Encounters with the Lion

I have made no secret of my love for movies and stories. Nor of some of my favorites, The Chronicles of Narnia. Sunday night, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe was on. I laughed. I cried. I made a spectacle of myself. It was a good thing I was alone. Think the scene in the movie Elf when the announcement is made that Santa is coming. Remember Buddy’s reaction? Well, that’s what I looked & sounded like.

Anyway, the reason for this post is a particular scene. Peter, Susan & Lucy look up and see that their brother Edmund has been rescued from his disastrous collaboration with the White Witch. Edmund is standing on top of a hill having a serious conversation with Aslan (I know Him. I know Him.). As a writer & drama director it is a beautiful and emotional scene. C.S. Lewis never tells us what was said between Edmund & Aslan. Only that the past is in the past. When I watched that scene, one word came to me, “Encounters.” Encounters with the Lion.

No one who had an encounter with the Lion came away unchanged. The mere mention of His name was enough to evoke strong emotions. Coming face to face with Him changed each one who stood next to Him. Lucy found courage in Prince Caspian. DLF found truth. Eustace found character in Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Jill found purpose in The Silver Chair. Digory, or the Professor, found healing in The Magician’s Nephew. Shasta found peace as well as his heritage in The Horse and his Boy. Puzzle found truth in The Last Battle. And Edmund? What did he find in his encounter with the Lion? Edmund found forgiveness and restoration. The Lion, Himself, was sacrificed just for Edmund. What greater gift could he have received? After Lucy, Edmund must be my next favorite character. He became a mighty and just King. He understood grace and mercy in a way that one who has not received them cannot understand. Edmund’s story tells us that there is no deception too great, no desertion too immoral that grace and mercy cannot cover.

Am I talking about a children’s storybook? No. Aslan is Narnia’s version of Jesus. Just as Aslan took Edmund’s death upon Himself, so did Jesus take our death upon Himself. There is nothing you have done that His death and resurrection cannot cover! His mercy and grace can cover you if you just allow them. Just as Edmund was changed by that encounter with the Lion, so you can be changed by an encounter with Jesus Christ.