Session #1 – Who is Aslan? Who is Jesus?
John 1:1-5; Mark 10:17-22; John 1:10-11
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe: Ch. 8 Children ask Mr. and Mrs. Beaver “Is he (Aslan) dangerous?”
Questions this sermon tries to address:
Who does Aslan represent in the Chronicles of Narnia?
What similarities do you see between Aslan and Jesus?
Who do people say Jesus is? Who do you think Jesus is?
Why are there so many different ideas about who Jesus is?
Catch the audience up on what’s going on in Narnia: In CS Lewis’ book The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe we meet 4 children; Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy. These four siblings find themselves in a strange house and eventually in an even stranger new land called Narnia. They discover this new land by walking through a wardrobe, or a closest like the ones you walked through to come in here today. Now, it’s always winter in Narnia because the evil White Queen has cursed the land. Anyways, eventually the children find themselves in the welcoming home of Mr. and Mrs. Beaver when the name Aslan comes up. Aslan is a name you’ll be hearing a lot this weekend, so I think we better start by figuring out just who this Aslan character is.
Read LWW: Ch. 8 pg. 78-80 “Oh Yes! Tell us about Aslan!”
Tell me what you know about Aslan from what I just read. (wait for responses)
Does Aslan sound familiar? He should…in this story, Aslan represents Jesus.
You know, for years people have been trying to figure out who Jesus is. And there have been a lot of answers to that question. Some people say Jesus was just a really good teacher and a nice guy. Others say he was crazy and a rebel. When Jesus was walking on this earth there were a lot of people who called him a troublemaker and a criminal. I mean, that’s what he was crucified as, right? A criminal?
If I were to ask you who you are, what would you say? (wait for responses)
When I was in middle school, I would have told you that I was my Grandpa’s fishing buddy, in High school I might have told you that I was a soccer player, in college I would have told you I was best friends with Steve, and now I would tell you that I’m Kristin’s husband. Now all of those things are true, but none of them tells you who I REALLY am. None of them gets to the heart of me. To get to know me, to get to really know me you have to spend some time with me.
In Matthew 16 Jesus asks his disciples a pretty simple question. Let’s pick up the story at verse 13. (read Matt. 16:13-20) Jesus asks his disciples who do people say I am, and who do YOU say that I am. This is a really important question, because we’re faced with many different possible answers. And the way we answer this question will impact everything else in our lives. If we say that Jesus was a good teacher, but not God’s son, and not the savior of the world as he said, then that impacts our lives, doesn’t it? But if we say that Jesus was God’s son, and that he is our Savior, and if we say we want to have some sort of relationship with him, then that has to change how we act, and live and how we see the world around us. Peter tells Jesus that he thinks Jesus is “the Christ, the son of the living God.” That has a real effect on Peter’s life, and things will never be the same depending on how he answers that question. So, now that question is put to you…who do you say Jesus is? Who do you REALLY say Jesus is?
In the LWW, the children ask who Aslan is, because they really want to know. They have a genuine interest, and somehow, deep down inside of them, they know that the question they are asking is important. I think, I hope, that there are many of you here today who are thinking the same sort of thing about Jesus…Who is he, really? And what does it mean to be one of Jesus’? And maybe even, “what does it look like to call Jesus Lord” as Peter does, when we leave this place, Narnia? I hope to talk with you about this stuff over the next couple of days.
