The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, ”He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
But others said, ”These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
You can understand why someone might think Jesus was a bit unhinged. Talking about taking laying his life down and taking it up again clearly is the talk of a madman, unless, of course, he really was who he said he was. But that couldn’t be … could it? Naw… The man must be crazy!
In those days, “crazy” was spelled D-E-M-O-N. Why else would someone say something so bizarre if they were not “possessed” or under the control of a power outside the realm of humans? But even here, on this point, the Jews are admitting that there are forces beyond human knowledge and sight. Forces of the spiritual realm that influence the human realm. It is as if they already believed that humans were subject to the spiritual realm.
Because of this chink in their logical armor, there was disagreement between them. Jesus had done so many good and amazing things. “Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Let’s Discuss: If you had been standing with the Jews in that crowd, what could have been said that might have helped them understand?
Lol. My last post was crazy. I’m on a roll and nobody knows it. If they thought that he was crazy they have so much more to see if they follow him.