161 The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven . 2 But He replied to them, " When it is evening , you say , 'It will be fair weather , for the sky is red .' 3 "And in the morning , 'There will be a storm today , for the sky is red and threatening .' Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky , but cannot e discern the signs of the times ? 4 " An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign ; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah ." And He left them and went away .
5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread . 6 And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ." 7 They began to discuss this among themselves , saying , "He said that because we did not bring any bread ." 8 But Jesus , aware of this, said , " You men of little faith , why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread ? 9 "Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand , and how many baskets full you picked up? 10 "Or the seven loaves of the four thousand , and how many large baskets full you picked up? 11 "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread ? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees ." 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread , but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees .
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi , He was asking His disciples , "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" 14 And they said , "Some say John the Baptist ; and others , Elijah ; but still others , Jeremiah , or one of the prophets ." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am ?" 16 Simon Peter answered , "You are the Christ , the Son of the living God ." 17 And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona , because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven . 18 "I also say to you that you are Peter , and upon this rock I will build My church ; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatever e you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven , and whatever e you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven ." 20 Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ .
21 From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem , and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes , and be killed , and be raised up on the third day . 22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying , "God forbid it, Lord ! This shall never e happen to You." 23 But He turned and said to Peter , "Get behind Me, Satan ! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's ."
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples , "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself , and take up his cross and follow Me. 25 "For whoever e wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever e loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul ? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul ? 27 "For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels , and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS . 28 "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom ."
81 In those days , when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing e to eat , Jesus called His disciples and said to them, 2 " I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing e to eat . 3 "If I send them away hungry to their homes , they will faint on the way ; and some of them have come from a great distance ." 4 And His disciples answered Him, "Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people ?" 5 And He was asking them, "How many loaves do you have ?" And they said , "Seven ." 6 And He directed the people to sit down on the ground ; and taking the seven loaves , He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people . 7 They also had a few small fish ; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well . 8 And they ate and were satisfied ; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces . 9 About four thousand were there; and He sent them away .
10 And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha .
11 The Pharisees came out and began to argue with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven , to test Him. 12 Sighing deeply in His spirit , He said , "Why does this generation seek for a sign ? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation ." 13 Leaving them, He again embarked and went away to the other side .
14 And they had forgotten to take bread , and did not have more than one loaf in the boat with them. 15 And He was giving orders to them, saying , " Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod ." 16 They began to discuss with one another the fact that they had no bread . 17 And Jesus , aware of this, said to them, "Why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread ? Do you not yet see or understand ? Do you have a hardened heart ? 18 " HAVING EYES , DO YOU NOT SEE ? AND HAVING EARS , DO YOU NOT HEAR ? And do you not remember , 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand , how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?" They said to Him, "Twelve ." 20 "When I broke the seven for the four thousand , how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up?" And they said to Him, "Seven ." 21 And He was saying to them, " Do you not yet understand ?"
22 And they came to Bethsaida . And they brought a blind man to Jesus and implored Him to touch him. 23 Taking the blind man by the hand , He brought him out of the village ; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, "Do you see anything ?" 24 And he looked up and said , "I see men , for I see them like trees , walking around ." 25 Then again He laid His hands on his eyes ; and he looked intently and was restored , and began to see everything clearly . 26 And He sent him to his home , saying , "Do not even enter the village ."
27 Jesus went out, along with His disciples , to the villages of Caesarea Philippi ; and on the way He questioned His disciples , saying to them, "Who do people say that I am ?" 28 They told Him, saying , "John the Baptist ; and others say Elijah ; but others , one of the prophets ." 29 And He continued by questioning them, "But who do you say that I am ?" Peter answered and said to Him, "You are the Christ ." 30 And He warned them to tell no one about Him.
31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes , and be killed , and after three days rise again . 32 And He was stating the matter plainly . And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But turning around and seeing His disciples , He rebuked Peter and said , "Get behind Me, Satan ; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's ." 34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples , and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself , and take up his cross and follow Me. 35 "For whoever e wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever e loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. 36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world , and forfeit his soul ? 37 "For what will a man give in exchange for his soul ? 38 "For whoever e is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation , the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels ."
18 And it happened that while He was praying alone , the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying , "Who do the people say that I am ?" 19 They answered and said , "John the Baptist , and others say Elijah ; but others , that one of the prophets of old has risen again ." 20 And He said to them, "But who do you say that I am ?" And Peter answered and said , " The Christ of God ."
21 But He warned them and instructed them not to tell this to anyone , 22 saying , " 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 up on the third day ." 23 And He was saying to them all , " If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself , and take up his cross daily e and follow Me. 24 "For whoever e wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever e loses his life for My sake , he is the one who will save it. 25 "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world , and loses or forfeits himself ? 26 " For whoever e 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 "But I say to you truthfully , there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God ."
(Read Luke 9:18-27)
It is an unspeakable comfort that our Lord Jesus is God's Anointed; this signifies that he was both appointed to be the Messiah, and qualified for it. Jesus discourses concerning his own sufferings and death. And so far must his disciples be from thinking how to prevent his sufferings, that they must prepare for their own. We often meet with crosses in the way of duty; and though we must not pull them upon our own heads, yet, when they are laid for us, we must take them up, and carry them after Christ. It is well or ill with us, according as it is well or ill with our souls. The body cannot be happy, if the soul be miserable in the other world; but the soul may be happy, though the body is greatly afflicted and oppressed in this world. We must never be ashamed of Christ and his gospel.
