What Clothes Would Have Jesus Worn While On Earth?

What type of clothing did those living in Jesus’ earthly ministry days wear? What did Jesus wear?

Dressing in Modesty

The Apostle Peter wrote to women that “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight” (1st Pet 3:3-4). Paul wrote “that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works” (1st Tim 2:9-10). The same applies to men of course as God looks at the heart (the “inner self”) and not at outward appearances so as God told Samuel when selecting Israel’s second king, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Sam 16:7) so you and I must not make an assessment of a person simply by looking at what they wear or what they look like.

Jesus’ Attire

There are only a couple of references to the type of clothing that Jesus wore during His time on earth and it would not have been much different from the way that other Jewish men dressed at that time, particularly rabbis. Once such reference was “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic” (John 19:23a). The word “tunic” is from the Greek word “chiton” which is a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin so what Jesus was wearing “was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be” (John 19:23b-24.) A seamless piece of clothing was very valuable in that day because most clothing at the time was not “woven in one piece from the top to bottom” as Jesus’ tunic was.

Touching Jesus

When a woman with a disease came to Jesus it says “And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well” (Matt 9:20-21). Jesus may have been wearing what had been worn and commanded of the ancient Israelites where God told Moses “Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue on the tassel of each corner” (Num 15:38). These tassels were originally intended for them to “look at and remember all the commandments of the Lord, to do them, not to follow after your own heart and your own eyes, which you are inclined to whore after” (Num 15:28-29). These tassels on the corners of their garments closely resembled what the Pharisees wore and about which Jesus said, “They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long” (Matt 23:5). The longer the phylacteries were, the more holy they thought themselves to be and the more they expected others to regard them as holy. To the Jews, it would have been an abomination to have a woman with a blood discharge touch Jesus. They believed that would have declared Him as unclean.

What Jesus Wore

Jesus certainly wore sandals.

Jesus wore a tunic underneath His garments.

Jesus wore a cloak.

Jesus wore plain linens.

A sash to tuck in the clothing if necessary.

Jesus wore comfortable long robes.

Jesus might have worn a Jewish turban while outside.

Jesus’ Appearance

The Bible does not give a physical description of Jesus although we do know that He was from the tribe of Judah and was a descendant of King David so He likely had darker skin, dark eyes, and dark hair but so did most of the Jews in that day. Isaiah wrote “For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him” (53:2) so He looked like most of the Jewish men in that day. It is not probable that He had a long, white, flowing robe and seems unlikely that he had long, flowing hair as Jewish men kept their hair short. Paul even wrote about what the length of men’s hair should be (1st Cor 11:14). A robe yes, but most were not pure white. Most Jewish robes were colorful and white was reserved only for a select few in the Jewish religion. It is believed that Jesus came from a poor family and likely would not have worn elaborate clothing.

Conclusion

Jesus’ appearance was changed at one point and it was for our sake (2nd Cor 5:21). Isaiah writes about this change of appearance in Jesus where “many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind” (52:14) but “because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors” He would bear “the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (53:12). That is our only way to the Father (John 6:44; Acts 4:12).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.