June 19, 2023
A Good Kind of Schism
“A division occurred again among the Jews because of these words. Many of them were saying, ‘He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?’ Others were saying, ‘These are not the sayings of one demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can he?’”
John 10:19-21 (NASB)
As I have said before, church division is never a good thing, except under one condition. Those who are exposed as false teachers. The church today should take heart of these words as it is happening today. It would seem to be something new today, but false teachers have been around since Jesus’ time. The difference today is media which makes it well known. In the past one only heard about it when a big-name pastor fell, and it gained national attention. Today, anyone can access the internet and find these stories.
“Many of them were saying…” “Others were saying...” This is the second time a rift is seen in the crowd of Jews. The first event occurred in chapter 7:12, “There was much grumbling among the crowds concerning Him; some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He leads the people astray.” In this passage, when Jesus saw the Jews were plotting to kill Him, he departed and went another way after his brothers left for the feast in Jerusalem. When His brothers arrived, John tells us the Jews were already looking for Jesus. They were seeking a way to accuse Him and “seize Him” (7:30). There were still those in the crowd who were divided about Jesus’ identity. The change in today’s story is the increasing temper of the Jews. The tone had now become more violent as the conversations with Jesus angered them more. They were losing control of the crowds of Jews who gathered to hear Jesus. This “division” (vs. 19), or schisma meaning a split, caused a figurative division or tearing apart of the crowds.[1] Merriam Webster defines this in modern terms as: “a formal division in or separation from a church or religious body.”[2] And each time Jesus spoke, they were losing more of their members or constituents. “Once again, the Jews were divided. Some maintained He was raving mad, driven by a demon. But there were others who insisted that no demon or person possessed by a demon ever opened the eyes of the blind.”[3] And they had good reasoning to believe the latter. God had always been against evil, and how would evil cast out evil?
When we began today’s reading, I couldn’t help but think of the schism that occurred that day when Jesus addressed the crowds. He caused that schism, but it was for a reason. There were false teachers in the midst. The original teachings of the Pharisees were not harmful in their basic beliefs, but it was the rejection of the true Messiah which was the problem. Jesus gave them more than enough proof to allow them to examine His teachings. They could have listened. They could have fact checked His background. If they did, they would have found He is Messiah, but they didn’t. He threatened their existence as He exposed their hypocrisy. As He exposed the hypocrisy in their ways, their anger was only fueled more, and they would go to the next stage in their hatred for Him. Did it stop Jesus? Absolutely not. He was on a mission, and it came from His Heavenly Father. Would you take a stand today for Jesus? God’s Word divides (Heb. 4:12).
[1] Thomas, R. L. (1998). In New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Foundation Publications, Inc.
[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schism.
[3] Foster, L. (1987). John: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (p. 116). Standard.