Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah^(A)

¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;^(B) others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”^(C)

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”^(D)

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood,^(E) but by my Father in heaven.^{(F) 18} And I tell you that you are Peter,^[a](G) and on this rock I will build my church,^(H) and the gates of Hades^[b] will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys^(I) of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be^[c] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be^[d] loosed in heaven.”^{(J) 20} Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone^(K) that he was the Messiah.

Jesus Predicts His Death^(L)

²¹ From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem^(M) and suffer many things^(N) at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,^(O) and that he must be killed^(P) and on the third day^(Q) be raised to life.^(R)

²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!^(S) You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

The Way of the Cross

³⁴ Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.^{(A) 35} For whoever wants to save their life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.^{(B) 36} What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ³⁸ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man^(C) will be ashamed of them^(D) when he comes^(E) in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

9 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come^(F) with power.”^(G)

The Transfiguration^(A)(B)

17 After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John^(C) the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. ² There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. ³ Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

⁴ Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.^(D) Listen to him!”^(E)

⁶ When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. ⁷ But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.”^{(F) 8} When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

⁹ As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them, “Don’t tell anyone^(G) what you have seen, until the Son of Man^(H) has been raised from the dead.”^(I)

¹⁰ The disciples asked him, “Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”

¹¹ Jesus replied, “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things.^{(J) 12} But I tell you, Elijah has already come,^(K) and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished.^(L) In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer^(M) at their hands.” ¹³ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.^(N)

Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Boy^(O)

¹⁴ When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. ¹⁵ “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures^(P) and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. ¹⁶ I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

¹⁷ “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” ¹⁸ Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

¹⁹ Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith^(Q) as small as a mustard seed,^(R) you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.^(S) Nothing will be impossible for you.” ^[21] [a]

³⁶ When the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept this to themselves and did not tell anyone at that time what they had seen.^(A)

Jesus Heals a Boy Possessed by an Impure Spirit^(A)

¹⁴ When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them. ¹⁵ As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.

¹⁶ “What are you arguing with them about?” he asked.

¹⁷ A man in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. ¹⁸ Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not.”

¹⁹ “You unbelieving generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”

²⁰ So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.^(B)

²¹ Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?”

“From childhood,” he answered. ²² “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

²³ “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.”^(C)

²⁴ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene,^(D) he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

²⁸ After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately,^(E) “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹ He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.^[a]”

Jesus Predicts His Death a Second Time^(F)

³⁰ They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, ³¹ because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man^(G) is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him,^(H) and after three days^(I) he will rise.”^{(J) 32} But they did not understand what he meant^(K) and were afraid to ask him about it.

³³ They came to Capernaum.^(L) When he was in the house,^(M) he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” ³⁴ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.^(N)

³⁵ Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”^(O)

³⁶ He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms,^(P) he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”^(Q)

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us^(R)

³⁸ “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”^(S)

³⁹ “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, ⁴⁰ for whoever is not against us is for us.^{(T) 41} Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.^(U)