In 2017, the Collins Dictionary's chosen word of the year was ″fake news″. ″Fake news″ is misinformation and cleverly devised stories that seek to pass as legitimate news. In early 2018, the British government formed two teams to rebut false reports about the government on social media.

In 2 Peter 1:16-18, Peter is rebutting ″fake news″ that false teachers have been spreading about the second coming of Jesus Christ. He uses the word parousia, which is used 17 times in the New Testament to refer to Jesus' second coming. Peter states emphatically that he and the other apostles believe that Jesus Christ will come again (2 Peter 1:16). Their teachings are not ″cleverly devised stories″ (v. 16).

In his rebuttal, Peter tells of the time when he, together with John and James, saw Jesus transfigured before their very eyes (vv. 16-18, see also Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36). Jesus had taken them up a high mountain where the appearance of His face was changed (Luke 9:29) and He shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2). His clothes became ″dazzling white″ (Mark 9:3), as ″bright as a flash of lightning″ (Luke 9:29). Peter speaks of Christ's ″majesty″ (2 Peter 1:16), which speaks of His divinity and glory.

The three of them had probably never seen anything like this before. And there was more to come. Peter and his friends saw Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:3)! Then a cloud came over them, and they heard a voice saying, ″This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased″ (v. 5).

Peter repeats these words in 2 Peter 1:17. He knows that it was God who spoke those words regarding His Son Jesus Christ. The words, ″This is my Son″, remind us of Psalm 2:7, which refers to the LORD's Son as the messianic King. The latter part of 2 Peter 1:17 (″with him I am well pleased″) is most probably taken from Isaiah 42:1, which speaks of the Suffering Servant.

By recalling his eyewitness account of the Transfiguration, Peter wants to rebut false teaching about the coming of Jesus Christ. He reassures his readers that what he and the other apostles had taught them about the parousia were not cleverly devised myths that they made up. They were eyewitnesses, and therefore they were competent to attest to the truth of what they had seen.

The Transfiguration points to Christ's second coming. New Testament scholar Douglas Moo expresses this well: ″The Transfiguration involves a transformation in Jesus' appearance, but it is a transformation that reveals his true nature. It is this glorious and majestic nature, hidden, as it were, during his earthly life, that will be revealed to all the world at the time of his return. Put simply, the Transfiguration reveals Jesus as the glorious King, and Peter was there to see it.″⁵