Journey Through God's Word

¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.”

²⁰He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah of God.”

²¹He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone,

²²saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

²³Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

²⁴For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.

²⁵What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

²⁶Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

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

²⁵Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them,

²⁶“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

²⁷Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

²⁸For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?

²⁹Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him,

³⁰saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’

³¹Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand?

³²If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace.

³³So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.

³⁴“Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?

³⁵It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; they throw it away. Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

¹Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

²The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper

³Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,

⁴got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.

⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

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

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

⁸Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”

⁹Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”

¹¹For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹²After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

¹³You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am.

¹⁴So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

¹⁵For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

¹⁶Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

¹⁷If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.