John 20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

These are the final verses of the gospel of John. In v.31 John makes clear his purpose in writing the gospel:

“so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah”

I have often wondered why there is no physical description of Jesus anywhere in the gospel of John – or anywhere else for that matter. How could the gospel writers not include ANY details about Jesus’ appearance? Have you ever wondered that? I realize ancient culture didn’t view such trivialities as important in the context of the gospel narrative, but I’ll always be curious.

These verses remind me of the purpose of the gospel – to plant seeds of faith for the reader, that we might come to believe in Jesus, the Son of God. 2,000 years later, over a billion Christians in the world testify to the effectiveness of the word of God to save. Thanks be to God!