The Last Chapter
The four Gospels uniquely add an extra chapter to the biography of Jesus, showing that the biographer is not finished writing the story of His life.
A.W. Tozer explores the unique structure of the Gospels, noting that while they follow the traditional format of biography by detailing Jesus' life, they astonishingly include an additional chapter that recounts His resurrection. This addition defies the conventions of biography, as it presents a living Jesus after His death, emphasizing the transformative power of His resurrection. Tozer highlights that this extraordinary element signifies that Jesus' story does not end with His death, but rather continues in a new and powerful way, offering hope and life to believers. The Gospels, therefore, not only document Jesus' life but also proclaim the reality of His ongoing presence and influence in the world.
Text
The four Gospels tell the story of the life and ministry of Jesus, and in so doing, they follow accurately the ordinary course of biography, giving the facts of His birth, growth, work, death and burial. That is the way with biography: the very word itself suggests it, for it comes from bios, life, and graphein, to write, and means the written history of a person's life. So says Noah Webster. Now, when we look at the Gospels we note an odd--and wonderful--thing. An extra chapter is added.
Why? Biography, by its own definition, must confine itself to the record of the life of an individual. That part of the book which deals with the family tree is not biography, but history, and that part which follows the record of the subject's death is not biography either. It may be appraisal, or eulogy, or criticism, but not biography, for the reason that the "bios" is gone: the subject is dead. The part that tells of his death is properly the last chapter. The only place in world literature where this order is broken is in the four Gospels.
They record the story of the man Jesus from birth to death, and end like every other book of biography has ended since the art of writing was invented. . . . They all agree: Jesus was dead. The life about which they had been writing was gone. The biography was ended. Then, for the only time in this history of human thought, a biographer adds to his book a new section which is authentic biography and begins to write a chapter to follow the last chapter. . . .
Sermon Outline
- The Definition of Biography
- The Ordinary Course of Biography
- The Four Gospels and the Extra Chapter
- The Gospels record the life of Jesus from birth to death
- They end with the death of Jesus, which is the last chapter
- The biographer adds a new section to write a chapter after the last chapter
Key Quotes
“The only place in world literature where this order is broken is in the four Gospels.” — A.W. Tozer
“They all agree: Jesus was dead. The life about which they had been writing was gone. The biography was ended.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We should not be satisfied with just knowing the facts about Jesus' life, but we should also seek to understand the significance of His death and resurrection.
- The extra chapter in the Gospels reminds us that the story of Jesus' life is not yet finished, and we are still living in the time of His life and ministry.
- As believers, we are called to continue the story of Jesus' life by living out His teachings and sharing the Good News with others.