“And they clothed him with purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns they put it on his head; and they began to acclaim him saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews’.”

                                                                                                Mark 15:17-18

I remember in a seminary class learning about the use of rhetorical tools in preaching. One of the most memorable ways to show an example of something is through irony. The teacher told us for the next class, he wanted us to find examples of irony, and I still have those notes from that class all those years ago because I found them so fascinating.

On the McDonald’s employee health page (now shut down) . . . it once warned against eating burgers and fries from McDonald’s.

Every year, ABC cuts out small portions of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” – a special about the over-commercialization of Christmas – to make room for more commercials.

Wearing a disguise, Charlie Chaplin once entered a “Charlie Chaplin Walk Contest”. He came in 20^th.

The Cult Awareness Hotline . . . is owned by the Church of Scientology.

Al Capone’s older brother . . . was a federal Prohibition agent.

The only losing coach in the history of the University of Kansas basketball program . . . is James Naismith, the man who invented the game.

The first man to survive going over Niagara Falls in a barrel . . . died when he slipped and fell on an orange peel.

The author of a book about how to survive the running of the bulls at Pamplona . . . was gored by a bull three weeks after publication of the book.

The founder of match.com was encouraging everyone he knew to try it and see how it worked. His girlfriend did, and she left him for a guy she met on the website.

In 1990, the retiring CEO of Crayola Crayons, after 35 years at the company . . . revealed that he was colorblind.

The most shoplifted book in the world is . . . the Bible.

Irony is a part of life, and it’s even a part of our faith. On the day when Jesus was crucified, the soldiers and the officials and crowd placed Him in purple, the color of royalty, they made Him a mock crown of thorns, and they hung a sign above Him assigning Him the title “King of the Jews”. Yet in mocking Him this way, they never realized that they were indeed bringing His eternal reign to pass.

God can and does work good in all circumstances. Even the death of His Son. Thanks be to a God who turns defeat into triumph, and evil into good.

“Father, Thank You for Your amazing power and grace. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Grace,

Rev. Dan