Luke 9:18-45

18One day, Jesus was alone and he was praying. The disciples came to him. Jesus asked them, ‘When the crowds talk about me, who do they say that I am?’

19They replied, ‘Some people say that you are John the Baptist. Other people say that you are Elijah. And some other people say that you are one of God's prophets from long ago. They think that this prophet has become alive again.’

20‘But what do you think?’ Jesus then asked them. ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter replied, ‘You are the Messiah. God has sent you.’

21Jesus spoke very strongly to them. He told them that they must not tell anyone about this.

22Then he said, ‘The Son of Man will have to suffer in many ways. The important Jews, the leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law will turn against him. People will kill him, but three days later God will cause him to become alive again.’

23Then Jesus said to all the people that were there, ‘A person who wants to be my disciple must not think about himself. He must decide that his own life is not important. Every day he must be like someone who carries his own cross to go and die. Then he may come with me as my disciple.

24Whoever wants to keep his own life safe will lose it. But whoever gives his life to serve me will have true life.

25A person may get everything in the whole world for himself. But if he loses his life, it would not be any good for him. He will have destroyed himself in the end.

26You must not be ashamed of me and of my words. If you are, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of you. One day he will return and everyone will see his power. He will come with God's holy angels and he will have the bright glory of his Father God. He will be ashamed of you on that day, if you are ashamed of him now.’

27Then Jesus said, ‘What I tell you is true. Some people who are standing here will see clearly God begin to rule in his kingdom. They will see that before they die.’

28About eight days after Jesus had said these things, he went up a mountain to pray. He took Peter, John and James with him.

29While Jesus was praying, his face became different to look at. His clothes also became very white. They were shining brightly.

30Then two men appeared and they were talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah.

31They were very bright to look at. They talked with Jesus about how he would soon die in Jerusalem. This was how God wanted him to leave this world.

32While this was happening, Peter and his friends were sleeping. Then they really woke up and they saw that Jesus was very great and beautiful. They also saw the two men that were standing near to him.

33Then the two men began to leave. So Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Please, let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’ But Peter did not really know what he was saying.

34While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared. It covered them all. When the cloud came over them, the three disciples were afraid.

35Then a voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son. He is the one that I have chosen. Listen to him.’

36The voice stopped speaking. Then the three disciples saw that only Jesus was there with them now. They did not tell anyone at this time about what they had seen.

37The next day Jesus came down from the mountain with the three disciples. A large crowd met him.

38A man from the crowd shouted to him. ‘Teacher, please, I ask you to help my son. He is my only child.

39Sometimes a bad spirit takes hold of him and then he screams. The spirit throws his body first one way then another and water comes out of his mouth. The spirit gives him a lot of pain and it does not leave him alone very much.

40I asked your disciples to send the bad spirit out of him. But they could not do it.’

41Jesus said, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. You have turned away from him. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you.’ Then Jesus said to the man, ‘Bring your son here.’

42While the boy was coming, the bad spirit threw him to the ground. It threw the boy first one way and then the other. ‘Stop!’ Jesus said to it. He then made the boy well and he gave him back to his father.

43Everybody was very surprised at what they saw. They knew that God was very powerful. The people were still thinking with surprise about everything that Jesus was doing. Then he began to talk to his disciples.

44He said to them, ‘Do not forget what I am telling you now. Soon they will deliver the Son of Man to powerful people to kill him.’

45But they did not understand what Jesus had said. Its meaning was a secret to them, so they could not understand. But they were afraid to ask Jesus, ‘What do you mean?’