I love a good twist. Whether it’s a book or a movie, I love it when the end of the story surprises me. But more specifically I love it when the end makes me understand everything that happened previously. I love the end of the Shawshank Redemption, because it reveals the unstoppable perseverance that was going on through all the terrible experiences that went before. I love the end of Now You See Me because it changes the meaning of the central relationships in the story. I love the end of any story that reveals that the good guys are the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys.

When I watched The Sixth Sense, I had been told there was a great twist. But that meant I was looking for it. And my wife spotted it 10 minutes in, and blurted it out. Now if you are a person like me who likes the surprise at the end, that is a disaster. But if you are the kind of person who reads the last page of the novel first, then that is what you want. All through the movie, I could see exactly what was going on, how I was supposed to be tricked, and how the characters were being deceived or trying to illuminate the situation.

The Bible says that history has a twist at the end. The people who seem most successful now are going to be revealed to be the least and vice versa. Or as Jesus said, “The first will be last, and the last will be first.” This is not a surprise we want. But even with the Bible blurting out the end, I still need help to see the real significance of what is happening. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to do this!

“When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.” (John 16:8-11)