This is my beloved Son. Listen to him. The passage constituting the Gospel Reading for this Second Sunday of Lent recounts the episode of the transfiguration of Jesus in the presence of three of his disciples, Peter, James and John, as recounted by the evangelist Luke. The transfiguration of Jesus was one of the defining moments in the evolution of the relationship between Jesus and his disciples. It was an event that also marked an important phase in the on-going revelation of Jesus’ identity. This becomes evident when the transfiguration as an event is situated within the context of the immediate preceding episodes (Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ of God, the first prophecy of the passion, and the cost of discipleship [cf. Luke 9:18ff]). As the preceding episodes make it clear, the twelve were not yet where Jesus would have wanted them to be. They were still struggling not only with their identity as Jesus’ disciples, but also with their mission as partners of Jesus. They twelve were still in need of some schooling, as it were, and the event of the transfiguration providentially served that purpose. However, on this Second Sunday of Lent, it is the events that transpired on top of that mountain that should be of interest to us. As Peter and the other two disciples tried to make some sense of the phenomenon that had unfolded before their very eyes, a voice from heaven - presumably God’s - declared Jesus as [God’s] chosen Son and then proceeded to command that he (Jesus) be listened to. The two questions that we have to ask ourselves as we continue with our Lenten reflection, therefore, are these: what makes Jesus the chosen Son of God, and why is it important that we listen to him? 
Jesus’ mission is the salvation of the universe. As God-incarnate, Jesus’ single most important work is the repairing of the strained relationship between God and creation that stems from sin and rebellion. Fully divine and fully human, Jesus Christ is the sole means of effecting a reconciliation between God and creation. For having assumed a creaturely nature without losing his divine status, Jesus understands his brothers and sisters more than anyone else. Because he has shared in the lives of his brothers and sisters, Jesus, as it were, has learnt to “speak their language.” Therefore, when God commands that we listen to Jesus, God is simply reminding us to make better use of the opportunity we have at our disposal. We have in our midst the only means of realizing the fullness of life with which God gifted us at creation but which we have lost because of refusal to listen (obey). Moreover, the mission of Jesus can only be successful if we listen to, and carry out what he tells us.
God is commanding us to listen to Jesus because it is only him who can remove the ancient curse that has plagued creation ever since our first parents committed the first sin of rebellion. Just as God is commanding us in today’s Gospel reading to listen to Jesus, God had commanded Adam and Eve to listen to what had been laid down for them. However, they chose to DISOBEY. Their disobedience was the beginning of the end for creation, for it led to God putting the first family out of the Garden of Eden (God’s presence). Adam and Eve’s disobedience is the ancient curse that Jesus has come to undo. And he undoes it by remaining obedient to the Father (cf. Philippians 2:6-8) even as he teaches us to do likewise. 
Obedience to the Father was the key to Jesus’ success in his mission. Jesus never understood himself as being apart from the Father. He never separated himself from the Father’s will. He always included the Father in everything that he did, often raising his eyes to the Father in prayer and in thanksgiving. Not only did Jesus ask for his Father’s help as he ministered to his brothers and sisters, but he also attributed the success of his ministry to the Father. Jesus succeeded in remaining united to the Father because he was obedient. 
Jesus’ obedience to the Father is also seen in his understanding that he was not doing his own work but the Father’s. Even as his passion grew closer and the thought of it became overwhelming to the point of wanting to back out, Jesus still managed to ask the Father to let his (the Father’s) will be done (cf. Mark 14:36). Obedience to the Father calls for uniting one’s will to the Father’s. This is what Adam and Eve failed to do. By choosing to follow the desires of their own hearts which conflicted with what God had asked of them, they divorced their wills from the Father’s. This is the “original sin” which we have inherited from them. Our only way out of this “ancient curse” is to unite our wills to the will of the Father. This can only happen when we pay attention to what Jesus says even as we strive to do as he has done.