Peter Says Jesus is The Christ

^18 (A)And it happened that while He was ^(B)praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the ^[a]people say that I am?” ¹⁹ They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “^(C)The ^[b]Christ of God.” ²¹ But He ^[c](D)warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, ^22 (E)saying, “^(F)The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.”

²³ And He was saying to them all, “^(G)If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For ^(H)whoever wants to save his ^[d]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[e]life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. ²⁵ For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^(I)loses or forfeits himself? ^26 (J)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and the holy angels.

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^13 (A)Now when Jesus came into the region of ^(B)Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that ^(C)the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say ^(D)John the Baptist; and others, ^[a](E)Elijah; and still others, ^[b]Jeremiah, or one of the other prophets.” ¹⁵ He *said to them, “But who do you yourselves say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are ^(F)the ^[c]Christ, ^(G)the Son of ^(H)the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, ^(I)Simon ^[d]Barjona, because ^(J)flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are ^[e](K)Peter, and upon this ^[f]rock I will build My church; and the gates of ^(L)Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you ^(M)the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and ^(N)whatever you ^[g]bind on earth ^[h]shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you ^[i]loose on earth ^[j]shall have been loosed in heaven.” ^20 (O)Then He gave the disciples strict orders that they were to tell no one that He was ^(P)the ^[k]Christ.

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (Q)From that time ^[l]Jesus began to ^[m]point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to ^(R)suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. ²² And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “^[n]God forbid it, Lord! This shall never ^[o]happen to You!” ²³ But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, ^(S)Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on ^[p]God’s purposes, but men’s.”

Discipleship Is Costly

²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(T)take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For ^(U)whoever wants to save his ^[q]life will lose it; but whoever loses his ^[r]life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what good will it do a person if he gains the whole world, but ^[s]forfeits his soul? Or what will a person give in exchange for his soul?

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^27 (A)Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of ^(B)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” ^28 (C)They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” ^(D)Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the ^[a]Christ.” ³⁰ And ^(E)He ^[b]warned them to tell no one about Him.

^31 (F)And He began to teach them that ^(G)the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise from the dead. ³² And He was stating the matter ^(H)plainly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. ³³ But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, ^(I)Satan; for you are not setting your mind on ^[c]God’s purposes, but on man’s.”

³⁴ And He summoned the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, ^(J)take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For ^(K)whoever wants to save his ^[d]life will lose it, but whoever loses his ^[e]life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it benefit a person to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? ³⁷ For what could a person give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ For ^(L)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, ^(M)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He ^(N)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”