Jesus Sends Out the Twelve in Power
Luke 9Jesus called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the Empire of God and to heal the sick. He said to them, “Y’all are to take nothing for your journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, not even an extra shirt. Whatever house y’all enter, stay there, until y’all leave that town. Wherever they don’t receive y’all, when y’all leave that town, shake off the dust from y’all’s feet as a testimony against them.”
So they departed and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was happening, and he was nonplussed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead, and some that Elijah had appeared, and others that one of the ancient prophets had risen again. Herod said, “I beheaded John, so then who is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
When the apostles returned, they gave an account of everything they had done.
Taking them with him, he withdrew privately to a town called Bethsaida. But the crowds learned about this, and they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Empire of God, and cured those who needed healing. As the day was ending, the Twelve came and said to him, “You must send the crowd away, so that they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and food, because we are in a remote place.”
But he told them, “Y’all give them something to eat!”
They said, “We only have five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” (About five thousand men were there.)
He said to his disciples, “Y’all have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” They did so, and had them all sit down. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to the sky, he blessed them and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. They all ate and were satisfied. Then they gathered up twelve baskets of broken pieces that were left over.
Jesus, the Christ Who Will Die and Be Raised
Once when Jesus was praying in private and the disciples were near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They answered, “Some say ‘John the Baptizer,’ but others, ‘Elijah,’ and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has risen again.”
He said to them, “But who do y’all say I am?”
Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”
But he warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone, saying, “The Son of Humanity must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and he will be killed, and on the third day be raised up.”
He said to them all, “Anyone who desires to follow come after must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever desires to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a human if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit their very self? For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Humanity will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory, and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. But I tell y’all the truth: Some who are standing here who not taste of death before they see the Empire of God.”
The Transfiguration
About eight days after they discussed this, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto the mountain to pray. As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became white like lightening. Two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with him. They appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.
Now Peter his companions were overcome with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men standing with him. As they were starting to leave Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is excellent for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he was saying.
While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him, y’all!” After the voice had spoken, they found that Jesus was alone. The disciples kept silent and told no one at that time anything of what they had seen.
Jesus Rebukes a Demon from a Man’s Only Son
The next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. A man from the crowd called out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. A spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams; it throws him into convulsions with foaming at the mouth. It hardly ever leaves him and is torturing him. I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.”
Jesus answered, “Unbelieving and perverse generation, how long must I stay with y’all and put up with y’all? Bring your son here.”
While the boy was approaching, the demon slammed him on the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. They were all astonished at the majesty of God.
Jesus Predicts His Death Again
But while everyone was marveling at all the things that Jesus did, he said to his disciples, “Let these words sink into y’all’s ears, for the Son of Humanity will be delivered into the hands of men.” But they didn’t understand this statement. Its meaning was hidden from them, so that they did not understand it, but they were afraid to ask him about it.
An argument arose among them about which of them might be the greatest. Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their hearts, took a little child whom he had stand beside him. Then he said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in my name receives me. Whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For whoever is least among all y’all, this is the great one.”
John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he doesn’t follow us.”
Jesus said to him, “Y’all must not hinder him, for whoever is not against y’all is for y’all.”
Jesus Rejected in Samaritan
As the day approached when he would be taken up into heaven, he firmly set his face to go to Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of him, and they went and entered a Samaritan village to make preparations for him. But the people didn’t receive him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire to come down from heaven to destroy them?”
But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and then they went to another village.
The Cost of Following Jesus
As they walked the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go, Lord.”
Jesus said to him, “The foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Humanity has no place to lay his head.”
He said to another, “Follow me!”
But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
But Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the Empire of God.”
Another also said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first, let me say goodbye to those at my house.”
But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Empire of God.”