John Calvin Commentary John 8:48

"The Jews answered and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon?" — John 8:48 (ASV)

Do we not say well? They show more and more how greatly they are stupefied by Satan; for, though they are fully convicted, still they are enraged, and are not ashamed to show that they are utterly desperate.

Besides, though they bring a double reproach against Christ, still they wish to do nothing more than to say in a few words that he is a detestable man and that he is driven by a wicked spirit. The Jews regarded the Samaritans as apostates and corrupters of the Law; and therefore, whenever they wished to stamp a man with infamy, they called him a Samaritan.

Having no crime more heinous, therefore, to reproach Christ with, they seize at random, and without judgment, this vulgar taunt. To express it in a few words, we see that with effrontery they curse him, as men are accustomed to do when, infuriated like enraged dogs, they cannot find anything to say.