Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37 / Matthew 13:54-58
We can't help it if we have biased presumptions about people.
We might generally presume that a university graduate is more intelligent than someone with just a secondary level education.
Or maybe a good writer is also a good speaker.
Or that a good student is also a good teacher.
That is what we might presume until we encounter otherwise.
And when we do encounter otherwise, what will be our reaction?
The people of the home town of Jesus knew Him only as a carpenter's son.
And for them, He will always be a carpenter's son and nothing more.
For them, a carpenter's son cannot have that kind of wisdom and that kind of power.
Very often when truth and reality come face to face with biasness and presumption, the casualty is often truth and reality.
The result is that people often get suppressed and rejected.
But the acceptance of truth has a liberation power.
Truth sets us free - free to be surprised by God, free to begin to wonder and to be astonished by the ways of God, free to see the reality of people as they are and also ourselves as we really are.