Luke 9:18-57

¹⁸And it happened that while He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the people say that I am?” ¹⁹They answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah; but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.” ²¹But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, ²²saying, “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.”

²³And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, this is the one who will save it. ²⁵For what good does it do a person if he gains the whole world, but loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶For 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. ²⁷But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁸About eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, ³¹who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who were standing with Him. ³³And as these two men were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; and let’s make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying. ³⁴But while he was saying this, a cloud formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And then a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” ³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

³⁷On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. ³⁸And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, because he is my only son, ³⁹and a spirit seizes him and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. ⁴⁰And I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” ⁴¹And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²Now while he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. ⁴³And they were all amazed at the greatness of God.

But while everyone was astonished at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴“As for you, let these words sink into your ears: for the Son of Man is going to be handed over to men.” ⁴⁵But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not comprehend it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.

⁴⁶Now an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their hearts, took a child and had him stand by His side, ⁴⁸and He said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”

⁴⁹John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” ⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for the one who is not against you is for you.”

⁵¹When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; ⁵²and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. ⁵³And they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵But He turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶And they went on to another village.

⁵⁷As they were going on the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.”