Peter has just declared that Jesus is the Christ. After much time and instruction and demonstration, Jesus has finally managed to open the eyes of the disciples to His identity. But there is still more work to be done. Jesus now begins to tell them what this means – what it means to be the Messiah.
And His message is radically different from their expectations. His message is one of suffering, rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection. What’s the deal with this?
We can imagine that having identified Jesus as Messiah and then having Him so mess with their definitions that it is likely they began to doubt if they were correct. Perhaps we messed up. Maybe he isn’t the Messiah. To cut off these doubts Jesus takes three witnesses up the mountain and grants them a glimpse of the origin of His authority. You weren’t wrong – I really am the Messiah.