Luke 9:7–27

⁷Now Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything that was going on. He was bewildered, because some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. ⁸Others were saying that Elijah had appeared. Still others were saying that a prophet of long ago had come back to life. ⁹But Herod said, “I had John’s head cut off. So who is it that I hear such things about?” And he tried to see Jesus.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰The apostles returned. They told Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him. They went off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹But the crowds learned about it and followed Jesus. He welcomed them and spoke to them about God’s kingdom. He also healed those who needed to be healed.

¹²Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him. They said, “Send the crowd away. They can go to the nearby villages and countryside. There they can find food and a place to stay. There is nothing here.”

¹³Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat.”

The disciples answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. We would have to go and buy food for all this crowd.” ¹⁴About 5,000 men were there.

But Jesus said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about 50 each.” ¹⁵The disciples did so, and everyone sat down.

¹⁶Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up to heaven and gave thanks. He broke them into pieces. Then he gave them to the disciples to set in front of the people. ¹⁷All of them ate and were satisfied. The disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover pieces.

Peter Says That Jesus Is the Christ

¹⁸One day Jesus was praying alone. Only his disciples were with him. He asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

¹⁹They replied, “Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Still others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

²⁰“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

²¹Jesus strongly warned them not to tell this to anyone. ²²He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. The elders will not accept him. The chief priests and teachers of the law will not accept him either. He must be killed and on the third day rise from the dead.”

²³Then he said to all of them, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say no to himself. He must pick up his cross every day and follow me. ²⁴If he wants to save his life, he will lose it. But if he loses his life for me, he will save it. ²⁵What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses or gives up his very self?

²⁶“Suppose you are ashamed of me and my words. The Son of Man will come in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. Then he will be ashamed of you.

²⁷“What I’m about to tell you is true. Some who are standing here will not die before they see God’s kingdom.”