Replies

Date (approx.)	Source	Writer (est.)	Description
c. 700 BCE	Isaiah 53:2–3 (OT prophecy applied to Messiah)	Anonymous prophet	No form or majesty; no beauty that we should desire him; ordinary/unremarkable.
c. 90–100 CE	Revelation 1:14–15 (NT vision)	John	Hair white like wool/snow; eyes like flame of fire; feet like burnished bronze (symbolic glorified form, not earthly).
c. 178 CE (quoted c. 248 CE)	True Doctrine / Against Celsus	Celsus (pagan critic); Origen (Christian response)	Little, ill-favoured/ugly and small/ignoble (per Celsus, reflecting Isaiah tradition).
2nd century CE	Acts of John; Acts of Peter (apocryphal)	Anonymous	Polymorphic: appears variously as child, handsome man, balding/bearded, small/unattractive, or tall; changes form.
c. 8th century CE	Letter to Emperor Theophilus (spurious attribution)	Pseudo-John of Damascus	Wheat-colored/olive complexion; black or curling hair; black beard; prominent nose; beautiful eyes; long fingers; healthy appearance.
14th century CE	Ecclesiastical History	Nicephorus Callistus	Stately/tall; brown (somewhat curling) hair; black brows; sea-blue eyes shading to brown; prominent nose; moderate brown beard; long hair (uncut); olive/ruddy complexion; slightly stooping neck.
13th–15th century CE	Letter of Lentulus (medieval forgery)	Anonymous (pseudo-Publius Lentulus)	Medium/tall, well-proportioned; hazel-nut (ripe/unripe) colored hair, smooth then wavy/curling over shoulders, parted in middle; smooth forehead; reddish complexion; full forked beard matching hair; blue-gray/bright/changeable eyes; never seen to laugh, often wept; most beautiful among men.

No one knows what Jesus looked like—only mention found in the apocryphal Gospel of Pilot that says he was a blond.

Ran it.

There is no description of Jesus as blond (or with golden/fair/yellow hair) in the Acts of Pilate / Gospel of Nicodemus (sometimes loosely called the “Gospel of Pilate”).
The authentic ancient text (Greek and Latin forms, dating in its core to roughly the 4th–5th/6th centuries , with earlier roots claimed but not verified) expands on the trial, crucifixion, and related events from the canonical Gospels. It includes dialogue, witnesses, Nicodemus’s role, the descent into hell in expanded versions, etc. Standard scholarly editions and translations (e.g., those based on Tischendorf, M.R. James, New Advent / Church Fathers versions, and Project Gutenberg editions of the text) contain no physical description of Jesus’s appearance, hair color, skin, eyes, or similar details.
Where the “blond/golden-haired Jesus from Pilate” claims actually come from
Claims of a golden-haired, celestial-complexioned Jesus in a supposed report or letter from Pontius Pilate are not from the ancient Acts of Pilate. They originate in much later forgeries or fiction:

● 19th-century pamphlets and the Archko Volume by William Dennes Mahan (a Presbyterian minister), which fabricated or adapted material claiming golden hair and a contrast with the “black beards and tawny complexions” of those around him. These have no manuscript basis in Vatican or other ancient archives and were drawn from earlier short stories/fiction.

● Other medieval or early modern forgeries, such as versions of the “Letter of Pilate to Tiberius” or the better-known Letter of Lentulus (a separate medieval fabrication describing wavy auburn/hazel hair, etc.).

Scholars treat these as unreliable inventions with no connection to the historical Pilate or the early Christian apocrypha. The New Testament itself is silent on Jesus’s physical appearance, and early non-canonical sources that comment at all (e.g., Celsus via Origen) do not describe him as blond.

In short, you will not find a blond Jesus in the Gospel of Nicodemus / Acts of Pilate because the description is absent from that text. The blond/golden versions tied to “Pilate” are modern fabrications. Estimated timeline of combined accounts (date ascending)
Date (approx.) Source Writer (est.) Description
c. 700 BCE Isaiah 53:2–3 (OT prophecy applied to Messiah) Anonymous prophet No form or majesty; no beauty that we should desire him; ordinary/unremarkable.
c. 90–100 CE Revelation 1:14–15 (NT vision) John Hair white like wool/snow; eyes like flame of fire; feet like burnished bronze (symbolic glorified form, not earthly).
c. 178 CE (quoted c. 248 CE) True Doctrine / Against Celsus Celsus (pagan critic); Origen (Christian response) Little, ill-favoured/ugly and small/ignoble (per Celsus, reflecting Isaiah tradition).
2nd century CE Acts of John; Acts of Peter (apocryphal) Anonymous Polymorphic: appears variously as child, handsome man, balding/bearded, small/unattractive, or tall; changes form.
c. 8th century CE Letter to Emperor Theophilus (spurious attribution) Pseudo-John of Damascus Wheat-colored/olive complexion; black or curling hair; black beard; prominent nose; beautiful eyes; long fingers; healthy appearance.
14th century CE Ecclesiastical History Nicephorus Callistus Stately/tall; brown (somewhat curling) hair; black brows; sea-blue eyes shading to brown; prominent nose; moderate brown beard; long hair (uncut); olive/ruddy complexion; slightly stooping neck.
13th–15th century CE Letter of Lentulus (medieval forgery) Anonymous (pseudo-Publius Lentulus) Medium/tall, well-proportioned; hazel-nut (ripe/unripe) colored hair, smooth then wavy/curling over shoulders, parted in middle; smooth forehead; reddish complexion; full forked beard matching hair; blue-gray/bright/changeable eyes; never seen to laugh, often wept; most beautiful among men.

These are the main known textual accounts. None from Scripture, genuine early history, or verified eyewitnesses support a blond Jesus. The reliable picture is a typical short, dark-haired, olive-skinned, bearded Galilean Jewish man of no striking physical distinction.