There are three ways to tell a story: 

1. From the beginning toward the mysterious, unknown future; 

2. From the present looking back and forward;

3. From the ends, looking backward. 

In Heaven, there are no stories because, being eternal and outside of time, all of time is seen as present. What we know as a story requires a sequence of events unfolding in past, present, and future. Every story we know has a beginning, a middle, and an end. 

The narrative walks us from the beginning “Once Upon a Time,” through the middle with its conflicts and action, toward its end, usually a satisfying conclusion. If the end has no resolution, we’re left hanging in the air disappointed, even anxious. 

When our favorite, binge-worthy cable series reaches the end of the season with a cliff-hanger, we can be peeved that we will have to wait eight months before we find that resolution. There are those strange stories that start at the end and walk you through how things developed, or stories where you enter in the middle of the narrative and must have the past unfolded for you bit by bit, but we all long for a good ending, which means a resolution of the tension, the end of a war, or the couple getting married with the promise of living happily ever after. 

All four of the gospels are written in the past tense, from the end looking back. They are victory stories, like Americans talking about World War II or Vikings at their celebration banquet toasting their latest conquest. You may have gone out for pizza after your Dodgers won the World Series. What did you talk about? A play-by-play review of all the best moments and a celebration of the greatest players. The gospels are all this kind of story. 

The original audience—the first and second-century readers—already knew how the story ends. They already know and believe in Jesus’ passion, resurrection, ascension, and Pentecost. The gospels were written to keep the story straight and true. They were written to shape right thinking about God in Christ. 

As Christianity spread to pagan countries and cultures, many elements of the story were unavoidably spun by pagan ideas. The gospels mean to set the record straight and to guide the story’s trajectory. They were written as proclamations for all humankind as the faith spread throughout the ancient world. In this sense, they were (and are) statements of faith instead of objective journalism or plain history. 

The central theme of all four gospels is the same: Jesus is Christ, Lord, and God. Miss that point, and the rest is irrelevant because the entire narrative exists to reveal and support that central theme in every detail and sequence. To know Jesus is to know God Almighty. To not know Jesus is to still be wondering and guessing about God. 

The gospels’ purpose is to proclaim that Jesus is Lord. The story is told from the victor’s perspective, looking back, which means the story is resolved; it is no cliff-hanger; it is not waiting for another season to explain the previous seasons’ tensions. 

Yet they do look forward, for as long as there is an Earth and Heaven, the story continues to play out. But unlike American movies, it is not building up toward its climax but winding down like the 3rd and 4th acts of a Shakespearean play. We already know how the story ends. We know Who stands there to greet us when Heaven and Earth finish God’s purposes for them. 

So we gather at the great table, like Vikings in their great hall, or Dodgers fans at the pizza parlor post-win, or a gathering of old WWII vets—in great joy we lift our cups in gratitude, celebrating our win, retelling the story and offering a hallowed toast to our Champion and Hero who made all the difference, winning the game/war/story for us all.