Read the Modern Pastor’s Version

After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them away to a high mountain by themselves. There, he was transfigured before them in a brilliant light, his face shining like the sun and his clothes radiant as white linen.

As they watched, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. Peter spoke up, saying to him, "Lord, it's wonderful for us to be here; if you wish, we'll set up three shelters – one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." But before he could finish speaking, a brilliant cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud declared, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!" When the disciples heard this, they were so terrified that they fell on their faces.

Jesus came over and touched them, saying, "Get up, don't be afraid." As they looked up, they saw no one there except Jesus alone. He instructed them not to tell anyone about what had just happened until after he had risen from the dead.

As they made their way down the mountain, his disciples asked him why the scribes claimed that Elijah must come first. Jesus replied, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things, but I say to you that Elijah has already arrived – though people didn't recognize him or do as he instructed. Similarly, the Son of Man will also suffer at their hands." His disciples finally understood that Jesus was speaking about John the Baptist.

As they entered the crowd, a man approached Jesus on his knees and begged for help with his son, who suffered from seizures that often threw him into fire or water. He asked Jesus to have mercy on his son because he was possessed by an evil spirit and frequently fell into convulsions. The man had brought his son to Jesus' disciples before, but they were unable to cure him.

Jesus answered the man's request with a question: "How long must I endure your faithless and perverse generation?" He then told the man to bring his son to him. When the child was brought to Jesus, he rebuked the evil spirit, and it left the boy immediately.

The disciples approached Jesus in private and asked why they had been unable to cast out the demon from the child. Jesus explained that their lack of faith was the reason: "If you had even a small amount of faith – like a mustard seed – you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move; nothing would be impossible for you." He added that this particular type of demon is only cast out through prayer and fasting.

While they were staying in Galilee, Jesus told his disciples that the Son of Man would soon be handed over to men. They would put him to death, but on the third day he would rise again – a prediction that filled them with great distress.

When they arrived in Capernaum, some tax collectors approached Peter and asked if Jesus paid taxes. Jesus turned the question back on them: "Do kings of the earth collect taxes from their own children or from strangers?" When Peter replied that it was customary to pay taxes to strangers, Jesus said, "Then the children are free." However, to avoid offending anyone, he told Peter to go to the sea, catch a fish, and find a coin in its mouth. He instructed them to take the coin and use it to pay their taxes for him and themselves.