Mark 8:22-38 ▼

22 As they came to Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him.

23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. He spit into his eyes, placed his hands on him, and asked him, |Do you see anything?|

24 The man looked up and said, |I see people, but they look like trees walking around.|

25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man's eyes again, and he saw clearly. His sight was restored, and he saw everything perfectly, even from a distance.

26 Then Jesus sent him home, saying, |Don't go into the village or tell anyone in the village.|

27 Then Jesus and his disciples set out for the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he was asking his disciples, |Who do people say I am?|

28 They answered him, |Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and still others one of the prophets.|

29 Then he began to ask them, |But who do you say I am?| Peter answered him, |You are the Messiah!|

30 Jesus sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

31 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man would have to suffer a great deal and be rejected by the elders, the high priests, and the scribes. Then he would be killed, but after three days he would rise again.

32 He was speaking about this matter quite openly. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But turning and looking at his disciples, Jesus rebuked Peter, saying, |Get behind me, Satan, because you're not thinking God's thoughts, but human thoughts!|

34 Then Jesus called the crowd to himself along with his disciples and told them, |If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continuously,

35 because whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.

36 What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?

37 Indeed, what can a person give in exchange for his life?

38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes with the holy angels in his Father's glory.|