BEING MISUNDERSTOOD

"They said, He is beside himself." What had He done the seemed insane to them? It could not have been His signs and mighty works--men do not count a man demented for that. Indeed His works were the best proof that He was not insane. "And many of them said, He hath a demon and is made; 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?" (John 10:20, 21). But the manner of His life, perfectly devoted to the Father's will, and the truth which He spoke, which sounded so strange to their ears; also the high place He claimed for Himself, and His demand that they should have faith in Him--that was the reason they thought Him crazed.

Who thought He was "beside Himself"? If it had been His enemies only it would have been natural. But it was His friends, those who knew and loved Him best. That was hard to bear. In verses 31-35, His mother and His brethren tried to get Him off to Himself--for what purpose is not stated, but in the light of v. 21, and judging by the way He ignored their attempt, it was for no worthy reason. The Lord Jesus did not even send them an answer. He merely said to His hearers that He acknowledged only those as mother and brethren who hear the word of God and do it.

Where all is wrong, the right seems odd and strange. Where falsehood has right of way the truth is evil spoken of. Where all are selfish and sinful a pure and true life looks abnormal. Paul, accused of being beside himself, gave an explanation of his life that the love of Christ constrained him to do as He did. That sort of life demands explanation. (2 Cor. 5:13-15). Even among fairly good people a truly devoted life and an unselfish work, is looked on with a little secret misgiving, as a sort of mild insanity. Partly because there is so much that is false and fanatical, a man would be counted as "beside himself" if he should really love the Lord his God with all his heart and soul and strength and his neighbor as himself. Such a one must be content to be misunderstood and misjudged as Jesus was.