John 7:43

The division arose among the people, not among the rulers, because the rulers held to one opinion: not to accept Him as the Christ.

There was a division - Σχισμα, a schism; they were divided in sentiment, and separated into parties. This is the true notion of schism.

These verses show us, for one thing, how useless is knowledge in religion, if it is not accompanied by grace in the heart. We are told that some of our Lord's hearers knew clearly where Christ was to be born. They referred to Scripture, like men familiar with its contents. "Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" And yet the eyes of their understanding were not enlightened. Their own Messiah stood before them, and they neither received, nor believed, nor obeyed Him.

IT seems, then, that even when Christ was the Preacher, there was a division among the hearers, so we must not be surprised if the same result follows from ourpreaching. No doubt strife has sometimes been caused by a preacher's harshness of expression, or unwise utterances. He may have spoken unadvisedly, or provokingly, but if he did not, all would not be pleased, for even when Jesus spoke as never man spoke, all His hearers were not pleased.

These verses show us, for one thing, how useless is knowledge in religion, if it is not accompanied by grace in the heart. We are told that some of our Lord's hearers knew clearly where Christ was to be born. They referred to Scripture, like men familiar with its contents. "Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" And yet the eyes of their understanding were not enlightened. Their own Messiah stood before them, and they neither received, nor believed, nor obeyed Him. A certain degree of religious knowledge, beyond doubt, is of vast importance. Ignorance is certainly not the mother of true devotion, and helps nobody toward heaven. An "unknown God" can never be the object of a reasonable worship. Happy indeed would it be for Christians if they all knew the Scriptures as well as the Jews seem to have done, when our Lord was on earth! But while we value religious knowledge, we must take care that we do not overvalue it. We must not think it enough to know the facts and doctrines of our faith, unless our hearts and lives are thoroughly influenced by what we know. The very devils know the creed intellectually, and "believe and tremble," but remain devils still. (James 2:19.) It is quite possible to be familiar with the letter of Scripture, and to be able to quote texts appropriately, and reason about the theory of Christianity, and yet to remain dead in trespasses and sins. Like many of the generation to which our Lord preached, we may know the Bible well, and yet remain faithless and unconverted. Heart-knowledge, we must always remember, is the one thing needful. It is something which schools and universities cannot confer. It is the gift of God.

IT seems, then, that even when Christ was the Preacher, there was a division among the hearers, so we must not be surprised if the same result follows from ourpreaching. No doubt strife has sometimes been caused by a preacher's harshness of expression, or unwise utterances. He may have spoken unadvisedly, or provokingly, but if he did not, all would not be pleased, for even when Jesus spoke as never man spoke, all His hearers were not pleased. We truly say, "Many men, many minds" and, therefore, even when Christ spoke, "there was a division among the people because of Him." Nor was the division to be traced to the subject upon which Jesus was speaking at that time. There are some deep, mysterious subjects which seem calculated to stir up controversy, and you might say, "Whoever shall speak upon such a topic, even if the wise Solomon were to speak, he must create a division in any audience, if that should be his theme." But, in this case, with Christ for a Speaker, the subject was Himself. It was concerning Him that the schisma—the schism occurred. There was a schism among the people, not concerning predestination or free will—not concerning forms of church government—not concerning the modes of observing the ordinances, but,"because of Him." So, then, we may not expect unanimity among mankind, whoever shall be the speaker, or whatever may be the subject of address. And I am not quite sure that this is a result that is altogether to be regretted. I have heard of a whole parish in which there were no religious bickering because there was no religion! There were no religious strifes because nobody had anything worth striving for! And that is not a state of things over which I can rejoice. I dread the peace of the sepulcher far more than the battles of life.