The disciples having realised that Jesus is the Messiah, He immediately reveals the true nature of the Messiahship. For although they realised Jesus was the Messiah, they did not understand how He would exercise that role. So Jesus tells them plainly that the "Son of Man" must suffer many things and be rejected by the Jewish religious establishment, even to the point of being killed. However, He would then be raised to life on the third day. Other places in the gospels make it clear that the disciples did not understand a word of this.
Moreover, this rather desolate prediction was relevant to His disciples also. For they too must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. If we truly want to live we need to be ready to die. So much of the stress that we can encounter is associated with concern about what happens to ourselves. We want to avoid suffering at all costs. However, it is only when we are prepared to suffer that we can be all that God wants us to be and achieve all that He wants us to achieve.
In focusing so much on saving our own lives we only end up losing them. Conversely, when we lose our lives for Christ's sake we will find them.
We need to stand up for Jesus, to identify with Him even when all of society is against Christ. The cost of doing otherwise is enormous and terrible. Moreover, one day Jesus will return with glory, and on that day it is those who deny Christ who will look foolish.
While the disciples did not appreciate what Jesus was on about now, they would eventually come to do so.
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