A Black Jesus?!!

This week, our theme for GodTime is "Gotta Wanna Be Like J.C." (Jesus Christ). We are talking about imitating Him, so when others see us, they see Jesus. To teach this, I put a picture of a black Jesus in a mirror (as a reflection) up on the powerpoint slide. I heard the following comments being spoken quietly, circulating around the room: "Who is that?" "Jesus." "That can't be Jesus. He's not black." "Yeah uh. That is Jesus. Gotta be. Look at the crown of thorns." "But He's white. That Jesus is black." After openly talking about the picture and deciding that, although the image was very different from what we are used to seeing, it was still okay. Later, I overheard a conversation between 2 third-grade girls: "What do you think of Jesus being black?" "Well, his skin looks like mine." "I think he could be black." "He looks like me!" What a joy that these 2 girls are beginning to see Jesus as He truly is - someone that we can identify with!