The Gospel of Luke 9
9
The Twelve sent out and the feeding of the five thousand
1Jesus called together the Twelve, and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2He sent them out to announce God’s kingdom and cure the sick.
3“Don’t take anything for the journey,” he said to them, “no stick, no bag, no bread, no money, no second cloak. 4Whenever you go into a house, stay there and leave from there. 5If anyone won’t receive you, go out of that town and wipe the dust off your feet as evidence against them.”
6So off they went, and traveled through the villages, announcing the good news and healing people everywhere.
7Herod the Tetrarch heard what was going on, and was very puzzled. Some people were saying that John had been raised from the dead. 8Others were saying that Elijah had appeared; still others, that one of the old prophets had arisen.
9“I beheaded John,” said Herod, “but I keep hearing all these things about this other fellow. Who is he?” And he tried to get to see him.
10The apostles returned and told Jesus what they had done. He took them off and went away privately to a town called Bethsaida. 11When the crowds discovered, they followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed it.
12As the day wore on, the Twelve came to Jesus.
“Send the crowd away,” they said, “so that they can go into the villages and countryside nearby, find somewhere to stay, and get something to eat. We’re in quite a lonely spot here.”
13“You give them something to eat,” he replied.
“All we’ve got here,” they said, “is five loaves and a couple of fishes—unless you mean we should go ourselves and buy food for all these people?” 14(There were about five thousand men.)
“Get them to sit down,” Jesus said to them, “in groups of around fifty each.”
15They did so, and everyone sat down. 16Then Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven, blessed the food, divided it, and gave it to the disciples to pass around the crowd. 17Everyone ate, and was satisfied. They took up twelve baskets of broken bits left over.
Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ messiahship
18When Jesus was praying alone, his disciples gathered around him.
“Who do the crowds say I am?” he asked them.
19“John the Baptist,” they responded. “And others say Elijah. Others say that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.”
20“What about you?” said Jesus. “Who do you say I am?”
“God’s Messiah,” answered Peter.
21He gave them strict and careful instructions not to tell this to anyone.
22“The son of man,” he said, “must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, and the chief priests, and the legal experts. He must be killed, and raised up on the third day.”
23He then spoke to them all. “If any of you want to come after me,” he said, “you must say no to yourselves, and pick up your cross every day, and follow me. 24If you want to save your life, you’ll lose it; but if you lose your life because of me, you’ll save it. 25What good will it do you if you win the entire world, but lose or forfeit your own self? 26If you’re ashamed of me and my words, the son of man will be ashamed of you, when he comes in the glory which belongs to him, and to the father, and to the holy angels.
27“Let me tell you,” he concluded, “there are some standing here who won’t experience death until they see God’s kingdom.”
The transfiguration
28About eight days after this conversation, Jesus took Peter, John and James and went up a mountain to pray. 29And, as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became shining white. 30Two men appeared, talking with him: it was Moses and Elijah, 31who appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was going to fulfill in Jerusalem.
32Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but they managed to stay awake. They saw his glory, and the two men who were standing there with him.
33As they were going away from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s wonderful for us to be here! Let’s make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah!” He didn’t know what he was saying; 34but as the words were coming out of his mouth a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35And a voice came from the cloud: “This is my son, my chosen one: listen to him.” 36As the voice spoke, there was Jesus by himself. They kept silent, and told nobody at that time anything of what they had seen.
37The next day, as they were going down from the mountain, a large crowd met them. 38A man from the crowd shouted out, “Teacher! Please, please have a look at my son! He’s my only child, 39and look what’s happening to him! A spirit seizes him, and suddenly it shrieks and convulses him, so that he foams at the mouth. It goes on savaging him, and it’s almost impossible to get it to leave him. 40I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they couldn’t.”
41“You faithless and depraved generation!” said Jesus in reply. “How long shall I be with you and have to put up with you? Bring your son here.”
42While he was on the way, the demon tore at him and threw him into convulsions. Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father. 43Everyone was astonished at the greatness of God.
While they were all still expressing amazement at everything he had done, Jesus said to his disciples, 44“Let these words go right down into your ears: the son of man is to be given over into human hands.” 45They had no idea what he was talking about. It was hidden from them, so that they wouldn’t perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about what he had said.
The nature of discipleship
46A dispute arose among them about which of them was the greatest. 47Jesus knew this quarrel was going on in their hearts, so he took a child and stood it beside him.
48“If you receive this child in my name,” he said, “you receive me. And anyone who receives me, receives the one who sent me. Whoever is the least among you—that’s the one who is great.”
49“Master,” commented John, “we saw someone casting out demons in your name. We told him to stop, because he wasn’t part of our company.”
50“Don’t stop him,” replied Jesus. “Anyone who isn’t against you is on your side.”
51As the time came nearer for Jesus to be taken up, he settled it in his mind to go to Jerusalem. 52He sent messengers ahead of him. They came into a Samaritan village to get them ready, 53and they refused to receive him, because his mind was set on going to Jerusalem. 54When the disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Master, do you want us to call down fire from heaven and burn them up?” 55He turned and rebuked them, 56and they went on to another village.
57As they were going along the road a man addressed Jesus.
“Wherever you’re going,” he said, “I’ll follow you!”
58“Foxes have lairs,” Jesus replied, “and the birds in the sky have nests; but the son of man doesn’t have anywhere to lay his head.”
59To another person he said, “Follow me.”
“Master,” he replied, “let me first go and bury my father.”
60“Let the dead bury their dead,” said Jesus. “You must go and announce God’s kingdom.”
61“I will follow you, Master,” said another, “but first let me say goodbye to the people at home.”
62“Nobody,” replied Jesus, “who begins to plow and then looks over his shoulder is fit for God’s kingdom.”
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The Gospel of Luke 9: NTFE
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a. The New Testament for Everyone, Third Edition. Copyright © 2011, 2018, 2019 by
Nicholas Thomas Wright, The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. All rights reserved. Published by Zondervan, 2023.
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