The true glory of Jesus
1Six days later Jesus took Peter and the brothers James and John with him. They went up on a very high mountain where they could be alone. 2There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. His face was shining like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
3All at once Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus. 4So Peter said to him, “Lord, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5While Peter was still speaking, the shadow of a bright cloud passed over them. From the cloud a voice said, “This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him. Listen to what he says!” 6When the disciples heard the voice, they were so afraid that they fell flat on the ground. 7But Jesus came over and touched them. He said, “Get up and don't be afraid!” 8When they opened their eyes, they saw only Jesus.
9On their way down from the mountain, Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone what they had seen until after the Son of Man had been raised from death.
10The disciples asked Jesus, “Don't the teachers of the Law of Moses say that Elijah must come before the Messiah does?”
11Jesus told them, “Elijah certainly will come and get everything ready. 12In fact, he has already come. But the people did not recognize him and treated him just as they wanted to. They will soon make the Son of Man suffer in the same way.” 13Then the disciples understood that Jesus was talking to them about John the Baptist.
Jesus heals a boy
14Jesus and his disciples returned to the crowd. A man knelt in front of him 15and said, “Lord, have pity on my son! He has a bad case of epilepsy and often falls into a fire or into water. 16I brought him to your disciples, but none of them could heal him.”
17Jesus said, “You people are too stubborn to have any faith! How much longer must I be with you? Why do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy here.” 18Then Jesus spoke sternly to the demon. It went out of the boy, and at once he was healed.
19Later the disciples went to Jesus in private and asked him, “Why couldn't we force out the demon?”
20-21Jesus replied:
It is because you don't have enough faith! But I can promise you this. If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.
Jesus again speaks about his death
22While Jesus and his disciples were going from place to place in Galilee, he told them, “The Son of Man will be handed over to people 23who will kill him. But three days later he will rise to life.” All this made the disciples very sad.
Paying the temple tax
24When Jesus and the others arrived in Capernaum, the collectors for the temple tax came to Peter and asked, “Does your teacher pay the temple tax?”
25“Yes, he does,” Peter answered.
After they had returned home, Jesus went up to Peter and asked him, “Simon, what do you think? Do the kings of this earth collect taxes and fees from their own people or from foreigners?”
26Peter answered, “From foreigners.”
Jesus replied, “Then their own people don't have to pay. 27But we don't want to cause trouble. So go and cast a line into the lake and pull out the first fish you hook. Open its mouth, and you will find a coin. Use it to pay your taxes and mine.”
