Luke 9:18-36

Luke 9

Jesus Is the Christ

¹⁸ One time when Jesus was praying alone and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ They answered, “‘John the Baptist,’ but others say, ‘Elijah,’ and others say, ‘one of the ancient prophets come back to life.’”

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

And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

²¹ He gave them a strict command not to tell this to anyone. ²² He said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law. He must be killed and be raised on the third day.”

Take Up the Cross

²³ Jesus said to all of them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵ After all, what will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world, but destroys himself or is lost? ²⁶ In fact, 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 of the holy angels. ²⁷ I am telling you the truth: There are some standing here who will certainly not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

²⁸ About eight days after he said these words, Jesus took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ While he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ Just then, two men, Moses and Elijah, were talking with him! ³¹ They appeared in glory and were talking about his departure, ^[1] which he was going to bring to fulfillment in Jerusalem.

³² Peter and those with him were weighed down with sleep, but when they were completely awake, they saw his glory and the two men standing with him.

³³ As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not realize what he was saying.

³⁴ While he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them. They were afraid as they went into the cloud. ³⁵ Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. ^[2] Listen to him!” ³⁶ After the voice had spoken, they found Jesus alone. They kept this secret and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.