"19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words.20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”"
John 10:19-21
Throughout John's gospel we have seen that from the beginning of our Lord's ministry there was division among the people and the rulers about Him, and this is again underlined in these verses. Always there was the conflict between light and darkness, with some being drawn to Him and others reacting more or less violently in opposition against Him. Light, as we said, is a torture to diseased eyes, but a gladdening thing to healthy ones. And those who could see kept seeing more, and those who could not became more and more darkened till the cleavage was complete. The earlier words of 3:19 are very pertinent here. The Jews' words in 20 are very frightening. What was it in what our Lord said that made them feel He had a devil? Surely, the evident manifestation of the supernatural in His words and demeanour. His 'I am's' must certainly have made a terrific impact when they were first heard, and the use of the Old Testament divine Name must have been profoundly disturbing to His hearers. But their reaction marks the measure of the danger in which they stood; for face-to-face with absolute, incarnate goodness they could not see it to be good but thought it was of the devil. This comes perilously close to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The danger point is reached when there is a blurring of the distinction between good and evil, and men call good evil and evil good. The other reaction in 21 is equally significant. Not only do their words show that some discernment was at work in them, but also that they were making an assessment of the situation in rational terms. They were recognising that it was prejudice and hardened bigotry that prompted the judgment that He had a devil; fair, rational appraisal arrived at a very different estimate. For His words rang true and obliged the conclusion that He was what He said He was.