Jesus gives food to more than 4 000 people
1There was a crowd of people who came to Jesus again. They did not have any food. Jesus called his disciples to Him and He said to them: 2‘I feel sorry for these people because they have been with Me for 3 days and they have no food. 3If I tell them to go home now and they are too hungry, they will faint and fall down before they get home. Some of them must walk very far to their homes.’
4The disciples asked Jesus: ‘Where will we get enough bread for all these people? We are far from a town. No one lives here.’ 5Jesus asked them: ‘How much bread do you have?’ They said to Him: ‘We have 7 loaves of bread.’
6Jesus told all the people to sit down to eat. Then Jesus took the 7 loaves of bread and He thanked God for it. Then He broke the bread in pieces and He gave it to his disciples and they gave it to the people. 7The disciples also had a few fish. Jesus took them and He thanked God again. Then He told his disciples to give the fish to the people.
8All the people had enough food to eat. His disciples picked up all the food that the people had not eaten. There were 7 big baskets full. 9There were about 4 000 men who had eaten. Then Jesus told everyone to go home. 10Jesus and his disciples immediately got into a boat and they went to the places near Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees want to see a miracle
(Also in Matthew 12:38-42; 16:1-4; Luke 11:29-32)
11Some Pharisees came to Jesus and they started to argue with Him. They wanted to test Him and see what He could do. So they asked Him to show them a miracle that came from God. 12Jesus sighed and said: ‘Why do you people always want to see a miracle from God? I tell you this and it is sure: God will not show you a miracle.’ 13Jesus went away from the Pharisees. He got back into the boat and they went to the other side of Lake Galilee.
Jesus warns his disciples about King Herod and the Pharisees
(Also in Matthew 16:5-11; Luke 12:1)
14The disciples did not take enough food with them. They had only one loaf of bread in the boat. 15Jesus warned his disciples and He said to them: ‘You must be careful. You must beware of the yeast_of_the_Pharisees and the yeast_of_King_Herod.’
16The disciples talked to each other. They thought Jesus said this because they did not have enough bread. 17Jesus knew what they were thinking and He asked them: ‘Why do you talk about the bread that you do not have? Do you still not see or understand what I am teaching you?
18“You have eyes, but you do not see.
You have ears, but you do not hear.”
Don't you remember? 19When I gave the 5 loaves of bread to the 5 000 people, how many baskets full of pieces of bread did you pick up after the people had finished eating?’ The disciples said: ‘12 baskets.’ 20Jesus asked again: ‘And when I gave the 7 loaves of bread to the 4 000 people, how many baskets full of pieces of bread did you pick up?’ The disciples answered: ‘7 baskets.’ 21Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Don't you understand what I taught you?’
Jesus heals a blind man in the town of Bethsaida
22Jesus and his disciples went to the town of Bethsaida. There was a blind man and people begged Jesus to touch the man. 23Jesus took the blind man's hand and He walked with him out of the town. Then Jesus spat into the man's eyes and He put his hands on the man and He asked him: ‘What do you see?’ 24The blind man looked and he said to Jesus: ‘I think I see people. They walk like trees.’ 25Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes again. Then he opened his eyes and he could see everything clearly. 26Jesus said to the man: ‘Go home now. Do not go into the town.’
Who is Jesus?
(Also in Matthew 16:13-20; Luke 9:18-22)
27Jesus and his disciples went to places near the city of Caesarea-Philippi. While they were walking to the city, Jesus asked his disciples: ‘What do the people say about who I am?’ 28The disciples said to Jesus: ‘Some people say You are John the Baptist and some people say You are Elijah. Some people say You are one of the prophets.’
29Then Jesus asked them: ‘But you, what do you say? Who do you say I am?’ Peter answered Him and said: ‘You are the Christ.’
30Jesus told his disciples not to tell other people that He was the Christ.
Jesus says He will die and live again
(Also in Matthew 16:21-23; Luke 9:22)
31From that time Jesus started to tell his disciples what would happen to Him. He explained to them that the elders, the chief_priests and the teachers_of_the_Laws would do very bad things to Him, the Son of man. They would not accept Him and they would kill Him, but after 3 days He would live again. 32Then Jesus explained clearly what He meant. He told them everything. When Peter heard this, he took Jesus away from the other disciples and he told Jesus that He must not say those things. 33Jesus turned_around and He looked at the other disciples. He rebuked Peter and said: ‘Go away from Me, Satan. You do not think what God wants. You think what people want.’
How people must follow Jesus
(Also in Matthew 10:32-39; 16:24-28; Luke 9:23-27; 14:25-33)
34Jesus then talked to all the people who were there with the disciples. He said to them:
‘If someone wants to come with Me,
then he must forget about himself.
He must live like a person who knows
that he will die on a cross.
That is how he must follow Me.
35Because if you want to save yourself,
then you will lose your life.
But if you have to die because
you love Me and the Good_News,
then you will save your life.
36If you get everything in the world
but you lose your life,
then you will have nothing.
37How much will you pay for your life?
You can never pay enough to buy back your life.
38The people who live now
do not listen to God.
They do bad things.
If someone does what they do
and He does not want to know Me
and he does not want to believe what I say,
then I will not say that I, the Son of man, know him.
I will not want to know him
when I come with the holy angels,
when I am King as my Father is King.’
