Jesus and the Y Chromosome
By Bob Manning

I.

I am not of this world. John 8:23KJV

The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth. John 1:14 KJV

I teach children’s Sunday School at my church from time to time. One question that I occasionally get is, "What did Jesus Christ look like? Did he look like us? Was He a man?" My answer is that the sad truth is no one now alive knows exactly what Jesus looked like. The world’s museums house many thousands of depictions of Jesus Christ made over the two-thousand odd years since His death. Some artists depict Jesus as a tall, handsome, blue-eyed blonde with decidedly Nordic features. Others have shown Him to be more Middle Eastern in appearance. Still others paint Jesus as vaguely Indian, Oriental or Negroid in his looks. It seems that each ethnic group has a tendency to cast Jesus’ appearance in their own shadow.

Jesus most likely resembled those around Him. Nowhere in the written Biblical accounts does it say that Jesus had any abnormalities that would have set him apart from other Jews of his time. To them He must have appeared "normal" or his abnormalities would have been mentioned in the Bible. He was a human male who fit well into his time and place. Was He handsome or plain looking we will never know. I believe that Jesus Christ was fully human, just like you and me, but he was fully the deity as well. What would have set Jesus apart from those around Him would have been His Godly character, His compassion for others, His unique teaching ability and His aura of love.

The first man is of the earth, earthly: the second man is the
Lord from Heaven. 1 Cor. 15:47 KJV

II.

Then God said let us make man in our image… Genesis 1:26 NIV

Before I make the argument that Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, I feel that a brief discussion of the basics of humanity is necessary. We must talk a bit about chromosomes, DNA, eggs and sperm, and how they relate to mankind in general and Jesus in particular.

All living things are made up of cells that are in turn made up of Chromosomes. Chromosomes are composed of molecules of DNA and protein.1 We all learned in our high school Biology classes that DNA molecules are located in the nucleus of every cell. DNA contains all the information needed to create a living thing, be it an amoeba or a human. The female egg cells contain only an X chromosome. The male sperm cells contain either an X or a Y chromosome. When the male sperm cell unites with the female egg cell the sperm cell deposits its chromosome package into the female egg, thus completing the process of fertilization. If the male sperm cell is an X cell it deposits an X chromosome. The fertilized egg will then contain two X chromosomes, one donated by the mother, the other donated by the father. The resulting offspring will be an XX egg, or female. If the fertilizing sperm cell is a Y cell it deposits a Y chromosome. The resulting fertilized egg will be an XY or male egg.

Each person’s DNA is a combination of the DNA donated by his mother and the DNA donated by his father during egg fertilization. To be human a fertilized egg must have 23 pairs of chromosomes for a total of 46 chromosomes and one pair of XX or XY gender chromosomes, or 48 chromosomes in all.

It would appear that the Y chromosome is the more dominate of the pair. Since God must have donated the gender chromosome that created Jesus, one would expect that God would donate the dominant chromosome, or the Y chromosome.

It is the male sperm cell, the X or Y cell that determines the sex of an offspring. Do I mean to say that God is a male diety? Without sticking my neck out too far I will say that I suspect that God can appear in any form that He wishes, but in the case of Jesus’s conception it would stand to reason that God was a male at that time and place. All I can say for sure is that Jesus received His Y chromosome from a male donor, and as we will learn below, evidently that donor wasn’t Mary’s husband, Joseph. How the male donor delivered that Y chromosome is another topic for speculation.

III.

The Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.
Genesis 2:7 NIV

Human DNA determines everything about a human being from hair color and eye color to gender and physical characteristics. Jesus received his unique DNA from both his mother, Mary (X chromosome) and his father, God (Y chromosome). Genesis 1:26 tells us that God created man in his image. This could mean that God created man to resemble Him physically, mentally or both. If Genesis 1:26 means that God created man to resemble Him physically, that could be stated simply as God created man to have one head, two arms, two legs, and a torso. If Genesis 1:26 means God created man to resemble Him mentally, then it could mean that God gave man the ability to think and reason. If "in our image" means both physical and mental resemblance then we have in man a creation that physically resembles the creator, and has the ability to think and reason. This information would have been carefully coded by the Creator into man’s chromosomes and the DNA contained therein.

The Bible states that Jesus was created by God to be born of woman and be fully human.

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son,
made of a woman, made under the law. Gal. 4:4 KJV

To deny Jesus’s humanity is to deny the basic tenants of Christianity. Christians believe that Jesus was both God and human, thus fulfilling the Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The most telling example of Jesus’ humanity in the Bible can be found in the book of Luke. It is Jesus’ last prayer in the Garden of Gesthemane said just moments before he is arrested. He prays:

"Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will
but yours be done. Luke 22:42 KJV

Here Jesus does what any human in this situation might do. He prays for deliverance from his fate. Jesus knows what tortures await him. He is afraid. He cries to his father for help. Jesus does not want to lose his life. These are very human emotions. Another example of the humanity of Jesus is the shortest verse in the Bible. Upon viewing his friend, Lazarus, in the tomb, the Apostle John says:

"Jesus wept." John 11:35 KJV

What more human emotion is there? Jesus cried for his friend who had passed away. He mourned the death of a friend, even though Jesus must have known that He had the ability to raise Lazarus from the dead. Even during the crucifixion Jesus felt pain, humiliation, despair, fear, and sadness. These are all human feelings and reactions. He felt the nails pierce his hands and feet. He experienced shortness of breath from hanging on the cross with his arms outstretched. He expired in a most human way, his heart gave out. Human blood coursed through His veins as evidenced by the water and blood that flowed from His body when His side was pierced by a Centurion’s spear. In every aspect His death shows His humanity. He died from the wounds He received during the scourging and crucifixion. Jesus had to be fully human in order that He might die and fulfill the ancient prophecy. This was God’s plan.

"(The) Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself. He
shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering."
Daniel 9:26,27 KJV

The Bible further states that Jesus was born a male child. All depictions and descriptions of Jesus Christ show him to be male in gender. Nowhere in the Bible, or in history for that matter, does anyone indicate that Jesus was anything other than a human male. Luke plainly says in regards to Mary’s delivery:

And she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. Luke 2:7 NIV

That Jesus was a man is without a doubt. His cells would have contained the usual 46 chromosomes plus one pair of gender chromosomes. In Jesus’ case the gender chromosomes he possessed must have been the XY pair that is necessary for the creation of a male baby. Of course some might argue that since Jesus was the "Son of God" and God incarnate on Earth his cells could have contained no DNA. Jesus cells could have been made up of lime Jello, if that was God’s wish. However, God’s wish seems to have been for Jesus to be fully human. Thus, his cells were just like yours or mine. They contained DNA and the XY chromosome pair that made him male. So, how did Jesus receive the DNA necessary for His human condition?

Jesus would have received one X chromosome from his mother Mary. But, Mary could not have donated the Y chromosome necessary for Jesus to be a male child. Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, could not have donated the necessary Y chromosome either because the Bible emphatically states in Matthew 1:18 that Joseph did not have sexual relations with Mary before Jesus’ birth.

His mother, Mary, was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before
they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy
Spirit. Matthew1:18 NIV

Just where did this Y chromosome come from? The Bible states in Mark 1:10 that Jesus was the "Son of God."

As Jesus was coming up out of the water , he saw heaven being torn open
and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from Heaven:
"You are my son whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Mark 1: 10-11 NIV

It is reported in Luke that Mary was impregnated by the "Spirit of the Lord."

The angel answered, "The Holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the
most high will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called
the "Son of God." Luke 1:35 KJV

Conservative Christians generally believe in the inerrancy of the Bible. They accept the statements in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived. That is, Jesus’ conception did not involve male sperm. This would imply that God either created a living embryo with a unique human DNA in one of Mary’s fallopian tubes, or God created special DNA which fertilized an ovum produced by Mary’s body. Thus, Jesus would have had DNA that was either fifty percent or one-hundred percent created uniquely by God. 2
So, Jesus had to have received the Y chromosome from his father, God. As a part of that Y chromosome package came unique DNA created by God carrying the chemical instructions for forming the male baby Jesus.

The Bible states that Jesus was not only human in form and nature, but that he developed over the years as a normal child would.

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom,
and the grace of God was upon him. Luke 2:40 NIV

Jesus probably resembled his mother Mary in some ways since he, also, inherited her DNA. He, most likely, would not have closely resembled his earthly father since he received no DNA from Joseph. Jesus would have resembled his siblings only so much as they all, Jesus included, looked like their mother.

Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?
and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon, and Judas?
and his sisters are they not all with us?
Matt. 13:55-56 KJV

As Christians we believe that Jesus was both fully human and fully God. When asked by the High Priest, Caiaphas, if he was the "Son of God called the Christ" Jesus replied:

"Thou hast said: nevertherless I say unto you, heareafter shall ye see
the "son of man"sitting on the right-hand of power and coming in the
clouds of Heaven." Matthew 26:64 KJV

Jesus’ human characteristics came from a combination of his mother’s DNA and his father’s DNA. His heavenly characteristics came only from his heavenly father. I suspect that Jesus may have born a close resemblance to his heavenly father, God. It seems quite probable that Jesus inherited his appearance from the unique DNA donated by his heavenly father, God. Through that DNA Jesus would have inherited some of God’s physical characteristics, just like I inherited some physical characteristics from my father. So, is God human looking? I would say, "Yes, when He chooses to be."

IV.

And he that seeth me seeth him that sent me.
John 12:45 KJV

So, what did Jesus look like? I theorize that He resembled his earthly mother, and he resembled his heavenly Father. His appearance was determined by the genome coded in His chromosomes that were donated by both His parents. Jesus would have resembled His Father both physically and spiritually. After all, Jesus was his Father’s son.

I and my father are one. John 10:30 KJV

It is very unfortunate that cameras were not invented during the time of Jesus. Had they been, and had a picture of Jesus survived the ensuing centuries we could have gotten a glimpse of the face of the Creator. Perhaps upon seeing the baby Jesus the angels said to each other, "He looks just like his Father." To look on the face of Jesus would have been to truly look on the face of God.

He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne.
Zech: 6:13KJV

V.

The preceding is a theory based upon some universal Biblical and scientific knowledge mixed with a little of my own conjecture. It is not my intention here to insult anyone’s religious beliefs However, that having been said I believe that God gave each of us a brain and along with that brain He gave us curiosity. It is curiosity that forces us to try to understand the unknowable, and forces us try to make sense of the past, present and the future.

Footnotes

Chromosomes and Gender, About.Biology,. Web Page.

Robinson, B.A. Web Page,


Bibliography

Chromosomes and Gender, About.Biology, web page, About, Inc., A part of The New York
Times Company, 2007.

Holy Bible, The King James Version; Cambridge University Press, Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London,

Holy Bible, New International Version, Cornerstone Bible Publishers, Nashville, TN, 1999.

Nave, Orville J., Naves Topical Bible, The Southwestern Company, Nashville, TN, 1962.

Robinson B.A. Web Page, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, Dec. 26, 2007