If you are watching a movie or reading a good book, there is a literary device called dramatic irony that is often utilized. It’s that moment in your book or in the movie when you know the characters are going into a situation thinking one thing, but the reality of that situation is far different. This is when we yell at the people in the movie, “Don’t go in there! Don’t do it! That’s a really bad decision!”

There are many of these moments in the Gospel of John and the Apostle is very gifted at highlighting the painful, ironic realities of the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. Most of the characters in John think one thing, but the reality of that situation and the perspective of Jesus is far more momentous.