1About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them,
4His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”
5Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they replied.
6So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd.
8They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food.
11When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
12When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.”
14But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat.
16At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread.
“Twelve,” they said.
20“And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they said.
21“Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
22When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him.
24The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”
25Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.
27Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”
29Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.*8:29 Or the Christ. Messiah (a Hebrew term) and Christ (a Greek term) both mean “anointed one.””
30But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man*8:31 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead.
33Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
34Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.