Does God ever use irony?

[joshrp]

Hi,

I once was having a conversation with a friend and she brought up the story of the rich young man and how when he called Jesus “Good teacher” Jesus responded, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God.” And my friend was thinking that Jesus was insinuating that He is not God.

I said to her that I think Jesus was being ironical. My friend said “It doesn’t seem like God should ever be ironical.”

What do you think of this? Does God ever use irony in Scripture?

And on this note, could someone give me a better idea of what irony is, and how it is used in communicating ideas in ways that could not be conveyed in any other manner?

Joshua

 

[Jmd96]

I don’t know if God uses irony, but here’s an excellent explanation for that verse:
tektonics.org/lp/mark1018.html

God bless,

 

[John_Russell_Jr]

… my dear friend ,

… it was just pointing out that only god is good , further jesus is god and hence good , but still further no man is good at all , remember jesus said " if you then whon are evil … " , man is evil and prone to evil , good and evil don’t actually exist in man , it is a part of a delusion we’re in , only love is reality in our woirld and for man , man being good or evil is only acting , god has made it sort of real outside reality in this delusion which is the loss of the garden of eden which is reality …

… god is good and much more but man fallen is evil and his real purpose is to try and return to being love , man is meant to be only free to do gods will which is love , good breeds evil and vice versa , you cannot have one without the other , but if man is who he is supposed to be which is perfectly sinless and natural and love and loving and only has free will to do gods will which is love he is being huimself …

… so jesus points this out in a hidden message and lets all know man is not really good ( or evil ) in reality , but god is many things man cannot be – and is not , and hence jesus declares himself as god inadvertently by saying only god is good , and later they realise trhis when they learn he is god , just my thoughts dear friend , hope it helps …

… may god bless and love you ,

… john …

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Hi,

I once was having a conversation with a friend and she brought up the story of the rich young man and how when he called Jesus “Good teacher” Jesus responded, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God.” And my friend was thinking that Jesus was insinuating that He is not God.

I said to her that I think Jesus was being ironical. My friend said “It doesn’t seem like God should ever be ironical.”

What do you think of this? Does God ever use irony in Scripture?

And on this note, could someone give me a better idea of what irony is, and how it is used in communicating ideas in ways that could not be conveyed in any other manner?

Joshua

Why wouldn’t God use irony? it’s finding humor in the difference between expectations and reality. It’s a form of humor, and humor is a creation of God and a gift to help us cope with the suffering we sometimes experience in life. Humor is a good thing, God didn’t create anything bad. (Although good things can be perverted and misused.) Jesus uses subtle, ironic, humor throughout scripture. (“If your right hand offends you, cut it off” - I don’t think He was being literal there.). (“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?")

Satan is the proud, unbending, humorless one. God must love to laugh.

 

[Umvard]

good breeds evil and vice versa , you cannot have one without the other

Entirely unorthodox, duality is heretical. Evil is the privation of God, it is the lack of something. Good is entirely and utterly real, it is only evil that is the false one. You should really study the basics of the faith, because this is a grave error. You sound like a Gnostic, not a Catholic.

 

[Nelka]

Does God ever use irony?

No.

 

[cap76]

Irony is an unexpected outcome. Jesus’ remark comes across as ironic because we never saw His response coming. Though His answer seems ironic to those of us who know that He is God, I don’t believe it was His intention. Jesus was answering someone who saw Jesus as a mere teacher and not God. And instead of demonstrating His deity, He simply stated that mere men are not good.

Even so, God does intentionally use irony to point out certain truths, especially those that expose man’s frailty and God’s power. For instance, consider Jesus’ miracles. Recall, for example, when Jesus turned the water into wine. The host of the wedding appreciated the irony as he had said, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”