Jesus displays his heavenly glory in a direct way by appearing with Moses and Elijah. This must have been a tremendous faith-building time for Peter, James, and John! Jesus cast out a demon that the disciples had not been able to cast out. This shows the incompleteness of their faith. The chapter ends with an amusing story of paying taxes. Being the Son of God, Jesus was exempt from the tax for God’s Temple, but once Peter had made the commitment, it was more important for Jesus to keep the commitment than to claim his right to not pay.
The disciples had heard more of Jesus’ teaching and seen more of his miracles than anybody, but they still misunderstood who he was at times. That means there is hope for us! We might get our relationship with Jesus wrong, but we can still have an impact and participate in the amazing work God is doing!