Definition:  A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction.  Plot twists are designed to disrupt things in a story that the audience thinks they already know or have figured out. The author achieves this “twisting” of the plot by providing a huge shock or surprise, one that is either completely unexpected, or was perhaps foreshadowed through earlier details or events.

We humans are intrigued by stories with a surprise ending or a twist in the plot that our minds were predicting.  Stories make us think unless they are so predictive that we hardly listen, much less ponder.  Randy and I love to analyze what and why something happened in the dramas we watch.  We love a good story!  We wonder what the writer was thinking as he wrote the story.  As we watch a drama series, we study the characters and predict what they will do based on their past actions and reactions.  “See, I told you…” we say out loud as we follow the storyline with peaks, valleys, and twists in the plot.  A great story always has a “plot twist” and teaches us that things are not always as they appear.

Jesus uses plot twists with every story because the world has heard certain things about life that are not of God.  God’s people have twisted God’s storyline so Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, comes to help people get the Story right.  Many times, throughout the gospels, Jesus begins with, “you have heard it said, but I say unto you” … as His way to draw their attention back to God—the real, True Story of our lives.  (See Matthew 6-8)

Jesus tells more stories that pertain to real life but with plot twists that jolt their predictive thinking until people can see and hear God again for who He really is with how He wants us to think and behave. 

Listen and learn from Jesus who tells real life stories that teach us to live as Kingdom of God thinkers and doers.  Look for the plot twists and rejoice that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to save us from our sins so that we would have life forever with Him!  Believe the Story—Believe Jesus!

Matthew 13:24-35, The Message

^24-26 He told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.

²⁷ “The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’

²⁸ “He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’

“The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’

^29-30 “He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’”

^31-32 Another story. “God’s kingdom is like an acorn that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge oak tree, and eagles build nests in it.”

³³ Another story. “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises.”

^34-35 All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy:

I will open my mouth and tell stories;
I will bring out into the open
    things hidden since the world’s first day.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Jesus is the epitome of the plot twist!

Jesus was born unexpectedly while on a trip to Bethlehem with his humble parents.  Even though Mary was “great with child,” they obeyed the current government demanded everyone to register in a census.   Jesus, Messiah, was not born in a palace “fit for a King,” but born in a cave where farm animals were kept corralled.  With no rooms left in the local inns, because of other travelers registering for the census, these young adults find themselves alone in the cave, the only place left to lay their heads.  But they know that God is with them because God talks with them. 

As Mary laid down in the hay to begin the process of bringing new life into the world, suffering from the normal, excoriating pains of birth; Joseph kneels by Mary with words of loving encouragement for her.  This is probably all he knows to do.  Then, in the next moment, they worked together to deliver the Son of God who would later deliver them!  Wow, talk about a plot twist!  God’s people had waited for the promised Messiah for centuries, but never dreamed He would be born in a cave full of animals.  But this birth fulfilled what Scripture said.

Jesus grew in “stature and in wisdom” with devoted Jewish parents on earth in all the places foretold in scripture by God’s prophets.  Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth—all mentioned four hundred years earlier!  The prophets not only told where Jesus would be born but they also told how He would live on earth, teaching and healing, before offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world—yours and mine. 

Mm.  So, is it a really a twist in plot or is Jesus telling stories to bring the people back to the original plot of the story of God?

More tomorrow!  Stay tuned!

Lord,

You came to teach us with real talk about real life.  Thank you for all you said and did to teach us—to set the Story right.  Thank you for laying your life down for me, taking my place for the punishment I so deserved.  What kind of love is this?  Your deep love for us is the plot twist that many are not expecting.  Use us to spread the word of your unfailing love for us!  I’m yours.  I love to tell your Story!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen