Christ Causes Contention

We read that “there was a division among the Jews for His sayings” – and that “many of them said He hath a devil, and is mad,” while others took an opposite view [John 10:19–21]. It may seem strange, at first sight, that He who came to preach peace between God and man should be the cause of contention. But herein were His own words literally fulfilled – “I came not to send peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). The fault was not in Christ or His doctrine, but in the carnal mind of His Jewish hearers.

Let us never be surprised if we see the same thing in our own day. Human nature never changes. So long as the heart of man is without grace, so long we must expect to see it dislike the Gospel of Christ. Just as oil and water, acids and alkalis, cannot combine, so in the same way unconverted people cannot really like the people of God. “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). “The natural man does not perceive the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The servant of Christ must think it no strange thing if he goes through the same experience as his Master. He will often find his ways and opinions in religion the cause of strife in his own family. He will have to endure ridicule, harsh words, and petty persecution from the children of this world. He may even discover that he is thought a fool or a madman on account of his Christianity. Let none of these things move him. The thought that he is a partaker of the afflictions of Christ ought to steel him against every trial. “If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household” (Matthew 10:25).

—J.C. Ryle, ‘Expository Thoughts on John’