Luke 9

Twelve are Sent to Preach

Matt. 10:1–14; 14:1–14; Mark 6:7–16, 30–34

9Then ^aHe called His twelve disciples together and ^bgave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. ^2cHe sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ^3dAnd He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.

^4e“Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ^5fAnd whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, ^gshake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

^6hSo they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

⁷ⁱNow Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, ⁸and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again. ⁹Herod said, “John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?” ^jSo he sought to see Him.

^10kAnd the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. ^lThen He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. ¹¹But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.

Five Thousand are Fed

Matt. 14:15–21; Mark 6:35–44; John 6:1–14

^12mWhen the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴For there were about five thousand men.

Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” ¹⁵And they did so, and made them all sit down.

¹⁶Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He ⁿblessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. ¹⁷So they all ate and were ¹filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

Peter’s Confession of Faith

Matt. 16:13–21; Mark 8:27–31

^18oAnd it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹So they answered and said, ^p“John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”

²⁰He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

^qPeter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”

^21rAnd He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²²saying, ^s“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 the third day.”

True Cost of Discipleship

Matt. 16:24–27; Mark 8:34–38

^23tThen He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross ²daily, and follow Me. ^24uFor whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ^25vFor what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ^26wFor whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ^xashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

^27yBut I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

Matt. 16:28–17:9; Mark 9:1–9; 2 Pet. 1:17, 18

^28zNow it came to pass, about eight days after these sayings, that He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. ³⁰And behold, two men talked with Him, who were ^aMoses and ^bElijah, ³¹who appeared in glory and spoke of His ³decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²But Peter and those with him ^cwere heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him. ³³Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three ⁴tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said.

³⁴While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the ^dcloud. ³⁵And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ^e“This is ⁵My beloved Son. ^fHear Him!” ³⁶When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone. ^gBut they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.

Demoniac Son is Healed

Matt. 17:14–18; Mark 9:14–27

^37hNow it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him. ³⁸Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, “Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child. ³⁹And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him. ⁴⁰So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not.”

⁴¹Then Jesus answered and said, “O ⁶faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and ⁷bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him. Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

Christ Prophesies His Coming Death

Matt. 17:22, 23; Mark 9:30–32

⁴³And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.

But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, ⁴⁴ⁱ“Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.” ^45jBut they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

True Greatness

Matt. 18:1–5; Mark 9:33–40

^46kThen a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. ⁴⁷And Jesus, ^lperceiving the thought of their heart, took a ^mlittle child and set him by Him, ⁴⁸and said to them, ⁿ“Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and ^owhoever receives Me ^preceives Him who sent Me. ^qFor he who is least among you all will be great.”

^49rNow John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.”

⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for ^she who is not against ⁸us is on ⁹our side.”

Samaria Rejects Christ

⁵¹Now it came to pass, when the time had come for ^tHim to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, ⁵²and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. ⁵³But ^uthey did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴And when His disciples ^vJames and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, ¹just as ^wElijah did?”

⁵⁵But He turned and rebuked them, ²and said, “You do not know what manner of ^xspirit you are of. ⁵⁶³For ^ythe Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.

True Cost of Discipleship

Matt. 8:18–22

^57zNow it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.”

⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man ^ahas nowhere to lay His head.”

^59bThen He said to another, “Follow Me.”

But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹And another also said, “Lord, ^cI will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.”

⁶²But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is ^dfit for the kingdom of God.”