John 10:20

And many of them said, He hath a demon, and is mad; why hear ye him? Others said, These are not the sayings of one possessed with a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?

One can feel a certain sympathy with the oppressed Jewish people who ardently hoped for some powerful leader, who they naturally supposed would be their long-awaited Messiah, who would throw off the galling yoke of the Roman conquerors and restore their state. Their rage and rejection against Jesus sprang from his being nothing like what they had imagined a Messiah would be. Instead of leading an all-powerful army against the enemy, here he was talking about dying and taking up his life again! They were simply not tuned in on any such wavelength. Some bluntly accused him of being mad or being possessed by a demon; and the voice of the minority who knew otherwise was not strong enough to break the personal barrier of hatred and antagonism which sinful and arrogant men had built up in themselves against Jesus.

These are not the sayings of one possessed with a demon ...

Can a demon open the eyes of the blind ... ? Such thoughts as these should have penetrated the hearts of the adamant majority but did not. The carnal mind is enmity against God, and the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God (Romans 7:7; 1 Corinthians 2:14). "The Scriptures had affirmed that only God could open the eyes of the blind (Exodus 4:11; Psalms 146:8)";[17] and despite the fact that Richardson does not exactly quote Scripture here, the word of God nevertheless supports his contention. It was a remarkable blindness indeed that could ascribe the healing of the blind man to any other power than that of God.

In the contrasting results of Jesus' words and works in Jerusalem, one sees the fulfillment of Paul's words that the gospel is life to some and death to others (2 Corinthians 2:15). As Ryle said, "We must not find fault with the gospel if it stirs up men's corruption and causes the thoughts of many hearts to be revealed (Luke 2:35)."[18] One amazing quality of the gospel is that men find it impossible to ignore it, however some may pretend to do so. It has the power to polarize men, making all of them either the friends of God or his enemies. Jerusalem could not ignore Christ. They had indeed a Visitor; and neither they nor their city could ever be the same again.

We should not leave this verse (John 10:21) and the question, "Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" without again emphasizing the connection between this entire passage and John 9. The miracle there described and the conversations following it dominate the coherent narrative from John 9:1 to this point. It was the false shepherd's behavior which led the Saviour to announce himself as the Good Shepherd. It was their judging the blind man and casting him out that led to Jesus' judgment of them. It was their evil character that led to the denunciation of them as thieves and robbers. It was their shutting the blind man out of the privileges of Judaism that prompted Jesus to open up for him the privilege of the new kingdom about to begin. It was their selfish disregard of the sheep that led Jesus to speak of his love for the sheep and of his laying down his life for them. It was their determination to kill the Lord that led to his announcement that no one could kill him. It was their domineering arrogance in the exercise of sacred privilege to which they had no moral right which led to the charge that they had climbed up some other way. All of this was an elaboration of the blindness with which Jesus charged them (John 9:41). One can only marvel at the wisdom (!) of some of the scholars who would scissor this section out of the context it fits so perfectly, and which context so dramatically interprets and explains it, leading one to surmise that perhaps the type of blindness that handicapped the Pharisees might still be found on earth.

Following this instructive section, some two months passed. Winter fell upon the Holy City, and the feast of the dedication came; but the time-lapse did not resolve the division that arose over Jesus. His old antagonists, the Pharisees, appeared once more, intent on winning an argument they had already lost.

[17] Alan Richardson, op. cit., p. 133.

[18] J. C. Ryle, op. cit., II, p. 18.