Luke 9
Jesus’s students travel and heal many
He called the 12 together and gave them power and authority over every rotten supernatural being and to cure diseases. He sent them to proclaim God’s dominion and heal. He told them,
“Don’t take anything for your journey: not food, money, a bag or a walking stick. Don’t even take an extra pair of clothes. Whenever you go to a city, only stay at one house for your whole time there. If anyone doesn’t welcome you, then dust off your feet as you leave, and that will serve as a testimony against them.”
They dispersed and traveled throughout the villages, proclaiming the exciting news and healing.
By this time, the news had traveled and governor Herod head rumors about Elijah, John, or some other prophet coming back from the dead. Perplexed, Herod said, “I myself had John beheaded, so who is this person I’m hearing all these rumors about?” And he kept trying to meet him.
When the squad returned, they gave a report of everything they had done. Jesus brought them to the city of Bethsaida to lay low, but the crowds followed them and welcomed them, so he started talking to them about God’s domain and curing whoever needed healing.
Jesus feeds thousands of people with 2 meals
It was getting late, so the 12 came and told him, “Send the crowd away so that they can go back to their homes and eat, because there aren’t any hotels or restaurants nearby.” But he replied,
“You should give them something to eat!”
They replied, “But all we have is 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish unless we go buy food for everyone.” (There were about 5,000 men.) He told his students,
“Have them split into groups of 50 and sit down to eat.”
They did so, and then Jesus took the 5 loaves and 2 fish, looked upward, gave them his blessing, broke them, and started handing them to the students to pass out to the groups. Everyone ate until they were full, and then they collected 12 baskets full of leftovers.
Jesus asks his students about his reputation
While he was talking to God by himself, he asked his students,
“Who does everyone say that I am?”
They answered, “Some say you are John who immersed people; some say Elijah; and others say that you are one of the old prophets who has reappeared.” Then he asked them,
“Ok, and who do you say that I am?”
Peter replied,
“God’s chosen one.”
Then he warned them not to tell that to anyone, saying,
“The Culmination of Humanity will have to endure many things and be rejected by the elders, highest ranking priests, and religious writers. He will be killed and reawakened on the third day. If anyone wants to follow me, he needs to say no to himself, pick up his death sentence every day, and come with me. Whoever wants to save his soul will end up losing it, but whoever loses his soul because of me will save it. How will someone gain a profit if he conquers the entire cosmos but loses or surrenders his own self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my teachings, then the Culmination of Humanity will be ashamed of him when he returns in all of his glory along with the Father’s splendor and the brightness of his sacred messengers. I guarantee you that some of the people standing here won’t taste death until they see God’s domain.”
Moses & Elijah appear
About 8 days later, he brought Peter, James, and John up the mountain to talk to God. While he was talking to God, his face changed and his clothes started shining so brightly that they looked white. Moses and Elijah appeared shining brightly and discussed the departure he was about to make in Jerusalem. Peter and his peers had fallen asleep, but when they woke up, they saw his radiance and the two men standing with him. As the 2 men were leaving, Peter didn’t think about what he was saying and just blurted out,
“Captain, it’s a good thing that we’re here. Let’s make 3 monuments: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
Before he even finished talking, a cloud formed and darkened their immediate surroundings with its shadow. They were frightened as the cloud surrounded them, and then a voice came from the cloud saying,
“This is my son, my Chosen One. Listen to him!”
When the voice had finished speaking, Jesus was found alone. They kept silent and didn’t tell anyone about what they had seen for a long time.
Jesus expels a demon
The next day, when they descended the mountain, he was met by a large crowd. A man from the crowd shouted,
“Teacher, I beg of you: please look at my son. He is my only boy, and an intangible force seizes him causing him to scream, have convulsions, and foam at the mouth. It hardly ever leaves him, but when it does, it injures him as it leaves. I begged your students to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”
Jesus replied,
“You unbelieving and twisted generation! How long will I have to put up with you? Bring me your son.”
While he was approaching, the intangible force threw him on the ground and gave him convulsions. But Jesus reprimanded the rotten lifeforce, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. Everyone there was astounded at how spectacular God is.
While everyone was still marveling at everything he was doing, he told his students,
“Let these words sink in. The Culmination of Humanity is going to be handed over to humanity.”
They didn’t understand what this meant, because it’s meaning was concealed from them, and they were too scared to ask.
The least significant is the most significant
They started arguing about which one of them was the best. Jesus knew what their hearts were thinking, so he stood next to a child and said,
“Whoever welcomes this child on my behalf welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes the One who sent me. The least significant person among you is the one who is the most significant.”
John replied saying,
“Captain, we came across someone who was affiliating himself with you and expelling inferior supernaturals, so we tried to stop him since he wasn’t one of us.”
Jesus said,
“Don’t hinder him, because whoever isn’t against you is actually for you.”
Jesus travels toward Jerusalem
As the time for his ascension drew near, he became fixed on going to Jerusalem. He sent messengers ahead of him to the Samaritan village to make arrangements for him. But they didn’t welcome him because he was traveling toward Jerusalem. When his students James and John saw this, they said,
“Master, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to consume them?”
But he turned and scolded them saying,
“You don’t know what kind of lifeforce you’re a part of, because the Culmination of Humanity didn’t come to end people’s lives, but to save them.”
And they went on to another village.
As they were traveling along the road, someone told him, “I’ll follow you wherever you go.” Then Jesus told him,
“Foxes have dens, and birds have nests, but the Culmination of Humanity don’t have anywhere to sleep.”
When he told someone else to follow him, that person said, “Master, just let me to bury my father first.” But Jesus told him,
“Let the dead bury their own dead. But you: you should go everywhere and proclaim God’s dominion.”
Someone else said “I’ll follow you, Master, but first just let me say goodbye to my family.” Jesus told him,
“No one who looks back after he started working is fit for God’s domain.”