Narnia and the Bible

Intro

Love. Betrayal. Sacrifice. Fear. Hope. Pain. Suffering. Longing. Joy. Friendship. Enemies. Beauty. Ugliness. Survival. Death. Life.

When someone reads words like that, I instantly jump to an epic tale where there is someone that needs saved. A hero to do the saving. A vast world made up of picturesque landscapes. Evil is thriving but ultimately good will overcome.

All of that is found in the Bible. The Bible starts out with everything being good. Evil enters the world and we see the affects of sin for generations. Finally a hero comes and his name is Jesus. He breaks the chains of sin. He conquers death. By his life and through his life we can have life full of joy and hope. The story is not over and fortunately we have the final chapter. We know that evil will ultimately be destroyed and our hero Jesus will reign supreme.

Now you might be wondering what any of that has to do with “The Chronicles of Narnia?” C. S. Lewis wrote one of the greatest children’s series over 60 years ago. In fact, during that time, we got two of the greatest epic stories ever told. C. S. Lewis lived and was very good friends with J. R. R. Tolkien who wrote “The Lord of the Rings.” Out of this friendship came some of the greatest fantasy work this world has ever known.

Today, we are going to take a look at the most popular and most widely known book in “The Chronicles of Narnia” and that is “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.” C. S. Lewis wrote 7 books in this series. The movie we will watch clips of today is the first book written in the series but not the first book chronologically. In fact, if you read this series chronologically, you get a story that is very similar to the story presented in the Bible. The book in this series that portrays the most important story in the Bible is found is this movie today.

Narnia and the Lessons We Can Learn

Before I came up here, we watched a few minute clip of Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of four siblings, make her way through a wardrobe into the land of Narnia. She is currently living in the country in England during the first world war when Germany is regularly bombing England. They are in the midst of playing hide and seek when she hides in the wardrobe only to find it has no back.

She makes her way into this snow covered forest when she finds a lamp post (you’ll need to read “The Magicians Nephew” to get that story). As she’s standing by the lamp post, she ends up meeting a fawn named Tumnus.

Tumnus and Lucy become quick friends and Tumnus leads Lucy to his home to have some tea. They’ve arrived at his house. Let’s look at the scene of Lucy and Tumnus having tea.

Video clip of Lucy and Tumnus.

Deception doesn’t always look evil.

Lucy is drugged because the Queen of Narnia (otherwise known as the white witch) has demanded that all human kids be taken to her castle. Tumnus is only doing what he is forced to do. Aslan, our hero of the story has a quick appearance reminding Tumnus of where his loyalties should lie. What I find interesting about this clip is the fact that the deception going on is not a threatening, evil deception. For all of us, temptation and sin will look rather harmless until we start believing the deception and then we see what it truly is. The Bible warns us about Satan in this regard.

2 Corinthians 11:14 NIV

And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

This isn’t the only scene where someone from the Pevensie family is deceived.

Video clip of Edmund and the White Witch

The lead up to this scene is that Lucy has come back to the house where they children are staying. She tells her siblings that she went to Narnia. Edmund plays along only to hurt her feelings. Edmund is the sibling that always gets scolded but never praised. Because of that, his reactions to Narnia are quite different.

Everyone is in bed and Lucy walks back to the wardrobe. This time though, Edmund follows her through the wardrobe. She is no where to be found. She has gone to see Tumnus. Edmund though has an encounter with Jaida, the Queen of Narnia. We learn later on that she is actually the White Witch and she has made Narnia to have winter but never Christmas.

Through deception, she convinces Edmund that she is good and uses the temptation of having power of his siblings as the means to get his allegiance. This little encounter, and the fact that he reveals Tumnus’s betrayal to the White Witch sets the course for many unfortunate events as the story progresses.

Two scenes with two very different endings. Each of them show that deception doesn’t always look evil.

For your life to have complete fulfillment, it needs others to complete it and a king to surrender too.

Our journey continues through Narnia. Edmund and Lucy have returned to the house. Edmund plays another cruel joke on Lucy because they do encounter each other in Narnia but Edmund lies about. The next day, they are playing outside and Edmund hits a ball through a window. The caretaker of the house is a rather grumpy lady so they run around the house to find a place to hide. They end up in the room with the wardrobe and wouldn’t you know, they hide there and end up in Narnia.

The meet Mr. and Mrs. Beaver (because animals in Narnia can talk) who reveal to them a prophecy about 2 sons of Adam and 2 daughters of Eve who will vanquish the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia. Edmund leaves his siblings to go the White Witches castles because he is still enticed by power. She puts him in jail and she ultimately learns that Aslan has returned to Narnia and is gather an army.

The other Pevensie siblings, Peter Susan and Lucy, are making their way to Aslan at the stone table. They come under some troubles along the way, but with a little help from some allies and Santa Claus, they make it to Aslan’s camp. This next scene is their entrance into the camp and our first glimpse of Aslan.

Video clip of Peter, Susan and Lucy arriving at the camp

What I find interesting about this clip and the trajectory of the movie going forward is how important it is to have friends beyond family. The mission that they are set upon is one they cannot accomplish by themselves. In fact, it wasn’t just a few people that helped them. They had an army.

When you read the Bible, you get this picture that life is not meant to be lived alone. And the more you dive into the Bible, you come to realize that life attached to a larger community of people is how God intended for us to live. We call that large community a church.

gives us a glimpse into life in the early church. As you read through Paul’s letters, you find many verses about the “one anothering” that we are called to do. Hebrews gives us a warning on the importance of continually gather together.

Hebrews 10:24–25 NIV

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Why is it important to have a proverbial army? Because we need the encouragement on a regular basis. If we strive to constantly complete the things God’s has for us by ourselves, we will almost always fail. And if you do happen to succeed, you will end up miserable. But together we can accomplish it easier and quicker and enjoy the process.

But it wasn’t just the army that was waiting on them. It was their submission to someone greater than them. If you read “The Magician’s Nephew”, you get the creation of Narnia by Aslan. Aslan wasn’t just another talking animal in Narnia. He was their creator. He was the supreme being in the universe. Bowing before let the Pevensie children know where there place is in everything.

Because of their bowing to Aslan, he promises to get Edmund back. Why? Because the children recognize that they can’t do it. After arriving in the camp, a skirmish breaks out between Peter and Mogrim, the captain of the White Witches police where Peter triumphs in battle. After that, Aslan dispatches a small force to go and rescue Edmund. Shortly thereafter, the White Witch arrives at the camp demanding payment for Edmund’s betrayal.

In Narnia, betrayal needed to be met with blood. So Aslan and the White Witch have a meeting together privately and afterwards it is announced that she has renounced her claim on Edmund’s life. Something happened in that meeting that changed her mind. A couple days go by and then the result of that conversation comes to life.

It is night out. Everyone is sleeping and Aslan goes off for a walk. Lucy and Susan follow him and in fact walk with him for a short while. It is this scene where we see what that decision was.

AS A SIDE NOTE, THIS SCENE DOES CONTAIN SOME SCARY IMAGES. IT IS A 6 MINUTE CLIP SO IF YOU CHILD BECOMES FRIGHTENED, IT IS OK TO STEP OUT.

Aslan and his death

The one person who could have guaranteed the victory is gone. The hope of Narnia has been killed. But the penalty for blood has been paid. Now the Pevensie children are called to lead an army and defeat the White Witch. At this point I’d love to show you the next 10-15 minutes of the movie. Maybe someday soon, this movie will be a movie night. The battle scene is one that inspires heroism. (And as a side note, we could watch this movie and every five minutes stop it to discuss the biblical lessons it is teaching.)

The battle rages on. The army of Aslan is less than half the size of the army of the White Witch. The fight bravely but is doesn’t look like it’s going to end well. While all of this is going on, Susan and Lucy have not left the body of Aslan. They have sat with it all night long. Daybreak comes and they decide to return to the camp. As they are leaving, something happens.

Video clip of Aslan’s resurrection

He’s alive!!!! Read the end of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to see that Jesus is still alive. Aslan is the Jesus figure throughout the entire Narnia story. At this point, the battle has started and in a few minutes the Narnian army will be retreating. Why? Because Aslan isn’t there. But now there’s hope. But in our story, Aslan doesn’t run directly to the battle field. Instead his runs to the White Witches castle. It is here that Aslan doesn’t something remarkable.

Unless you’ve seen this movie (or read the books), you know that the White Witch has a wand that turns animals and people into stone. Aslan is taking the girls to go gather reinforcements. It is in this scene that we see a foundational biblical principle about our life in Christ.

Video clip of Aslan restoring Tumnus

Ezekiel 36:26 NIV

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

New life. Tumnus is restored. In Christ, you can be restored as well.

You cannot beat Satan, only Jesus can.

Our movie continues. Edmund has been gravely injured in battle by the White Witch. In the process of his injury, he has destroyed the wand. The Narnian army is losing, Peter is in the fight of the his life with the White Witch. Let’s watch this final clip.

Aslan saves the day

Aslan saves the day! We’ve talked about deception and how Satan tempts us with evil things but doesn’t make them look evil. We’ve talked about our need for others in our life and the surrender to the King. We’ve talked about salvation. Here is the last biblical truth we can learn from this movie (at least today), you cannot beat Satan, only Jesus can. Why? Because Satan is a spiritual being. We are just humans. It takes someone greater than a spiritual being to defeat a spiritual being. His name is Jesus.

1 John 4:4 NIV

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Pay close attention to this verse. It doesn’t say, greater is you than he that is in the world. It says, greater is one IN you.

At the end of the day, we can watch a movie like this and be inspired in our faith. Why? Because Jesus has provided a way and he wins the final battle. And so we keep fighting. We wake up every day with the intention to glorify God. We look for opportunities to tell others the amazing news about Jesus. He can change lives. He has changed lives. Let him change yours and let him win the battles. Let’s pray.