Twist
I love the art of story. In my opinion, the best story is one that includes a twist you never saw coming. Jen’s Dodge Demon story, for one.* I bet Jen’s parents did not see that coming.
I think the story of Jesus is truly the most dramatic, most theatrically delicious, greatest story ever told, partly because it’s the twistiest. No matter how much they were let in on what was going to happen, Jesus’s followers just didn’t get it—they did not see what was coming.
Granted, they knew He was the Messiah, but they thought that meant He would reign as a victorious military king who would rescue the Israelites from the Romans. They expected Him to wield His power through miracles and maybe massacre.
Jesus’s plan was to be king, yes, but Jesus’s kingdom would come about a little differently, and it would look a little different than anyone imagined. (Okay, a lot different.) Rather than ruling by force, Jesus came to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies that said He would be the suffering Servant-King. He would be the sacrificial lamb who would die for the sins of all people and bring God’s rule to earth by giving up His life on the cross.
After His agonizing and very public death, Jesus’s family and followers were devastated—as if a bomb had gone off in their hearts. To them, all seemed pointless and lost. Yet that was not the end of the story. The biggest twist was yet to come, what I call the Ultimate Jaw-Dropper.
As a mom myself, I try and imagine what it must have been like for Mary to watch her son be beaten nearly beyond recognition, nailed to a cross, and die an unjust, agonizing death, unable to do anything to change what was happening. I imagine she felt like she was dying. This was the tiny baby she’d nursed and held, propped up until he got his legs under him. This was the little boy she’d caught when he fell taking his first steps; the child she’d cried over, dreamed with, prayed for, loved with her whole mom heart. This son whom God had given through her very being was the same one she’d swaddled in rags and tucked into a humble manger, and tucked into her life.
No one, not even Jesus’s mom, got it until they got it. But when they did, everything was changed.—The Little Love That Could, Pamela Capone
Happy Twist Day.
*gotta read my book to find out more about Jen’s Dodge Demon story. Gotta read The Good Book to get the rest of Jesus’ story.