We have spent the last little while in my New Testament class looking for ironies in the gospel of Mark. One irony, for example, is that women witnessed the death of Christ (Mark 15:40), they witnessed where he was buried (Mark 15:47) and they witnessed the empty tomb (Mark 16:4-7). They knew where He was buried, so it is not like they went to the wrong place. Women could not testify in court in the first century. The irony is that Christ chose as His witnesses, the ones who would not be able to testify in court.
As I was studying my scriptures today, I tried to look for some more ironies. I found one that I think might have been touched upon in class, but it finally "clicked" for me today. In John 15:13 it says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man layeth down his life for his friends." I have always read this as I was typically taught it: It shows how much Christ loves you because He died for you and He considers you His friend. A strict self-application.
That is all good and well, but today I applied it to others besides myself. I thought about how, on the night He died, those who should have been His best friends turned away from Him. Judas Iscariot, Peter, the rest of them. He layed down His life for His friends, just as they were denying Him. And He was also dying for all the people who contributed to His death, from the people who voted for His crucifixion to the one placing the nails. They brought to death the one who was dying for them.
What irony!
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