Journey Through God's Word

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

¹⁹They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

²⁰“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”

²¹Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone.

²²And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

²³Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

²⁴For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.

²⁵What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

²⁶Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, 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.

²⁷“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”

²⁵Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:

²⁶“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.

²⁷And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?

²⁹For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,

³⁰saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

³¹“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

³²If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.

³³In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

³⁴“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?

³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

¹It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

²The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist.

⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

⁸“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

¹⁰Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.”

¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.

¹³“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.

¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

¹⁶Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.