Luke 9:1-36

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Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

9 ^(A)And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ²^(B)and he sent them out to ^(C)proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ³^(D)And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, ^(E)no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.^[a] ⁴And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town ^(F)shake off the dust from your feet ^(G)as a testimony ^(H)against them.” ⁶^(I)And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

⁷^(J)Now ^(K)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(L)John had been raised from the dead, ⁸^(M)by some that Elijah had appeared, and ^(N)by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And ^(O)he sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰On their return ^(P)the apostles told him all that they had done. ^(Q)And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^(R)welcomed them and ^(S)spoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^(T)cured those who needed healing. ¹²Now ^(U)the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^(V)“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³But he said to them, ^(W)“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than ^(X)five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵And they did so, and made them all sit down. ¹⁶And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(Y)he looked up to heaven and ^(Z)said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

¹⁸^(AA)Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹And they answered, ^(AB)“John the Baptist. But others say, ^(AC)Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, ^(AD)“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

²¹^(AE)And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²²^(AF)saying, ^(AG)“The Son of Man must ^(AH)suffer many things and ^(AI)be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(AJ)the third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(AK)deny himself and ^(AL)take up his cross ^(AM)daily and follow me. ²⁴For ^(AN)whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵^(AO)For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶For ^(AP)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ^(AQ)when he comes in ^(AR)his glory and the glory of the Father and of ^(AS)the holy angels. ²⁷But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not ^(AT)taste death ^(AU)until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

²⁸^(AV)Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him ^(AW)Peter and John and James and ^(AX)went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was ^(AY)altered, and ^(AZ)his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,^[b] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and those who were with him ^(BA)were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake ^(BB)they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(BC)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—^(BD)not knowing what he said. ³⁴As he was saying these things, ^(BE)a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And ^(BF)a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, ^(BG)my Chosen One;^[c] ^(BH)listen to him!” ³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. ^(BI)And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

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Footnotes

Luke 9:3 Greek chiton, a long garment worn under the cloak next to the skin
Luke 9:31 Greek exodus
Luke 9:35 Some manuscripts my Beloved

Luke 9:1-36

The Message

Keep It Simple

9 ^1-5Jesus now called the Twelve and gave them authority and power to deal with all the demons and cure diseases. He commissioned them to preach the news of God’s kingdom and heal the sick. He said, “Don’t load yourselves up with equipment. Keep it simple; you are the equipment. And no luxury inns—get a modest place and be content there until you leave. If you’re not welcomed, leave town. Don’t make a scene. Shrug your shoulders and move on.”

⁶Commissioned, they left. They traveled from town to town telling the latest news of God, the Message, and curing people everywhere they went.

^7-9Herod, the ruler, heard of these goings on and didn’t know what to think. There were people saying John had come back from the dead, others that Elijah had appeared, still others that some prophet of long ago had shown up. Herod said, “But I killed John—took off his head. So who is this that I keep hearing about?” Curious, he looked for a chance to see him in action.

^10-11The apostles returned and reported on what they had done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida. But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, he healed.

Bread and Fish for Five Thousand

¹²As the sun set, the Twelve said, “Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the farms or villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.”

^13-14“You feed them,” Jesus said.

They said, “We couldn’t scrape up more than five loaves of bread and a couple of fish—unless, of course, you want us to go to town ourselves and buy food for everybody.” (There were more than five thousand people in the crowd.)

^14-17But he went ahead and directed his disciples, “Sit them down in groups of about fifty.” They did what he said, and soon had everyone seated. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up.

Don’t Run from Suffering

¹⁸One time when Jesus was off praying by himself, his disciples nearby, he asked them, “What are the crowds saying about me, about who I am?”

¹⁹They said, “John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back.”

^20-21He then asked, “And you—what are you saying about me? Who am I?”

Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.” Jesus then warned them to keep it quiet. They were to tell no one what Peter had said.

²²He went on, “It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the religious leaders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and on the third day be raised up alive.”

^23-27Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.”

Jesus in His Glory

^28-31About eight days after saying this, he climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John, and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem.

^32-33Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking.

^34-35While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen! Listen to him.”

³⁶When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone. They were speechless. And they continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone during those days of what they had seen.

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