The second commandment forbids any carved image or likeness of anything in heaven, earth, or water, and since Jesus Christ is God, it forbids any picture or statue of His person. Beyond that, the popular images of Jesus are false. Most show a man with long hair, soft feminine features, and a sentimental, sanctimonious look, which is not the Christ of the Bible. Paul says long hair is a dishonor to a man (I Corinthians 11:14), and first-century art shows men with short Roman-style hair. Scripture describes Jesus in masculine terms: He worked as an outdoor carpenter, twice drove moneychangers from the Temple, fasted forty days, and endured scourgings and a beating before the crucifixion. Isaiah 53:2 says He had no form or comeliness and no beauty that would make us desire Him. He was a normal, healthy young Jew who did not stand out in a crowd. Crucifixes and pictures of Jesus therefore contradict every biblical description and give a false impression of Him. If we think of His appearance at all, we should think of His glorified state as Savior, High Priest, and coming King. In that state His head and hair are white as wool and snow, His eyes like a flame of fire, and His countenance like the sun shining in full strength (Revelation 1:14, 16). He is the Forerunner of what believers will become.

False pictures of Jesus Christ violate the Second Commandment by attempting to represent the incorruptible God through an image made like corruptible man. Any such depiction misrepresents and limits Who He was as a man and Who He is now, reducing His perfect character, infinite depth, and fullness to a shallow caricature fixed on a single expression or sentiment. Still pictures and moving pictures share this fundamental flaw, since human actors cannot replicate the divine reactions, expressions, words, and intangibles that constituted the glory of the only-begotten Son. The result distorts the viewer's concept of God, preventing worship in spirit and in truth and introducing leavening that leads back into spiritual bondage. Only the Son Himself possesses the qualification to portray the Son, because only He embodies the truth that sets people free.