John 8:48

John 8:48. The Jews answered and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon? To say that Jews were children of the devil seemed an insult, not to themselves only, but to God, whose children they believed themselves to be. No one but a Samaritan, filled with jealous hatred of the people of God, or one in whom dwelt a demon, one of the spirits whose sole aim was the subversion of God's kingdom, could utter such words as these. It is possible that the Jews may have heard something of our Lord's short sojourn in Samaria, and of the favour which He had then shown to that despised people: such a parable as that of the Good Samaritan (which was spoken at a time not far distant from that to which this chapter relates) may have been so used by enemies as to give colour to an accusation of favouring Samaria and slighting Judea. At all events it is clear that the name ‘Samaritan' was now frequently given to our Lord as a term of reproach. We must not overlook the fact that those who are now addressing Jesus are ‘the Jews,' not a part (John 8:31), but the Jews as a body.