²¹ Make your need known. Yes, let them talk it over together. Who said this would happen from long ago? Who has been saying it for a long time? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides Me, a God Who is right and good, a God Who saves. There is none except Me.

The Great Law ^(A)

²⁸ Then one of the teachers of the Law heard them arguing. He thought Jesus had spoken well. He asked Him, “Which Law is the greatest of all?” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “The greatest Law is this, ‘Listen, Jewish people, The Lord our God is one Lord! ³⁰ You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ ^(B) This is the first Law.

³¹ “The second Law is this: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^(C) No other Law is greater than these.”

Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ ^(A)

¹³ Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He asked His followers, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” ¹⁴ They said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.”

¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of Jonah, you are happy because you did not learn this from man. My Father in heaven has shown you this.

Christ Lived Before the World Was Made

1 The Word (Christ) was in the beginning. The Word was with God. The Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning.

¹⁴ Christ became human flesh and lived among us. We saw His shining-greatness. This greatness is given only to a much-loved Son from His Father. He was full of loving-favor and truth.

John the Baptist Makes the Way Ready for Jesus Christ ^(A)

¹⁵ John told about Christ and said, “I have been telling you about this One. I said, ‘He is coming after me. He is more important than I because He lived before me.’” ¹⁶ From Him Who has so much we have all received loving-favor, one loving-favor after another. ¹⁷ The Law was given through Moses, but loving-favor and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ The much-loved Son is beside the Father. No man has ever seen God. But Christ has made God known to us.

²⁵ Jesus answered, “I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name speak of Me. ²⁶ You do not believe because you are not My sheep. ²⁷ My sheep hear My voice and I know them. They follow Me. ²⁸ I give them life that lasts forever. They will never be punished. No one is able to take them out of My hand. ²⁹ My Father Who gave them to Me is greater than all. No one is able to take them out of My Father’s hand. ³⁰ My Father and I are one!”

²⁶ The Helper is the Holy Spirit. The Father will send Him in My place. He will teach you everything and help you remember everything I have told you.

²⁶ “The Helper (Holy Spirit) will tell about Me when He comes. I will send Him to you from the Father. He is the Spirit of Truth and comes from the Father.

³ You are as a letter from Christ written by us. You are not written as other letters are written with ink, or on pieces of stone. You are written in human hearts by the Spirit of the living God.

¹⁷ The heart is free where the Spirit of the Lord is. The Lord is the Spirit. ¹⁸ All of us, with no covering on our faces, show the shining-greatness of the Lord as in a mirror. All the time we are being changed to look like Him, with more and more of His shining-greatness. This change is from the Lord Who is the Spirit.