would have had based on what you have discussed in the lesson. Read A Child of God  by Chantel and Mauli Bonner and talk about the beauty of diversity, and how we all are created in the image of God.