18. One day when Jesus was praying alone, the disciples came to him. “Who do the crowds say I am?” he asked them.
19. “Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”
20. “What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”Peter answered, “You are God's Messiah.”
21. Then Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone.
22. He also said to them, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life.”
23. And he said to them all, “Anyone who wants to come with me must forget self, take up their cross every day, and follow me.
24. For whoever wants to save their own life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it.
25. Will people gain anything if they win the whole world but are themselves lost or defeated? Of course not!