The transfiguration of Christ, and the healing of the lunatic son, are well known miracles of Christ. Yet it is little noted that the context of these two miracles is Christ's rejected teaching, that He must die and rise again. Just before the transfiguration, Christ begins to tell His disciples that He must be treated with contempt by His Own people and by the Romans, and then taken out and killed, and then raised again the third day. Peter and the rest of the disciples didn't like that teaching at all. Peter rebuked Christ, and denounced the pending death of Jesus. Peter and the disciples longed for Christ to set up His kingdom and destroy the wicked Romans. The return of a physical kingdom then was one of the things that men embraced, but not God. Think of it: the means of our salvation and everlasting joy were rejected by the disciples of Christ, the very ones who followed Him and believed in Him! But God desired the sacrifice of Jesus, in fact, He brought it to pass, by the hands of wicked men who hated Messiah. Christ Himself, as our High Priest, offered Himself up as God's Lamb to take away the sin of His people. Within a week of their rejecting Christ's teaching, Peter, James, and John were present to observe the transfiguration of Christ on the mountain. They saw Moses & Elijah, two important patriarchs of Israel, conversing with Jesus about His ascension to glory. But God spoke to them all out of the cloud: This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased! Hear ye Him! This was a word of rebuke to the disciples for objecting to Christ's sacrifice on the cross! No matter what the disciples thought, the only Person Whose thoughts matter is Almighty God!