Jesus took Peter, James, and John and went up on a mountain to pray. As the Lord prayed, the three disciples fell asleep. Suddenly they woke up and saw the face of Jesus becoming brighter and brighter. His clothes were a brilliant white and shone like light.

Then they realized that two men were with him, and they knew it was Moses and Elijah. They also shone like the sun. Moses and Elijah talked with Jesus about his death.

Peter spoke up when the two men started to leave. He said, “Lord, it’s good that we are here. Please allow us to build three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

As he was talking, a bright cloud covered them. This made the disciples afraid. A voice said, “This is my Son. Listen to him!”

The disciples fell down in terror. Jesus walked over and touched them. “Don’t be afraid. Get up.” They looked around and everything was back to normal. The only person with them was Jesus.

As they went down the mountain, Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about what you saw today, until after I’ve risen from the dead.” They wondered what he meant by ‘risen from the dead’, but no one said anything about it.

Instead, they said, “Lord, why do the scribes tell us that Elijah must come first?”

He said, “It’s true. Elijah will come in the last days before everything is made right. But listen carefully. Elijah did come, and people did not recognize him. They caused him to suffer in the same way I’ll also suffer at their hands.” The disciples then understood that Jesus was talking about John the Baptist.

A large crowd was waiting for them at the bottom of the mountain. A man ran up and knelt before Jesus. “Lord, have mercy on my son, my only child. A spirit takes him and throws him down, sometimes in the fire, sometimes in the water. He can’t talk. He foams at the mouth and goes into convulsions.

I came to your disciples, but they weren’t able to help him. If you can do anything for him, please help us.”

Jesus noticed that the father had said, “If you can do anything…” so he said, “Everything is possible to a person who believes.”

The father started to panic. “Lord, I believe. … Oh, Lord, help my unbelief!”

Jesus said, “Bring the child to me.”

When the spirit saw Jesus, he threw the boy to the ground. He rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

Jesus said to the spirit, “Come out of this boy, and never enter him again.”

The spirit came out of the boy violently. The child screamed, and fell down to the ground. People gasped and said, “He’s dead.” Jesus walked over and took the boy by the hand and helped him up.

Later the disciples asked the Lord, “Why couldn’t we drive the spirit out of him?”

Jesus said, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.”