Jesus was rejected by His village people and relatives. It became almost impossible for Him to change the attitudes and perceptions of His own community. The next and the only alternative were to carry on His ministry through His disciples. This painful situation directs His attention fully to His disciples. Information and formation of disciples now becomes the main agenda for Jesus.

He instructs them and corrects them. He discusses and challenges them. He admonishes them and engages in debates. It was all exercises geared to the formation of his future messengers. Several topics are discussed with them. The immediate reality is the context of his rejection by His own. Jesus is processing the experience. Why they have rejected Him? Why He has accepted the rejection or non acceptance? What is its relevance in His mission and his disciples?

The pain and rejection is a precious moment of realization of the fundamental elements of life. His ministry can now be carried only by His disciples. The disciples are asked to perform works similar to those in His ministry: preaching, teaching, expelling demons and anointing and healing. They need to understand the challenges of this new mission. He asks them not to take bread but give bread, not to take money with them but give away all that they get to the people in need. They are asked to depend totally on the goodwill of the people by identifying with them in their poverty and lack of steady resources. They are asked to preach the gospel of repentance – the message of total dependence on God and renunciation of power and money and all sorts of structural security. The central message of the Master is this: trust in people not in money. True purpose of life is not pleasure but the bliss and peace born out of realization of one’s true nature – a vulnerability that invites a life of coexistence and harmony. The insidious effect of living in a worldly atmosphere and the tendency to look outward slowly steals away beauty of the inner dance of the divine energy in the disciple. Renunciation is never a loss but a source of strength.

Disciples are asked not to rely on their own resources but on the authority that has been given to them and hospitality that will be offered to them. They have to recognize the core reality of their existence that they are vulnerable and their vulnerability can not be decimated by accumulating temporal goods. They have to step out from the familiar domain of the known and venture into the ambiguity and darkness of the unknown. They have to break down the fortresses and fossilized rituals to reach the realm of the spirit and truth. They have to walk on the streets stained by the blood of the rebels. They have only promises of hope and life. They have of course faith in their wounded healer.

The poverty of the messenger is an essential condition of evangelization. It is this condition that the Disciples of Christ have rejected and still reject in establishing big networks that provide security and power as in the case of multinational companies. We tend to take precautions and security measures, to settle in and enjoy privileges which, paradoxically, may come in from society from the evangelizing task itself.

The prophets have the perennial call to confront this world’s powers, both secular and religious, when they mistreat and exploit the people. To prophet Amos God said, “Go and prophesy”. Amos blames the congregation for its social injustices, and consequently he is expelled from the sanctuary. Amos fulfills his mission whether or not it pleases the powerful. In this task, he trusts only in God and not in money. Only a profound sense of God, the rejection of every social or economic privileges, an authentic personal poverty, a ‘nonprofessional’ practice of evangelizing role will enable us to give the testimony leading to conversion ( Mk 6;12).

Repentance is much more difficult for the community than for the individual. Community usually rejects the call for change by chasing away the agents of change. Challenging the oppressive structures brings in a healing and harmony which are destroyed by man’s reckless dependence on power and money. Healing is not just physical condition; it is much more an emotional and social condition of integration and growth. It is natural to expel and kill the prophets. It is not natural to accept the prophets and listen to them.