The Bible does not tell us the color of Jesus’ skin or eyes, nor does it tell us if He had long hair. The Bible does tell us that Jesus was indeed a “true Israelite” in Romans 9:3-5 where the apostle Paul wrote, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren according to the flesh, WHO ARE ISRAELITES…of who are the fathers and from whom, ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, CHRIST CAME.” We of told of His birth into the family of King David in Matthew 1:1, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David.” So, Jesus was a “true Israelite” and thus His skin was the same color of the Jewish people of that day. Most historians agree that their skin was not black or white, but rather “light to dark brown skin.”

Regarding Jesus’ hair, we believe it was NOT long but short. Why? Because the hair of most Jewish men in that day resembled the leaders of the Roman Government who ruled over the Jews. All the coins with an imprint of the Roman Emperor (Caesar) of that day showed Caesar with short hair. We know the length of Jesus hair had to be similar to everyone else based on Matthew 26:47-49, “And while He (Jesus) was still speaking, behold, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now His betrayer had given them a SIGN, saying, ‘Whomever I KISS, He is the One; seize Him.’ Immediately he went up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him.” If Jesus had LONG HAIR, He would have stood out from the crowd and there would have been no need for Judas to point Him out with a kiss. The idea that Jesus had long hair began in the Renaissance Period when artists began painting pictures of Jesus with long hair. Some believe Jesus had long hair because of their belief that He was a “Nazarite” and the Nazarite was told not to cut his hair. We read in Numbers 6:1-2 of the “vow of the Nazarite” and in verse 5 it says, “All the days of the vow of his separation NO RAZOR SHALL COME UPON HIS HEAD.” But we are never told that Jesus was a Nazarite yet we do read that He was a “Nazarene” in Matthew 2:23, “And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.” It is obvious that Jesus was called a Nazarene because He lived in Nazareth. He was never called a Nazarite for He never took the “vow of the Nazarite.”

The name Jesus in Hebrew was “Yeshua” which translates to English as Joshua. The name Jesus/Joshua means, “God is salvation” or “God is Savior.” Before He was born, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS” (Matthew 1:20-21). His very name teaches us that He was born into this world to be “the Savior of the world.” We read in 1st John 4:14, “the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world” (KJV) and in obedience to the Father, the Son of God became a true Man in order to “save His people from their sins.” Are you saved, dear reader? To be saved you must “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” as your Savior (see Acts 16:31). The moment you believe He is your Savior you will become a child of God, as we see in John 1:12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those WHO BELIEVE IN HIS NAME.”

In closing, once you become a child of God by believing on Jesus as your Savior, you won’t care what He looked like (the color of His skin or eyes, the length of His hair, etc.). We know that unbelievers were not attracted to Him physically at all, as we see in Isaiah 53:2, “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.” Yet the believer can say, “He is altogether lovely” (Song of Songs 5:16) because He died for my sins on the cross and “saved me from my sins.”  (DO)  (514.1)