Tuesday, July 28

²⁹When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. ³⁰Then large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. ³¹As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.

³²Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” ³³The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” ³⁴Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” ³⁵After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds. ³⁷They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ³⁸Not counting children and women, there were 4,000 men who ate. ³⁹After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.

¹Now when the Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. ²He said, “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be fair weather because the sky is red,’ ³and in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today because the sky is red and darkening.’ You know how to judge correctly the appearance of the sky, but you cannot evaluate the signs of the times. ⁴A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.

⁵When the disciples went to the other side, they forgot to take bread. ⁶“Watch out,” Jesus said to them, “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” ⁷So they began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “It is because we brought no bread.” ⁸When Jesus learned of this, he said, “You who have such little faith! Why are you arguing among yourselves about having no bread? ⁹Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000, and how many baskets you took up? ¹⁰Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many baskets you took up? ¹¹How could you not understand that I was not speaking to you about bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” ¹²Then they understood that he had not told them to be on guard against the yeast in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

¹³When Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷And Jesus answered him, “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” ²⁰Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.