God Speaks
One day Jesus called together his twelve apostles and gave them authority over all demons—power to cast them out—and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them away to tell everyone about the coming of the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
3 “Don’t even take along a walking stick,” he instructed them, “nor a beggar’s bag, nor food, nor money. Not even an extra coat. 4 Be a guest in only one home at each village.
5 “If the people of a town won’t listen to you when you enter it, turn around and leave, demonstrating God’s anger against it by shaking its dust from your feet as you go.”
6 So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.
7 When reports of Jesus’ miracles reached Herod, the governor, he was worried and puzzled, for some were saying, “This is John the Baptist come back to life again”; 8 and others, “It is Elijah or some other ancient prophet risen from the dead.” These rumors were circulating all over the land.
9 “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such strange stories?” And he tried to see him.
10 After the apostles returned to Jesus and reported what they had done, he slipped quietly away with them toward the city of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going and followed. And he welcomed them, teaching them again about the Kingdom of God and curing those who were ill.
12 Late in the afternoon all twelve of the disciples came and urged him to send the people away to the nearby villages and farms, to find food and lodging for the night. “For there is nothing to eat here in this deserted spot,” they said.
13 But Jesus replied, “You feed them!”
“Why, we have only five loaves of bread and two fish among the lot of us,” they protested; “or are you expecting us to go and buy enough for this whole mob?” 14 For there were about 5,000 men there!
“Just tell them to sit down on the ground in groups of about fifty each,” Jesus replied. 15 So they did.
16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and looked up into the sky and gave thanks; then he broke off pieces for his disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And everyone ate and ate; still, twelve basketfuls of scraps were picked up afterwards!
18 One day as he was alone, praying, with his disciples nearby, he came over and asked them, “Who are the people saying I am?”
19 “John the Baptist,” they told him, “or perhaps Elijah or one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”
20 Then he asked them, “Who do you think I am?”
Peter replied, “The Messiah—the Christ of God!”
21 He gave them strict orders not to speak of this to anyone. 22 “For I, the Messiah, must suffer much,” he said, “and be rejected by the Jewish leaders—the elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law—and be killed; and three days later I will come back to life again!”
23 Then he said to all, “Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to me! 24 Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it, but whoever insists on keeping his life will lose it; 25 and what profit is there in gaining the whole world when it means forfeiting one’s self?
26 “When I, the Messiah, come in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels, I will be ashamed then of all who are ashamed of me and of my words now. 27 But this is the simple truth—some of you who are standing here right now will not die until you have seen the Kingdom of God.”
28 Eight days later he took Peter, James, and John with him into the hills to pray. 29 And as he was praying, his face began to shine, and his clothes became dazzling white and blazed with light. 30 Then two men appeared and began talking with him—Moses and Elijah! 31 They were splendid in appearance, glorious to see; and they were speaking of his death at Jerusalem, to be carried out in accordance with God’s plan.
32 Peter and the others had been very drowsy and had fallen asleep. Now they woke up and saw Jesus covered with brightness and glory, and the two men standing with him. 33 As Moses and Elijah were starting to leave, Peter, all confused and not even knowing what he was saying, blurted out, “Master, this is wonderful! We’ll put up three shelters—one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah!”
34 But even as he was saying this, a bright cloud formed above them; and terror gripped them as it covered them. 35 And a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him.”
36 Then, as the voice died away, Jesus was there alone with his disciples. They didn’t tell anyone what they had seen until long afterwards.
37 The next day as they descended from the hill, a huge crowd met him, 38 and a man in the crowd called out to him, “Teacher, this boy here is my only son, 39 and a demon keeps seizing him, making him scream; and it throws him into convulsions so that he foams at the mouth; it is always hitting him and hardly ever leaves him alone. 40 I begged your disciples to cast the demon out, but they couldn’t.”
41 “O you stubborn faithless people,” Jesus said to his disciples, “how long should I put up with you? Bring him here.”
42 As the boy was coming the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a violent convulsion. But Jesus ordered the demon to come out, and healed the boy and handed him over to his father.
43 Awe gripped the people as they saw this display of the power of God.
Meanwhile, as they were exclaiming over all the wonderful things he was doing, Jesus said to his disciples, 44 “Listen to me and remember what I say. I, the Messiah, am going to be betrayed.” 45 But the disciples didn’t know what he meant, for their minds had been sealed and they were afraid to ask him.
46 Now came an argument among them as to which of them would be greatest in the coming Kingdom! 47 But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he stood a little child beside him 48 and said to them, “Anyone who takes care of a little child like this is caring for me! And whoever cares for me is caring for God who sent me. Your care for others is the measure of your greatness.” 49 His disciple John came to him and said, “Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons. And we told him not to. After all, he isn’t in our group.”
50 But Jesus said, “You shouldn’t have done that! For anyone who is not against you is for you.”
51 As the time drew near for his return to heaven, he moved steadily onward toward Jerusalem with an iron will.
52 One day he sent messengers ahead to reserve rooms for them in a Samaritan village. 53 But they were turned away! The people of the village refused to have anything to do with them because they were headed for Jerusalem.
54 When word came back of what had happened, James and John said to Jesus, “Master, shall we order fire down from heaven to burn them up?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them, 56 and they went on to another village.
57 As they were walking along someone said to Jesus, “I will always follow you no matter where you go.”
58 But Jesus replied, “Remember, I don’t even own a place to lay my head. Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Messiah, have no earthly home at all.”
59 Another time, when he invited a man to come with him and to be his disciple, the man agreed—but wanted to wait until his father’s death.
60 Jesus replied, “Let those without eternal life concern themselves with things like that. Your duty is to come and preach the coming of the Kingdom of God to all the world.”
61 Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will come, but first let me ask permission of those at home.”
62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
Source: The Living Bible: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: A summary of this chapter: Jesus sent out the Twelve to heal the sick and cast out demons in His authority. Some people, including possibly Herod, thought that Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life. Jesus fed at least five thousand people, probably more, with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus foretold of His suffering and death. He told people to take up their cross and follow Him. Jesus experienced transfiguration as witnessed by three of His disciples. Jesus healed a boy being harassed by a demon. Jesus again foretold of His betrayal and death. Jesus’s disciples argued over who was the greatest. Jesus said that anyone not against us is for us. A Samaritan village rejected Jesus, and He instructed the disciples in how to respond. Jesus indicated that following Him comes with a cost.
Prayer: Dear Sovereign Lord, do it again. Send out Your representatives into the “villages.” May we, Your followers today, lay hold of and apply the authority You have secured for us over all the forces of evil (demons, diseases, disasters, and destructive activities and ideologies). Enable us to speak and act as boldly as John the Baptist. In Your great grace activate us to voluntarily cooperate with You to supply whatever people need to sustain life. May millions of people confess that Jesus is the Christ–their true Messiah. May they appropriate Jesus’s death on their behalf. Empower us to follow Jesus by daily living (even suffering and dying) to meet the needs of others. May we experience transformation throughout our lives and culture. Jesus, employ us to declare Your victory over demons. Jesus, open our minds to fully understand the meaning of Your death. Because of that, we will know who is the greatest–You are! Then we will operate in harmony because anyone not against us is for us. You teach us not to totally condemn those who reject Jesus, but just go on to others. For the sake of Your kingdom, Lord, please expose and remove those who are not willing to pay the cost of following Jesus. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, which one of these He wants you to work on or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will confess to the Lord and at least one other person (be specific) where I failed to be a good representative of Him today.
- I will claim Jesus’s authority over at least one situation (be specific) in my life today.
- I will ask the Lord to show me one way in which I can meet the needs of someone else today, then do it.
- I will talk with someone (preferably a not-yet believer) about how Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, and current position in Heaven relates to them.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.