Isn’t it Ironic?
Irony - it comes in many shapes and sizes. What we usually refer to as 'irony' in the broadest sense, is situational irony. This is when something that is typically expected differs radically from what is actually the case.
Some examples of situational irony would be an airline pilot having a fear of heights, or a traffic cop getting his license suspended because of unpaid parking tickets. Or, as Alanis Morrisette's epic single called 'Ironic' from 1996 puts it, 'It's like rain on your wedding day' or, 'It's a black fly in your Chardonnay'. Actually, neither of those two incidents are ironic. Although I believe Alanis is an amazing artist, she has been greatly criticized for having very few 'ironic' examples in that song. Now, a song intending to be about irony with no real irony.... yup, you guessed it. (Maybe that was her intention? If so, brilliant,) Anyway, you get the idea. :-))
Ironic situations often get us to contemplate. They make us think about the strange ways life plays out. It's no surprise that God often uses irony in His Word. God uses it not just to get us to 'think', but He uses it to emphasize and to reveal the multilayered teachings the scriptures give us. However, it's not situational irony that the Word uses often, it's dramatic irony. And this is exactly what we find John employing frequently in the Fourth Gospel.
John, in my opinion, was a genius writer. I'm sure the Holy Spirit chose him for many reasons, but his incredible knowledge of God's entire narrative of scripture, and his writing style of subtly incorporating structure and terminology to get our minds rushing back through the major themes of the bible - it's pretty mind blowing. We've seen him do it in almost every chapter so far.
John loves to echo big themes from the Old Testament. Particularly those themes in Genesis and Exodus that point us to Jesus as the true, returning Covenant God of Israel.
John uses words that instantly make us know that he truly believes that Jesus is God in the flesh. Phrases such as Jesus being 'the Word of God', Jesus being present 'In the beginning with God', Jesus as the 'Passover Lamb', 'the Bread of Life', etc., etc., all tell us that John wants us to know that Jesus is in fact Jehovah God, the promised Deliverer of Israel and the world. In chapter 9 he does all this not so much with direct language, but with the literary technique of dramatic irony.
Originally used in Greek tragedy, dramatic irony helps bring the full significance of a character's words or actions clearly to the surface for the reader, but the actual characters in the story are unaware of it.
In this case, John details almost his whole account of the healing miracle done on the Sabbath by layering in dramatic irony, that when uncovered by the reader, reveals a much deeper theological meaning of the blindness and sight discussed in the chapter - or should I say the blinding sight.
There are several aspects of dramatic irony in this story that we'll bring out in tomorrow's teaching, which I believe will give us a greater love and appreciation for why, how, where and when Jesus healed the blind beggar.
Read the entire ninth chapter of John and see if you can identify the underlying dramatic irony of the incident, reaction and conclusion of the story.
I'll give you a few hints: Jesus saying He must work on the Sabbath is an easy one. Another is the Pharisees judging Jesus, which incurs judgment on themselves. A more cryptic hint is the Garden of Eden - the opening of the eyes of Adam and Eve (who had sight) resulting in spiritual blindness, compared to the healing of the blind beggar resulting in spiritual sight. These are just a few. There are several more. I look forward to this eye opening passage of John 9:8-41! (I've been trying to take less chunks but this entire passage is so vitally connected, I couldn't help it. Sorry. I promise your eyes will stay open! LOL (Ok, stopping now. :-)
Don't forget, tomorrow we jump back into Sunday School @ 9:30 at FEFC and on Zoom. Both the youth and the adults will meet together in the sanctuary. Our topic will be 'Bible Reading Plans'.
Here is a link to the Bible Plans that will be reviewed in tomorrow's Sunday School presentation. There is also a link under 'Resources' on the website. I recommend you review and write down any questions. There will be a time of Q & A.
Let's all pray that the Lord will meet us in a special way tomorrow, preparing our hearts tonight to worship Him in thought, word and deed in tomorrow's service. He is so faithful to meet us every time, right?