Luke
9
- When Jesus had called the Twelve together,
he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,
- and he sent them out to preach the kingdom
of God and to heal the sick.
- He told them: "Take nothing for the
journey--no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.
- Whatever house you enter, stay there until
you leave that town.
- If people do not welcome you, shake the
dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them."
- So they set out and went from village to
village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
- Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that
was going on. And he was perplexed, because some were saying that John had
been raised from the dead,
- others that Elijah had appeared, and still
others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life.
- But Herod said, "I beheaded John. Who,
then, is this I hear such things about?" And he tried to see him.
- When the apostles returned, they reported
to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew
by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,
- but the crowds learned about it and followed
him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed
those who needed healing.
- Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to
him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding
villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote
place here."
- He replied, "You give them something
to eat." They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two
fish--unless we go and buy food for all this crowd."
- (About five thousand men were there.) But
he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty
each."
- The disciples did so, and everybody sat
down.
- Taking the five loaves and the two fish
and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them
to the disciples to set before the people.
- They all ate and were satisfied, and the
disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
- Once when Jesus was praying in private and
his disciples were with him, he asked them, "Who do the crowds say I
am?"
- They replied, "Some say John the Baptist;
others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago
has come back to life."
- "But what about you?" he asked.
"Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "The Christ of God."
- Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this
to anyone.
- And he said, "The Son of Man must suffer
many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the
law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
- Then he said to them all: "If anyone
would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and
follow me.
- For whoever wants to save his life will
lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.
- What good is it for a man to gain the whole
world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
- If anyone is ashamed of me and my words,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the
glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
- I tell you the truth, some who are standing
here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God."
- About eight days after Jesus said this,
he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray.
- As he was praying, the appearance of his
face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.
- Two men, Moses and Elijah,
- appeared in glorious splendor, talking with
Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment
at Jerusalem.
- Peter and his companions were very sleepy,
but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing
with him.
- As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said
to him, "Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one
for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he
was saying.)
- While he was speaking, a cloud appeared
and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud.
- A voice came from the cloud, saying, "This
is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him."
- When the voice had spoken, they found that
Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves, and told no one at
that time what they had seen.
- The next day, when they came down from the
mountain, a large crowd met him.
- A man in the crowd called out, "Teacher,
I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child.
- A spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams;
it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth. It scarcely
ever leaves him and is destroying him.
- I begged your disciples to drive it out,
but they could not."
- "O unbelieving and perverse generation,"
Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring
your son here."
- Even while the boy was coming, the demon
threw him to the ground in a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the evil spirit,
healed the boy and gave him back to his father.
- And they were all amazed at the greatness
of God. While everyone was marveling at all that Jesus did, he said to his
disciples,
- "Listen carefully to what I am about
to tell you: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men."
- But they did not understand what this meant.
It was hidden from them, so that they did not grasp it, and they were afraid
to ask him about it.
- An argument started among the disciples
as to which of them would be the greatest.
- Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little
child and had him stand beside him.
- Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes
this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes
the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all--he is the greatest."
- "Master," said John, "we
saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because
he is not one of us."
- "Do not stop him," Jesus said,
"for whoever is not against you is for you."
- As the time approached for him to be taken
up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.
- And he sent messengers on ahead, who went
into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him;
- but the people there did not welcome him,
because he was heading for Jerusalem.
- When the disciples James and John saw this,
they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy
them?"
- But Jesus turned and rebuked them,
- and they went to another village.
- As they were walking along the road, a man
said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
- Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
- He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
- Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury
their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
- Still another said, "I will follow
you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
- Jesus replied, "No one who puts his
hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Back |
Home |
Next