Day 61 – Feeding the Five Thousand

₁Jesus called the twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. ₂Then he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick, ₃after saying to them, “Take nothing with you for the journey: no stick, no beggar's bag, no food, no money, not even an extra shirt. ₄Wherever you are welcomed, stay in the same house until you leave that town; ₅wherever people don't welcome you, leave that town and shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.”

₆The disciples left and travelled through all the villages, preaching the Good News and healing people everywhere.

₇When Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about all the things that were happening, he was very confused, because some people were saying that John the Baptist had come back to life. ₈Others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. ₉Herod said, “I had John's head cut off; but who is this man I hear these things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

₁₀The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. ₁₁When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.

₁₂When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms round here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place.”

₁₃But Jesus said to them, “You yourselves give them something to eat.”

They answered, “All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?” ₁₄(There were about 5,000 men there.)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

₁₅After the disciples had done so, ₁₆Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. ₁₇They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.

₁₈One day when Jesus was praying alone, the disciples came to him. “Who do the crowds say I am?” he asked them.

₁₉“Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

₂₀“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are God's Messiah.”

₂₁Then Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. ₂₂He also said to them, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life.”

₂₃And he said to them all, “Anyone who wants to come with me must forget self, take up their cross every day, and follow me. ₂₄For whoever wants to save their own life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it. ₂₅Will people gain anything if they win the whole world but are themselves lost or defeated? Of course not! ₂₆If people are ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ₂₇I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God.”

₂₈About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. ₂₉While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. ₃₀Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, ₃₁who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfil God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem. ₃₂Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him. ₃₃As 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.)

₃₄While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. ₃₅A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen — listen to him!”

₃₆When 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.