Narrative Analysis of John 18:28 - 19:16a Part III (Irony)
Continuing our narrative analysis of this passage in the Gospel of John, today we will look at the irony involved in it. Irony in the Gospel of John is the largest of all the rhetoric. Here are links to the previous parts if you need to catch up.
Part 1 - Introduction | Part 2 - Rhetoric
Irony
Of all the rhetorical devices employed in the narrative and even of all the narrative elements themselves, the element of irony appears to be used most strongly in this pericope. Resseguie notes that in the passion and death of Christ the “making strange effect of irony is perhaps most poignant.”1 The evangelist is a master at using irony to get his meaning across; an element that “turns on its head superficial judgments.”2 He uses irony to illustrate his point of view and larger themes of the narrative –Jesus is king, Jesus is God, Jesus is man, and Jesus is judge –and at the same time demonstrates that while on the surface Pilate and the Jews appear to be in control, they lose control and Jesus gains it as his execution draws closer.3
Irony is found at the outset of the pericope. When the Jews bring Jesus to Pilate, they themselves do not enter the praetorium in order to avoid ritual defilement. While leading Jesus, the one sent by God as the Passover lamb, to his death “they meticulously hold fast to their ceremonial prescriptions.”4 In delivering Jesus to the Roman authorities the Jews attempt to “prevent all men from coming to believe in him (xi 48), but ironically they are lifting him up so that he can draw all men to himself.”5 They are determined to “extinguish” the light through the death of Christ, yet ironically it is through that death the light will be seen all the more.6 “His persecutors think that they are taking Him to the judge; but they themselves are being led and judged.”7 The evangelist uses irony to show that Christ is indeed king and sovereign and the cross is the way chosen by God to draw all men to him.
When Pilate questions Jesus, the judge who decides life and death (cf. John 5:19ff), he is ironically being interrogated by a man who, by the world standards, is a judge holding the power of life and death.8 When Pilate asks what truth is and walks away, the reader understands that, ironically, Jesus is the answer to his question.9 The point of view of the evangelist is apparent through the irony: Jesus is the judge and the truth.
The irony in the call for and release of Barabbas is two-fold. First, we learn that Barabbas is a robber. This causes the reader to recall Jesus’ earlier words about the Good Shepherd in chapter 10. The Jews have rejected the true shepherd and ironically call out for a robber who enters the sheepfold another way.10 Secondly the irony is that “the crowds call for the release of a man who has committed murder in his struggle against Rome, while condemning a man falsely accused of being a danger to Rome.”11 Pilate is now forced to make a “travesty of justice by releasing one who is guilty.”12 The rejection of Jesus by the Jews is intensified through this irony.
The mocking and scourging of Jesus also contains irony. Pilate states that Jesus is innocent before and after this scene, yet he is half-killing him.13 Additionally, the soldiers, out of mockery, declare Jesus the king of the Jews. The irony is that while they meant it in jest, it is in fact the truth.14 Brown goes so far as to suggest the possibility that the evangelist is giving “a sign that the Gentiles will ultimately confess the kingship of Jesus.”15 Indeed it is in this suffering “that Jesus revealed his royalty and the glory of a love that gives itself to the uttermost for the redemption of a world that knows not what it does.”16 The evangelist’s use of irony illustrates this point of view.
Pilate’s presentation of Jesus to the Jews as “the Man” is ironic because Pilate intends one thing and the evangelist shows another. Rudolf Bultmann says it well: “That is the man! Look at the pitiful figure! But to the mind of the Evangelist the entire paradox of the claim of Jesus is in this way fashioned into a tremendous picture. In very truth, such a man it is who asserts that he is the king of truth.”17 For the evangelist it this man is the Word made flesh who is at this time and in this way revealing his glory.18 Ironically, the Jews’ long wait for their messiah is being completed through their condemnation of this man.19 The Jews’ response to Pilate holds a taste of irony: while all other Jewish claims against Jesus are false, this clam (that Jesus made himself to be the Son of God) is true, yet the Jews ironically do not believe his claim.20 Jesus is indeed the man, yet he is more than just a man, he is the Son of God.21
Pilate, with all his boasts of the power to release, is now incapable of such despite his contention of Jesus’ innocence.22 When Pilate attempts to release Jesus, the Jews protest calling upon Pilate’s loyalty to Caesar; the Jews, hardly loyal subjects themselves, ironically try to teach Pilate a lesson on the authority of the emperor.23 Pilate speaks more than he knows by asking the Jews if they want him to crucify their king.24 Jesus is the king, but the Jews rejected him and Pilate is ironically subjected to their will.
The Jewish call for Jesus’ death and renouncement of any king but Caesar takes place at the same time as the preparations for the Passover festival were beginning. Duke notes that it is “terribly ironic” that they should abandon the faith at precisely this moment.25 The apparent victories of the Jews over Jesus and Pilate over the Jews are both ironic. For in this worldly victory over Jesus the Jews have fulfilled his call to be “lifted up” so that all may be drawn to him, and in gaining the allegiance of the Jews to the state, Pilate has forfeited the authority and justice of his office.26 The trial of Jesus has really been that of Pilate and the Jews –both have “been found wanting” ironically leading to Jesus’ victory as he is “lifted up.”27 It has demonstrated the evangelist’s point of view that Jesus is the king and the judge.
1 Resseguie 2001, 36.
2 Ibid., 30.
3 Duke 1985, 127 notes Pilate’s sinking further into complicity with Jesus’ execution as he proclaims his innocence louder. It is as though he is losing his power and control. He also notes a double downward movement of the Jews and Pilate at the same time as Jesus’ ironic elevation.
4 Bultmann 1971, 652. Duke 1985, 128; Moloney 1998, 494; Schnackenburg 1990, 244; Beasley-Murray 1999, 327-328; Bernhard 1929, 606; Carson 1991, 589 all agree with this irony. Brown 1970, 866 agrees with the irony and furthers it by suggesting that in delivering Christ they are unwittingly making the Passover possible. Ridderbos 1997, 589 notes the irony but states that it is questionable whether the Fourth Gospel intended Jesus’ death to be viewed as the death of the Passover lamb.
5 Brown 1970, 867. Additionally, Beasley-Murray 1999, 328 echoes this irony noting that the Evangelist “sees in the death of Jesus by crucifixion God’s way of fulfilling his purpose to ‘lift up’ Jesus…”
6 Ibid., 867. Duke 1985, 129 also notes this as a larger irony of the Gospel for what the Jews are doing out of desire to stop Jesus is in fact the way chosen long ago “to gather the world unto himself.”
7 Luthi, Walter. St John’s Gospel: An Exposition. Translated by Kurt Schoenenberger. Richmond, VA: John Knox Press, 1960, 290.
8 Bultmann 1971, 655. Duke 1985, 129 adds that Pilate, while despising the Jews is on his way to joining them. Carson 1991, 593 also notes that while Pilate distrusts and despises the Jews, “in the course of the narrative he is eventually forced to adopt their position.”
9 Duke 1985, 131. He also notes the possibility that Pilate’s question is left unanswered as a way of allowing the reader to “reflect upon what –and who –the Answer is.”
10 Ibid., 131 (cf. John 10:1). Brown 1970, 872 also notes this irony.
11 Carson 1991, 596. Duke 1985, 131; Bultmann 1971, 658; Beasley-Murray 1999, 333; Schnackenburg 1990, 253 all note this irony. Ridderbos 1997, 599 additionally notes that by this the Jews “discard their pretense that their indictment against Jesus arose from concern for maintaining the political and social order.”
12 Brown 1970, 872.
13 Duke 1985, 132.
14 Moloney 1998, 495; Brown 1970, 889; Carson 1991, 598.
15 Brown 1970, 889.
16 Beasley-Murray 1999, 336-337.
17 Bultmann 1971, 659. Bernhard 1929, 618 notes the phrase “the man” is meant to say “See, the poor fellow!”
18 Carson 1991, 598; Beasley-Murray 1999, 337. In this pitiful state that Pilate presents Jesus as evidence that he is judicially irrelevant is the way that the evangelist presents Jesus as bringing the kingdom of heaven to all men.
19 Brown 1970, 890.
20 Moloney 1998, 499. Brown 1970, 891 also notes irony in the fact that the powerful representative of Rome is reduced to apprehension over a man in such a pitiful state by the declaration that he claims to be the Son of God.
21 Resseguie 2001, 38 points out that there are “ironic overtones that highlight his humanity and the fact that he is more than a man.”
22 Duke 1985, 133; Schnackenburg 1990, 261; Brown 1970, 894
23 Moloney 1998, 496; Carson 1991, 603. Beasley-Murray 1999, 340 notes that it is ironic that the Jews should succeed in embarrassing Pilate in this way.
24 Carson 1991, 605.
25 Duke 1985, 135. Brown 1970, 895; Beasley-Murray 1999, 341 also note this irony.
26 Ibid., 136 quotes Heinrich Schlier.
27 Moloney 1998, 497.
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