Parables Of Redemption: The Chronicles Of Narnia, Part Two
Sometimes God uses His storytellers
like C.S. Lewis to open peoples’
hearts and minds to seeking
redemption in Jesus.
PARABLES OF REDEMPTION:
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA, Part Two
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Revelation 5:5 ESV
And one of the elders said to me,
“Weep no more; behold,
the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, has conquered,
so that he can open the scroll
and its seven seals.
In every book and in the life of every character in his Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis writes powerful testimonies of people who encounter and bow to the amazing love and power of Jesus. In the stories of Narnia Jesus is represented by the great Son of the Emperor Beyond the Sea, Aslan, who gives His life to overcome sin and death in the land of Narnia and beyond. In The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe, Edmund sells out to the wicked White Witch, foolishly believing her lies under the influence of the Turkish Delight he gobbles up as fast as he can. So, Aslan lays down His own life to destroy not only the hold of death on Edmund, but on all of Narnia. He arises victorious, breaking the Stone Table of Sacrifice forever. In the story, Prince Caspian, Aslan appears in a future Narnia, having fallen under the rule of the Telmarines, who have driven the Old Narnians still true to Aslan into hiding, as He brings freedom to all who choose to follow HIm. What a powerful picture of redemption C.S. Lewis presents in the person of Eustace Scrubb in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. What a an amazing example of having our dragonish, sinful, self-centered skins peeled away by Jesus who uses His own power to gives us genuine re-birth and freedom from our own sinful selves.
Now, let’s take a look at other individuals and peoples who are truly born again, thanks be to God, as Aslan intervenes on their behalf in the final four books of The Chronicles of Narnia.
Puddleglum, Eustace and Jill
must act courageously
and decisively to save
Prince Rilian and Narnia.
Only Aslan can give them
the power they need.
In The Silver Chair Lewis creates another appropriately named character, the marsh wiggle, Puddleglum, the very epitome of a pessimist, who faithfully and protectively accompanies Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole on their dangerous journey to free King Caspian’s lost son, Prince Rilian. At the crucial moment in the story, where Aslan’s Truth battles this wicked queen of the underworld’s lies, see how Puddleglum’s faith in Aslan and his courage save the day:
Then he did a very brave thing. He knew it wouldn’t hurt him quite as much as it would hurt a human; for his feet (which were bare) were webbed and hard and cold-blooded like a duck’s. But he knew it would hurt hurt him badly enough; and so it did. With his bare feet he stamped on the fire, grinding a large part of it into ashes on the flat hearth. And three things happened at once.
First, the sweet, heavy smell grew very much less. For though the whole fire had not been put out, a good bit of it had, and what remained smelled very largely of Marsh-wiggle, which is not at all an enchanting smell. This instantly made everyone’s brain far clearer. The Prince and the children held up their heads again and opened their eyes.
Secondly, the Witch, in a loud, terrible voice, utterly different from all the sweet tones she had been using up till now, called out, “What are you doing? Dare to touch my fire again, mud-filth, and I’ll turn the blood to fire inside your veins.”
Thirdly, the pain itself made Puddleglum’s head for a moment perfectly clear and he knew exactly what he really thought. There is nothing like a good shock of pain for dissolving certain kinds of magic.
From that moment on Prince Rilian and Puddleglum, along with Eustace and Jill, knew the truth. They realized the witch must be destroyed. With that accomplished, the people of the underworld were freed at last. Then the Narnians and their visitors found their way to the surface, so that according to Aslan’s plan, Narnia was protected by the return of Prince, soon-to-be-king Rilian.
Even as we are never alone,
God is always with us;
Shasta discovers he had
never been alone on his
dangerous journey home
to Archenland and Narnia—
Aslan had been there
every step of the way.
The Horse and His Boy is all about role reversals. Bree, a talking Narnian horse, rescues Shasta, who has been thought to be a fisherman’s son, but has actually been Cor, the Crown Prince of Archenland. They meet Hwin, a second talking Narnian horse, a mare, who is escorting a Telmarine Tarkeena of noble maiden, named Aravis. They all want to get to Narnia. The stallion, Bree, the mare, is proud and pompous, but Hwin is actually more courageous and certainly wiser. Aravis, a young noblewomen, is also proud, and at first despises Shasta, assuming he is beneath her. However, it is he whose courage saves them from a seemingly terrible Lion, actually Aslan. Below, Aslan explains to the very exhausted, discouraged and hopeless Shasta how he, Shasta, had been protected and guided all along his way—by Aslan, Himself.
”Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.
”There was only one lion,” said the Voice.
”What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and—“
”There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”
“How do you know?”
”I was the Lion.” And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”
In the end, all the roles are re-reversed, and Cor becomes the Crown Prince of Archenland, while he and Aravis eventually marry. Bree and Hwin return to Narnia, where they enjoy their freedom as free talking horses.
Polly and Digory have the privilege
to be present even as Aslan
creates Narnia by virtue of
His commanding singing voice.
Thanks to C.S. Lewis and his vivid, God-honoring imagination, we actually get to watch as Aslan sings Narnia into existence in The Magician’s Nephew. Here is this amazing moment:
THE LION WAS PACING TO AND FRO about the empty land and singing his new song. It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he called up the stars and the sun; a gentle, rippling music. And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave. In a few minutes it was creeping up the lower slopes of the distant mountains, making that young world every moment softer. The light wind could now be heard ruffling the grass. Soon they’re were other things besides the grass.
*******
Can you imagine a stretch of grassy land bubbling like water in a pot? For that is really what was happening. In all directions it was swelling into humps. They were of very different sizes, some no bigger than molehills, some as big as wheelbarrows, two the size of cottages. And the humps moved and swelled until they burst, and the crumbled earth poured out of them, and from each hump there came out an animal. The moles came out just as you might see a mole come out in England. The dogs came out, barking the moment their heads were free, and struggling as you’ve seen them do when they are getting through a narrow hole in a hedge. The stags were the queerest to watch, for of course the antlers came up a long time before the rest of them, so at first Digory thought they were trees. The frogs, who all came up near the river, went straight into it with a plop-plop and loud croaking. The panthers, lepers and things of that sort, sat down at once to wash the loose earth off their hindquarters and then stood up against the trees to sharpen their front claws. Showers of birds came out of the trees. Butterflies fluttered. Bees got to work on the flowers as if they hadn’t a second to lose. But the greatest moment of all was when the biggest hump broke like a small earthquake and out came the sloping back, the large, wise head, and the four baggy-trousered legs of an elephant.
In Narnia at her birth, Aslan creates each creature with a uniqueness, a beauty and a dignity all its own. And in the process people are gifted the opportunity and the responsibility of being stewards under the King to care for every living being well.
Imagine watching the destruction of the Old Narnia and the glorious beginning of the new, the real and eternal Narnia, with Aslan intimately involved in both. Such is the substance of The Last Battle. Lewis brings all of old Narnia to an end as he introduces the new, the eternal Narnia and the glorious life there for those Aslan as they are finally and fully redeemed. And in a reflection of C.S. Lewis deep belief in the goodness of God, all is truly well—ever better than anyone could have imagined on their own.
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which ever chapter is better than the one before.
When asked about his intention
in creating Aslan
as a Christlike lion;
C.S. explained
he wanted to explore
how Jesus might appear in a land like Narnia.
I would say that no matter how many times I either read or listen to or see the Narnian stories of Lewis, my heart is lifted up, my spirit is strengthened, and my mind is captivated. C.S. Lewis set out to encourage war-traumatized British children—and he, indeed, succeeded. As he portrays the effects of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus in presenting Aslan in Narnia, Lewis draws many of us deeply into the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Praise God for such stories that honorably and faithfully entertain us while filling our hearts and minds and souls with a deeper love for our faithful Lord Jesus.
