Luke 9:14-45

¹⁴There were about five thousand men present. “Sit them down in groups of about fifty,” he told his disciples.

¹⁵The disciples did so, and everybody sat down.

¹⁶Jesus picked up the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed the food and broke it into pieces. He kept on giving the food to the disciples to share with the people.

¹⁷Everybody ate until they were full, and then twelve baskets of leftovers were collected.

¹⁸At another time, when Jesus was praying in private with just his disciples with him, he asked them, “All these crowds of people—who do they say I am?”

¹⁹“Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say one of the ancient prophets risen from the dead,” they replied.

²⁰“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” “God's Messiah,” Peter replied.

²¹Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anybody about this.

²²“The Son of man must experience terrible sufferings,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the religious teachers. He will be killed, but on the third day he will rise again.”

²³“If any one of you wants to follow me, you must deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, and follow me,” Jesus told all of them.

²⁴“For if you want to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for my sake, you will save it.

²⁵What do you benefit by gaining the whole world if you end up lost or destroyed?

²⁶If you are ashamed of me and my message, the Son of man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his glory, and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

²⁷I tell you the truth, some standing here won't taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁸About eight days later, after he had told them this, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a mountain to pray.

²⁹While he was praying, his face changed in appearance, and his clothing became a dazzling white.

³⁰Two men appeared in brilliant glory. They were Moses and Elijah, and they began to talk with Jesus.

³¹They spoke about his death, which would soon happen in Jerusalem.

³²Peter and the others were asleep. When they woke up they saw Jesus in his glory, and the two men standing next to him.

³³As the two men were about to leave, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it's great to be here. Let's make some shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He really didn't know what he was saying.

³⁴While he was speaking a cloud came and spread over them. They were terrified as they entered the cloud.

³⁵A voice spoke from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him!”

³⁶When the voice finished speaking, Jesus was there alone. They kept this to themselves, and didn't tell anyone at that time what they'd seen.

³⁷The next day, when they had come down the mountain, a huge crowd was waiting to meet Jesus.

³⁸A man in the crowd called out, “Teacher, please look at my son. He's my only child.

³⁹A spirit possesses him and he screams immediately. It sends him into convulsions and makes him foam at the mouth. It hardly ever leaves him alone and it causes him a lot of pain.

⁴⁰I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't.”

⁴¹“What an unbelieving and corrupt people you are! How long do I have to remain here with you, and put up with you?” said Jesus. “Bring your son here.”

⁴²Even as the boy came over, the demon sent him into convulsions, throwing him to the ground. But Jesus intervened, rebuking the evil spirit and healing the boy, and then gave him back to his father.

⁴³Everyone was amazed at this demonstration of God's power. However, even though everyone was amazed by all he did, Jesus warned his disciples,

⁴⁴“Listen carefully to what I'm telling you: the Son of man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”

⁴⁵But they didn't understand what this meant. Its meaning was hidden from them so they didn't realize its implications, and they were afraid to ask him about it.