Unchangeable features such as family, ethnicity, and time in history have a great influence in our lives. Sometimes these characteristics are difficult to accept. They can bring challenges into our lives and may result in rejection by others.

Jesus Christ experienced the same defining features in His life. Scripture assures us that Jesus can sympathize with our struggles because He was tested in the same areas in which we are tested. (See Hebrews 4:15–16.)

During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ had to deal with the following unchangeable traits:

1. His Parents: A Shadow of Illegitimacy

Since Mary and Joseph were not married when Mary conceived Christ by the Holy Spirit, others assumed that Jesus’ birth was the result of fornication. Joseph prepared to terminate their betrothal until an angel came to him and confirmed Mary’s integrity. (See Matthew 1:18–25.) The Jewish leaders, however, held the circumstances against the couple. In the midst of Christ’s ministry, the Pharisees contemptuously said to Jesus, “We be not born of fornication” (John 8:41).

Also, Christ’s parents were poor. Jesus was born in a stable, and He grew up in a city that was despised by His fellow Israelites. When Philip invited Nathanael to meet Jesus, Nathanael responded, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46).

2. His Time in History: A Wicked Ruler

When King Herod learned that a king of the Jews had been born, he gave an order to kill all Jewish boys aged two years old and younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem. (See Matthew 2:16.) As Jesus grew to an age of understanding, He would likely have known of the many families who lost male children because of His birth.

3. His Race: A Despised People

Surrounding nations hated the Israelites and took opportunities to plunder and oppress the Jewish people. The Romans dominated Israel in Jesus’ day (see John 11:47–48), and historically, since the calling of Abraham to be the father of God’s chosen people, the people of Gentile nations around Israel envied, warred against, and competed with the Jews. 

4. His Nation: A Conquered Land

Jesus grew up in a land that had been conquered by Rome and was occupied by Roman soldiers. Ultimately, it was the Romans who crucified Him. (See Luke 2:1–3 and John 18:28–19:30.)

5. His Gender: A Predetermined Vocation

In the time when Jesus was on earth, sons were trained in the vocation of their fathers. Even though Jesus came to earth with a special mission from His Heavenly Father, He was expected to labor in His earthly father’s trade until He was thirty years old. Consequently, when Jesus began His ministry, He was not known as the Son of God but rather as “the carpenter’s son.” (See Luke 3:23 and Matthew 13:55.)

6. His Birth Order: A Lifetime Responsibility

Jesus was the firstborn son and, as such, was responsible to care for the family if anything happened to His father. During Christ’s youth, it seems that His earthly father, Joseph, did die. Thereafter, Jesus assumed the continuing care of His widowed mother. Christ fulfilled this responsibility until His death, when He transferred Mary’s care to His disciple, John. (See John 19:26–27.)

7. His Family: A Prophet without Honor

People are often misunderstood or rejected by their own family members. Christ experienced this challenge during His ministry as well. His friends accused Him of being insane, and His mother and brothers came to His place of preaching to take Him home. (See Mark 3:21–22, 3:31–32.) His brothers’ actions demonstrated their unbelief. (See John 7:5.)

8. His Appearance: A Lack of Beauty

We do not have a detailed description of Christ’s physical appearance during His earthly ministry, but from Isaiah’s prophecy, we learn that He did not possess any special physical attractiveness. “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him” (Isaiah 53:2).

9. His Divine Nature: An Offense to Friends

When Jesus stood up in the synagogue of His hometown and declared Who He was and what He had come to do, His own friends and neighbors were so offended that they wanted to kill Him. (See Luke 4:16–30.)

10. His Death: A Public Shame

The time and circumstances of Jesus’ death were chosen for Him. Crucifixion was the most painful and ruthless form of execution devised by man. (See Galatians 3:13.) It was a sentence reserved for the worst offenders.

The specific circumstances of Jesus’ life fulfilled Biblical prophecy and qualified Him to complete His redemptive mission. Similarly, God prescribes our unchangeable features according to His design. We should not view them as “defects” but as carefully designed components that will bring glory to God and fulfill His divine purposes.