The gospel story

In recent years, I've become more interested in understanding the structure of Biblical books, especially the gospels and Acts.

i.e. not just "what does it directly say", but "how is it structured, and why?". Why? Because that's also a part of what it says. The way we present something says something. As a trivial example, what is included and what is left out tells you something - evidently, the gospels focus upon Jesus' ministry, death and resurrection, with only minimal attention given to any other events of his life on earth before his ministry began after his birth.

I was reading the end of Matthew's gospel this morning, and reflecting on this. The gospel ends with the "Great Commission", which gives the church its marching orders. (The right way to understand the contents of the Great Commission is in terms of what is then recorded in Acts and the Epistles, by the way!).

One interesting factor is that at the end of the gospels, Jesus' Messiahship and kingdom are still "hidden", in terms of any open revelation to the world at large. He did not appear in the Sanhedrin, the Temple Courts, or anywhere else in Jerusalem to announce his assumption of all authority throughout the universe. He has conquered, and gained his kingdom: but it is for disciples. Without faith in Christ, one cannot enter it, or live within it. The question is whether we believe; and Matthew, like the other gospel writers, makes this question explicit in his narrative, including recording the initial unbelief of the apostles upon hearing the first reports of Christ's resurrection.

The story, too, is in an important sense unfinished, just as Acts is. It does not end with Christ's revelation to the world in glory, nor with the church having finished its mission. At the end of the gospel(s), the apostles have seen and believed - but now the whole question posed by the writing and reading of the gospel is "do you believe, and how will you respond if you do?" At the end of Acts, there's no glorious vindication for Paul - he's in prison - but, the story goes on, asking us "now that the gospel has come even to Rome, the empire's centre, how do you respond to it? It comes clothed in the garb of a prisoner, and there's no certainty offered as to the earthly outcomes - but you cannot ask to have all that resolved for you before you make your decision." In classic movies, the story-line's loose ends get tied up before the end.... but, in the gospels and Acts, we don't reach the end. That's still to come: Christ has not yet returned. We're still in the outworking of his resurrection and ascension. Following him and proclaiming him involve being disbelieved, suffering, and a call to faithfulness nevertheless, because Christ will be with us until the end of the age. Again - where will the story of Jesus go as you respond to what you've read? The story is unfinished, but every reader has a personal invitation to carry it on, to be a part of writing the next part of the story, and embracing what that might cost us as we interact with an unbelieving world, and a world that carries on with its own plans and power-plays.