Narnia Revealed
Gregg Barbour. the Point. 4/24/06
I. Purpose of the Story (perspective from C.S. Lewis)
As Lewis wrote about the land of Narnia, an imaginary world visited by children of this world, he had two obvious purposes: to entertain the readers and to suggest analogies of the Christian faith. Many people would describe the Chronicles of Narnia as allegory, meaning a story that represents an abstract idea, but Lewis said, “…I’m not exactly ‘representing’ the real (Christian) story in symbols. I’m more saying ‘suppose there were a world like Narnia and it needed rescuing and the Son of God (or the ‘Great Emperor oversea’) went to redeem it, as He came to redeem ours. What might it, in that world, all have been like?’” It all started when Lewis took in four children during WWII who were sent out of London for their safety during German bomb raids—sound familiar? As he spent time with the children, he learned and was surprised that they knew very few mythic stories and fairy tales, and so he was inspired to pen the Chronicles. I think his desire was that children would fall in love with Aslan in the world of Narnia, and then come to know the “Aslan” of this world. Though the story isn’t meant to be allegorical per say, there are several things that we can assume for our lives.
II. The Edmund in Each of Us (Romans 3:21-26) (clip of Edmund as a traitor)
C.S. Lewis wrote “Edmund is like Judas, a sneak and a traitor. But unlike Judas he repents and is forgiven (as Judas no doubt would have been if he’d repented).” You see, there’s a bit of Edmund in all of us. Romans 3:21-26 says, “21But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. 22We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done.23For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. 25For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. 26And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.”
You see, if we just stop and take a look inside ourselves, we’ll realize that we all have a problem, a problem called sin. A problem that keeps us longing for the Turkish Delight, that the White Witch will tempt us with so much that we’ll become sick from gorging ourselves on it. It’s the same way in this world. Satan will tempt us to do the wrong thing convincing us that it’s good for us, but after a while we realize that it only hurts us worse to continue doing it. James 1:14-15 says, “but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire he is dragged away and enticed, then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death.”
It seems hopeless to think that because of temptation which is deception, leads to desire-when Satan throws the bait out there, leads to disobedience, and then to death. But that leads us to the next truth we can assume from the land of Narnia.
III. The Passion of Aslan: The Penalty Paid (Romans 5:1-10) (clip of Aslan’s suffering for Edmund)
Because Edmund was captured by the White Witch’s deception, as a traitor, he was doomed to death. But Aslan, the mighty king, stepped in and paid for the penalty through his own death. Romans 5:1-10 says, “ 1By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us--set us right with him, make us fit for him--we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. 2And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand--out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.3There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, 4and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. 5In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary--we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! 6Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. 7We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. 8But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. 9Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. 10If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Just as Aslan did in the world of Narnia, we have a king who paid the price for all our sins. And what was once hopeless, has now become hopeful, because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross!
IV. There’s a “deeper magic” to be experienced: Eternal Life (1 John 5:11-13)
(Clip of Resurrection)
“But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.
"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of Time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards." (pp. 132-33)
There’s a deeper magic to experience here. Not only by Aslan offering the sacrifice for Edmund’s treachery did he pay the penalty of death, but He conquered death to live again, and win the victory over the White Witch.
1 John 5:11-13 says, “1And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life.”
A similar thing happened in our world, Jesus came and conquered death so that we might have Eternal life. We’re able to experience the deeper magic of eternal life with God if we only believe!
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “11God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” Even though, God’s designed us to spend eternity with Him, some people still have a hard time recognizing it, that’s why the Chronicles are so important, so that we can see this journey laid out, we can fall in love with Aslan, and as we hear the story of how Jesus has done the same thing that Aslan has done for Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmund, we’ll understand the sacrifice made for us.
In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the fifth book of the series, Aslan tells the children that although they must return to their own world, they can find him there also (Hooper 123). Aslan says, "There I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there" (Hooper 123). Some of Lewis’ readers wonder what the significance of this statement is and begin to search for Aslan here on earth. Hila, an eleven year old girl from the United States asked Lewis what Aslan’s name is in this world (Dorsett 31-32). His response was this:
“As to Aslan’s other name, well I want you to guess. Has there never been anyone in this world who (1.) Arrived at the same time as Father Christmas. (2.) Said he was the son of the great Emperor. (3.) gave himself up for someone else’s fault to be jeered at and killed by wicked people. (4.) Came to life again. (5.) Is sometimes spoken of as a Lamb.... Don’t you really know His name in this world. Think it over and let me know your answer! (Dorsett 32) “
V. Invitation to Respond
It is in the spiritual realm that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe displays its greatest positivity. C.S. Lewis intended Aslan to serve as a Christ figure and for the events that surround him to serve as an allegory for Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection. This film fully embraces those allusions.
A primer on Narnian allegory: Aslan serves the Emperor Beyond the Sea (God the Father) and yet is also creator of Narnia (compare Colossians 1:16). Even though Aslan clearly has power over the White Witch, he chooses to work through human beings to accomplish his will to free Narnia. And he offers his own innocent blood to pay for Edmund’s sin (Romans 5:8). His "Gethsemane" is a forest glade. His "disciples" are Susan and Lucy. As he is led to the Stone Table to be killed, he is mocked and humiliated by the White Witch’s evil cohort yet does not protest or fight back (read Isaiah 53:4-7 and the gospel accounts of Christ’s scourging and crucifixion). Most important, he rises from the dead and the atonement is complete (Colossians 1:13-14). Aslan tells Edmund’s siblings not to bring up their brother’s betrayal again: "What’s done is done," he explains (Psalm 103:12; 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Hebrews 10:17). As he presents Edmund to the court at the castle Cair Paravel, he calls him "Edmund the Just" (see Romans 5:19).
Christin Ditchfield, author of A Family Guide to Narnia, offers other biblical parallels. "All of Narnia awaits deliverance from the dominion of the White Witch," she writes. "The land itself longs to be free from captivity (Romans 8:19-21). According to the Deep Magic (or law) on which Narnia was founded, Edmund must pay the penalty for his treachery with his life (Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 9:22). Aslan is the only hope for Narnia and for Edmund. It is only Aslan, the one who created Narnia, who can now deliver it from the power of the White Witch (1 John 3:8)."
Also, it should be noted that the White Witch is a usurper and pretender to the throne who has temporary control of Narnia until Aslan returns (Ephesians 2:2). She has magic powers to turn living things to stone and uses a potion to conjure hot chocolate and Turkish delight (an ultra-sweet dessert) for Edmund. Her subtle lies to Edmund are a good illustration of James 1:14-15.
Father Christmas makes an appearance and gives Lucy a magic potion that can heal wounds. (She uses it to revive Edmund after he is stabbed.) Susan is given arrows that she’s told will "not easily miss" their target.
