Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9:28-62

Viewing Multiple Passages

Matthew 17

1 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter and the brothers James and John and led them up a high mountain where they were alone.
2 As they looked on, a change came over Jesus: his face was shining like the sun, and his clothes were dazzling white.
3 Then the three disciples saw Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.
4 So Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Lord, how good it is that we are here! If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
5 While he was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased - listen to him!"
6 When the disciples heard the voice, they were so terrified that they threw themselves face downward on the ground.
7 Jesus came to them and touched them. "Get up," he said. "Don't be afraid!"
8 So they looked up and saw no one there but Jesus.
9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone about this vision you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from death."
10 Then the disciples asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"
11 "Elijah is indeed coming first," answered Jesus, "and he will get everything ready.
12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come and people did not recognize him, but treated him just as they pleased. In the same way they will also mistreat the Son of Man."
13 Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.
14 When they returned to the crowd, a man came to Jesus, knelt before him,
15 and said, "Sir, have mercy on my son! He is an epileptic and has such terrible attacks that he often falls in the fire or into water.
16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."
17 Jesus answered, "How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here to me!"
18 Jesus gave a command to the demon, and it went out of the boy, and at that very moment he was healed.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked him, "Why couldn't we drive the demon out?"
20 "It was because you do not have enough faith," answered Jesus. "I assure you that if you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this hill, "Go from here to there!' and it will go. You could do anything!"
22 When the disciples all came together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is about to be handed over to those
23 who will kill him; but three days later he will be raised to life." The disciples became very sad.
24 When Jesus and his disciples came to Capernaum, the collectors of the Temple tax came to Peter and asked, "Does your teacher pay the Temple tax?"
25 "Of course," Peter answered. When Peter went into the house, Jesus spoke up first, "Simon, what is your opinion? Who pays duties or taxes to the kings of this world? The citizens of the country or the foreigners?"
26 "The foreigners," answered Peter. "Well, then," replied Jesus, "that means that the citizens don't have to pay.
27 But we don't want to offend these people. So go to the lake and drop in a line. Pull up the first fish you hook, and in its mouth you will find a coin worth enough for my Temple tax and yours. Take it and pay them our taxes."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Mark 9

1 And he went on to say, "I tell you, there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power."
2 Six days later Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone. As they looked on, a change came over Jesus,
3 and his clothes became shining white - whiter than anyone in the world could wash them.
4 Then the three disciples saw Elijah and Moses talking with Jesus.
5 Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, "Teacher, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
6 He and the others were so frightened that he did not know what to say.
7 Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my own dear Son - listen to him!"
8 They took a quick look around but did not see anyone else; only Jesus was with them.
9 As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, "Don't tell anyone what you have seen, until the Son of Man has risen from death."
10 They obeyed his order, but among themselves they started discussing the matter, "What does this "rising from death' mean?"
11 And they asked Jesus, "Why do the teachers of the Law say that Elijah has to come first?"
12 His answer was, "Elijah is indeed coming first in order to get everything ready. Yet why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will suffer much and be rejected?
13 I tell you, however, that Elijah has already come and that people treated him just as they pleased, as the Scriptures say about him."
14 When they joined the rest of the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and some teachers of the Law arguing with them.
15 When the people saw Jesus, they were greatly surprised, and ran to him and greeted him.
16 Jesus asked his disciples, "What are you arguing with them about?"
17 A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought my son to you, because he has an evil spirit in him and cannot talk.
18 Whenever the spirit attacks him, it throws him to the ground, and he foams at the mouth, grits his teeth, and becomes stiff all over. I asked your disciples to drive the spirit out, but they could not."
19 Jesus said to them, "How unbelieving you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me!"
20 They brought him to Jesus. As soon as the spirit saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a fit, so that he fell on the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21 "How long has he been like this?" Jesus asked the father. "Ever since he was a child," he replied.
22 "Many times the evil spirit has tried to kill him by throwing him in the fire and into water. Have pity on us and help us, if you possibly can!"
23 "Yes," said Jesus, "if you yourself can! Everything is possible for the person who has faith."
24 The father at once cried out, "I do have faith, but not enough. Help me have more!"
25 Jesus noticed that the crowd was closing in on them, so he gave a command to the evil spirit. "Deaf and dumb spirit," he said, "I order you to come out of the boy and never go into him again!"
26 The spirit screamed, threw the boy into a bad fit, and came out. The boy looked like a corpse, and everyone said, "He is dead!"
27 But Jesus took the boy by the hand and helped him rise, and he stood up.
28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive the spirit out?"
29 "Only prayer can drive this kind out," answered Jesus; "nothing else can."
30 Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was,
31 because he was teaching his disciples: "The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life."
32 But they did not understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
33 They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, "What were you arguing about on the road?"
34 But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest.
35 Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, "Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all."
36 Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them,
37 "Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me."
38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group."
39 "Do not try to stop him," Jesus told them, "because no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say evil things about me.
40 For whoever is not against us is for us.
41 I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward.
42 "If anyone should cause one of these little ones to lose faith in me, it would be better for that person to have a large millstone tied around the neck and be thrown into the sea.
43 So if your hand makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand than to keep both hands and go off to hell, to the fire that never goes out.
45 And if your foot makes you lose your faith, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot than to keep both feet and be thrown into hell.
47 And if your eye makes you lose your faith, take it out! It is better for you to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to keep both eyes and be thrown into hell.
48 There "the worms that eat them never die, and the fire that burns them is never put out.'
49 "Everyone will be purified by fire as a sacrifice is purified by salt.
50 "Salt is good; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? "Have the salt of friendship among yourselves, and live in peace with one another."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Luke 9:28-62

28 About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray.
29 While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white.
30 Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah,
31 who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem.
32 Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him.
33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, "Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." (He did not really know what he was saying.)
34 While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them.
35 A voice said from the cloud, "This is my Son, whom I have chosen - listen to him!"
36 When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.
37 The next day Jesus and the three disciples went down from the hill, and a large crowd met Jesus.
38 A man shouted from the crowd, "Teacher! I beg you, look at my son - my only son!
39 A spirit attacks him with a sudden shout and throws him into a fit, so that he foams at the mouth; it keeps on hurting him and will hardly let him go!
40 I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't."
41 Jesus answered, "How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you?" Then he said to the man, "Bring your son here."
42 As the boy was coming, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a fit. Jesus gave a command to the evil spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
43 All the people were amazed at the mighty power of God. The people were still marveling at everything Jesus was doing, when he said to his disciples,
44 "Don't forget what I am about to tell you! The Son of Man is going to be handed over to the power of human beings."
45 But the disciples did not know what this meant. It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about the matter.
46 An argument broke out among the disciples as to which one of them was the greatest.
47 Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he took a child, stood him by his side,
48 and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, also welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all is the greatest."
49 John spoke up, "Master, we saw a man driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group."
50 "Do not try to stop him," Jesus said to him and to the other disciples, "because whoever is not against you is for you."
51 As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and set out on his way to Jerusalem.
52 He sent messengers ahead of him, who went into a village in Samaria to get everything ready for him.
53 But the people there would not receive him, because it was clear that he was on his way to Jerusalem.
54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?"
55 Jesus turned and rebuked them.
56 Then Jesus and his disciples went on to another village.
57 As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58 Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest."
59 He said to another man, "Follow me." But that man said, "Sir, first let me go back and bury my father."
60 Jesus answered, "Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God."
61 Someone else said, "I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family."
62 Jesus said to him, "Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.