Do Not Allow Your Perception to Obscure the Truth

Note from today’s Bible reading: Mark 6

When Jesus returned to His hometown after beginning His public ministry, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and “began to teach” (Mark 6:1-2). There He found an audience made up of people who already knew who He was. Unfortunately, rather than accepting His message, they “took offense at Him” (Mark 6:3).

Why would the “many listeners” (Mark 6:2) in His hometown be offended at Jesus’ teaching? Notice what they were saying: “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:2-3). They acknowledged that Jesus was speaking wisdom and performing miracles. Yet because they only regarded Him as “the carpenter” from a local family, they rejected Him.

We need to be careful not to reject someone’s message simply because we are surprised – because of his background or other factors – that it is coming from him. Truth is not determined by one’s background; instead, it is determined by the word of God.

So do not allow your perception to obscure the truth. The people of Jesus’ hometown saw Him as nothing more than a carpenter, yet He was the Son of God who had the words of eternal life. We need to be open to learning from those who are speaking the words of Christ today and not consider them unqualified to teach us due to how we perceive them or their background.