Love’s Answer to Rebellion
This year we're collaborating with writers across the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals, to bring you a series of short devotional articles during this season of Lent, the 40-day period prior to Easter. Find this series also published by UChicago's CANA Journal and UC Berkeley's TAUG.
by matthew cheng, uc berkeley
We reject God. All the time. The unchanging, infinitely-loving God, majestic and Most High, watching us as we go about our lives with a lack of care for the One who sacrificed Himself for us.
Yet we were not the first.
Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil even when commanded not to. Jonah disobeyed God’s command to preach in Nineveh. Judas Iscariot sold Jesus out for 30 pieces of silver. God was betrayed again and again, and still is to this day.
God graciously gives us these stories in the Bible as a reminder of our rebellion and weakness, pointing us to the remedy. Let’s first examine parallels of rebellion towards God in the Bible.
Take Joseph’s betrayal: Joseph’s very brothers sold him into slavery for 20 pieces of silver purely out of jealousy. In this story, Joseph is seen as the favorite son, similar to how Jesus is the Father’s begotten and beloved Son. Joseph’s betrayal by his brothers foreshadows Christ’s betrayal by His very own people. Joseph and Jesus were both betrayed for silver, and both were stripped of their garments before awaiting impending doom. Yet, despite all that happened, God intended evil for good. Joseph said to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gn. 50:20). As for Jesus, He was sent to die a gruesome death meant for the worst of criminals so that we may receive eternal life and be with God. In both scenarios, God had taken great suffering and betrayal and used it for His glory, offering physical and spiritual salvation.
A similar theme occurs in the Parable of the Wicked Tenants with a bit of a different message. A landowner sends multiple servants and even his own son to collect the fruit of his vineyard, only for them all to be slaughtered. The landowner thought that if he had sent his own son that maybe the wicked tenants would finally listen and offer the fruit up. Yet, Jesus explains in this parable that “the stone the builders rejected [had] become the cornerstone.” This parable was initially directed towards the religious leaders who rejected Jesus during the day, but it still holds much value for us today.
Taking an honest look at ourselves, we see that our spiritual neglect stems from a natural predisposition to self-centeredness, namely, pride. Our human nature is weak, susceptible to forgetfulness and complacency. No matter how much motivation and discipline we try to muster through our own strength, our weak selves must rely on God to give us this very strength to serve Him. Often leading to burnout and failure, self-centeredness misleads us to think we can strive towards God on our own. And in our daily lives, such complacency and forgetfulness can stem from this prideful posture. But how can we be prideful next to the cross?
Reader, I encourage you to meditate continuously on the cross. The Good News tells us that despite our sin, if we genuinely believe in Christ’s death, resurrection, and imminent return, we may receive eternal life with God. At its very bare bones, this is the Gospel.
The second Friday of Lent involves fasting, typically from meat, and meditating on the Sorrowful Passion of Christ: that He suffered immensely for our pardon despite our continual rejection and forgetfulness of Him; that Christ’s sacrifice was for all of our sins; that even in suffering God can bring Glory to Him. Above all else, let us not focus so hard on what we do, but rather on why we do these things for God. This way, we may prevent complacency in our hearts and avoid turning an opportunity for spiritual reflection and meditation into a ritualistic holiday.
Let us remind ourselves of our rebellion—throughout history and in our own lives; let us remind ourselves of His goodness, and the suffering He endured for our salvation; let us remind ourselves of how He loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Matthew Cheng is Sophomore at UC Berkeley studying Industrial Engineering. He is an editor and writer for Berkeley’s Christian magazine, TAUG, attempting to capture even the slightest glimpses of God to share with others. During his free time Matthew enjoys eating lots of food, exercising, and music.