The Great Confession of Peter and the ensuing transfiguration have been called the watershed in the public ministry of Jesus.

From that time forward, the shadows of the cross lay continually across his pathway. More than ever, his primary concern was to prepare the twelve for the crisis which lay ahead. From this point in Mark,s story, therefore, less notice is given to Jesus's ministry of healing, and more attention is focused on his teaching ministry. Less mention is made of the attending multitudes, and more emphasis is placed on Jesus's relationship to his disciples.