Old/New Testament
Peter’s declaration of Jesus’ messiahship
18 When 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.
21 He 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.”
23 He 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. 24 If you want to save your life, you’ll lose it; but if you lose your life because of me, you’ll save it. 25 What good will it do you if you win the entire world, but lose or forfeit your own self? 26 If 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
28 About eight days after this conversation, Jesus took Peter, John and James and went up a mountain to pray. 29 And, as he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became shining white. 30 Two men appeared, talking with him: it was Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was going to fulfill in Jerusalem.
32 Peter 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.
33 As 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; 34 but as the words were coming out of his mouth a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. They were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 And a voice came from the cloud: “This is my son, my chosen one: listen to him.” 36 As the voice spoke, there was Jesus by himself. They kept silent, and told nobody at that time anything of what they had seen.
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.