New Testament and Beyond

People of Color in the Bible: New Testament and Beyond

The Old Testament prophecies said that the Messiah would be born through the “line of David” (Isaiah 9:6–7; 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Matthew 1:1). Of the five women mentioned in the lineage of Christ, at least two are of Hamitic descent: Tamar and Rahab. So even though Jesus’ lineage was primarily Jewish (and non-white to begin with), He had a Hamitic mixture in His ancestry as well.

As a result, spiritually, racially, and culturally, blacks and other people of color can identify with Christ. Through His natural birth as “Jesus the Messiah the son of David,” they can clearly identify with Christ because of His mixed racial background. However, as the Son of God, all people can identify with Him through the New Birth. The New Birth transcends every race, culture, tribe, nation, and tongue!

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Let’s look briefly at some notable men in the New Testament and beyond who were people of color:

Simon of Cyrene, who helped carry the cross of Christ (Matthew 27:32), was a dark-skinned man, as Cyrene was in northern Africa. Lucius, who was one of the founders of the church of Antioch (Acts 13:1), was also from Cyrene. There were also Jews from Cyrene, Media and Elam (Persia), Egypt, and Libya in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost who were filled with the Holy Spirit along with everyone else (Acts 2:9–10). “Simeon called Niger” (“black” in Latin) (Acts 13:1). Like Lucius, Simeon was a prophet and a leader in the early Church at Antioch. He helped ordain and commission Paul and Silas for their first missionary journey.

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The Ethiopian eunuch, who was led to Christ through Philip (Acts 8:26–39). The Greek word translated “Ethiopian” means “burnt face,” so they were definitely a darkskinned people. He was a high official in the court of the Queen of the Ethiopians. Augustine (AD 354–430), the Bishop of Hippo in northern Africa, was one of the greatest scholars of the early Church. Thought to be of Berber descent, Augustine in all probability was a person of dark skin. Tertullian (AD 160–215) was also from North Africa. He was a brilliant lawyer who converted to Christianity, and then became one of the greatest thinkers, writers, and apologists of the early Christian Church.

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