Not A Tame Lion
Philippians 2:6-7; Revelation 5:5
INTRODUCTION: Movie Clip From Second Hand Lions
A man and his pet giraffe walk into a bar and start having a few quiet drinks. As the night goes on, they get pretty drunk. The giraffe finally passes out near the pool tables and the man decides to go home. As the man is leaving, he’s approached by the barman who says, "Hey, you’re not gonna leave that lyin’ here, are ya?" "Hmph," says the man, "that’s not a lion, it’s a giraffe."
A. Most of us could probably tell the difference between a lion and a giraffe.
1. But can you tell whether a lion is good or safe?
Today we are in week two of our series on the Chronicles of Narnia “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Key Thought: The main character of these chronicles is Aslan the King of Narnia.
A. In fact Aslan is the only character that appears in all seven of the Chronicles.
In an essay concerning how the Chronicles came to be Lewis wrote “. At first I had very little idea how the story would go. But then Aslan came bounding into it. I think I had been having a good many dreams of lions about that time. Apart from that I don’t know where the lion came from or why He came. But once He was there he pulled the whole story together and soon He pulled the other six Narnia stories in after Him.
B. So today what I want to do is to ask three questions about Aslan and hopefully answer them.
It is my hope that they will not only enable you to enjoy the books but also and I believe this was Lewis’ intent, to come to know a Jesus a little better.
I. The first question is “Who is Aslan?”
A. Before we go any further I want to talk about a very subtle issue about allegory.
1. A lot of people read the Chronicles as if everything in the book is a symbol of something in our world.
2. Such as Aslan is a symbol for Christ
And while it is true that Aslan is the Christ figure of the book and if you have read the book especially the chapter where Aslan gives his life willingly to save Edmunds life, you see all of these wonderful parallels between the Jesus’ atoning death and Aslan’s sacrificial death
You don’t have to stretch it is there. The casual reader can see it.
B. But Aslan does not represent or symbolize Christ, He is Christ in Narnia.
1. In our world, God had a problem, Man’s sin and separation from Him. The solution to that problem was the incarnation, the sending of His Son Jesus to earth as a human being.
Philippians 2:6-7 Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Or as the famous Christmas passage says
Matthew 1:23 "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" —which means, "God with us."
2. Narnia is another world, an imaginary world to be sure, but it is different than this our “real” world. There are talking animals and other creatures that in our world are only found in myths like fauns, and centaurs and unicorns that populate Narnia.
And just as the Son of God became a human being to save a world of human beings, so He becomes a talking animal to save a world of talking animals.
3. Now before anyone calls me out for being sacrilegious, listen to what Lewis wrote in a letter to a friend
Aslan is an invention, giving an imaginary answer to the question, “What might Christ become like, if there really were a world like Narnia and He chose to be incarnate and die and rise again in that world as he actually has done in ours. (Letters of C. S. Lewis)
C. To put it as simply as possible, sometimes when we look at what is real in this worldand we have have seen or experienced it again and again, it becomes mundane, normal, routine and the importance of an event or person somehow gets by us.
For instance how many relationships that seem so strong fail in our world because in our words “it has lost it’s magic.”
1. What Lewis is inviting us to do is to look anew at Christ, Christ in a different form, not just with our minds and our intellect but with hearts and our imaginations.
It is something close to what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he was praying that they might come to know Jesus better and in verse 18 and 19 he writes
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
2. It was Lewis’ desire that as children or adults (who were grown up enough to read fairy tales) read through the Chronicles the eyes of their hearts might be opened up to see and love not just Aslan but Jesus himself.
Lewis wrote to the mother of a nine-year by the name of Laurence that was worried that he was beginning to love Aslan more than Jesus:
“But Laurence can’t really love Aslan more than Jesus, even if he feels that’s what he is doing. For the things he loves Aslan for doing or saying are simply the things Jesus really did and said.”
3. And near the end of Book 3 of The Chronicles The Voyage of the Dawn Treader as Edmund and Lucy find that they have to go back to their world and will not be coming into Narnia anymore
Lucy sobs, “It isn’t Narnia, you know, it’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?” “But you shall meet me, dear one,” said Aslan “Are – are you there too, Sir? Said Edmund. “I am,” said Aslan, “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the veery reason you were brought into Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”(LWW)
And so the answer to the Question Who is Aslan is that He is not a symbol of Jesus. He is what Jesus would be if there were a world of talking animals
I. Now the second Question is Why is Aslan is a lion.
A. Well there is a Scriptural reason. The Bible refers to Jesus as a lion.
Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." Revelation 5:5 NIV
1. Now you might say well the Bible also refers to Jesus as a lamb. That is true.
John the Baptist said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
2. But the reason Aslan appears primarily as a lion is because He appears in his role as the King of Narnia. And that is the role that Jesus plays in Revelation.
Mr. Beaver our Narnian theologian explains it best to the four Pevensie children. “I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”
B. Which is also a natural reason why Aslan is a lion.
1. There is simply no other animal that you could make the king.
I love going to a zoo. My wife and kids don’t like going with me often because I want to read everything. I have always loved animals which may be why I love stories about talking animals. And when we went to San Diego there were two attractions I wanted to see The Sea Lions at La Jolla and the San Diego Zoo. And of course I wanted to see the Pandas because I had never seen them before but I always want to see the Big Cats. Tigers and cheetahs and Lions, I don’t know why but they just amaze me.
They are so big and powerful and graceful. And the biggest most powerful of the Big Cats is the Lion. Hands down!
Louis Talbot tells a story about being in India where a lion and a tiger had both fallen into a pit. Of course everyone was gathered around to see if these two foes would do battle and which one would win. And Talbot says that they each circle around for awhile snarling and hissing and feigning and attack and suddenly it looked like the tiger just fell down dead. But someone had gotten the scene on film and when they slowed it down and what they saw was suddenly to quick for the human eye to see the Lion slapped the tiger up against the side of the head and crushed its skull with his massive paw.
2. Did you know that the lion has become associated with Kingship in nearly every culture.
Lions are awe-inspiring. Their strength, their dignity, their ferocity fill us with wonder and admiration. These qualities are “kingly”
Solomon writes "There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing: 30 a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing; Proverbs 30:29-30 NIV
I read somewhere that actually more people are killed every year by Hippos than lions but I don’t know about you but given the choice of which beast to face I’ll face the Hippo
Just as an aside in case there are any Bible Scholars out there, I know what you are thinking
C. But the Bible also describes Satan as a lion.
1. No that is not what the Bible says.
2. The lion is sometimes (once directly and once indirectly) as a symbol for Satan but Satan is never called a lion
In I Peter 5:8 Peter writes Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Satan is always masquerading trying to pretend that he is the real king but he is not.
So Aslan is Jesus and He is the rightful King in Narnia, Just as Jesus is the rightful King on earth.
III. But there is a third question we need to ask today : How can Aslan be both good and unsafe.
Show This Scene from Video Clip (BBC production of LWW)
“I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh!” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver; “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.” “Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe?
Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”( LWW)
A. In the same way there are sometimes things that are good but not safe?
How about fire? Or electricity? Gas? And Automobile? The list is endless
1. A lot of people think we want a Savior who is good and safe.
I am sure that when Susan asked the question “Is he safe.” She was hoping for the reassurance, “Of course he’s safe why he’s as gentle as a lamb.”
When you were little and you asked your Mom and Dad, “Are you sure there’s no monsters under my bed. You did not expect them to say, “Well as a matter of fact there are a couple, so you better stay in bed or they’ll get you.
2. America, at least, and I think most of Christendom is enamored by the Baby Jesus.
We like to sing Away in A manger
Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.
The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes;
We like to read verses of Scriptures like Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
In fact you look at some of the pictures of Jesus, especially that brown one, where he has the long soft looking hair that looks like he spent all day at the beauty parlor. He has the soft looking feminine eyes.
There are a lot of people who like that Jesus because he’s safe. He’s not going to judge anyone; He’s not going to confront my sin. He’s good! He’s safe.
3. But that is not the complete picture of Jesus.
Yes Jesus was kind and compassionate, Yes Jesus loves us so much he gave his life for us. But he wasn’t safe.
In Matthew 21:12-13 Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of those selling doves. "It is written," he said to them, " ’My house will be called a house of prayer, ’but you are making it a ’den of robbers."
John writes in his Gospel 2:15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.
Jesus was scary that when they came to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane and when Jesus said he was Jesus Nazareth listen to what happened in John 18:5, 6 "I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.
Lewis narrates in LWW “People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time. If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now. For when they tried to look at Aslan’s face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn’t look at him and went all trembly.” (LWW)
And those who come into close contact with Jesus experience the same emotion. No Jesus is not safe but He’s Good.
B. Our problem really is that we don’t understand what good really is.
1. Which I believe is one reason Aslan is portrayed as a lion.
There can be no question that a lion is not safe. But the terror at standing before Aslan is not just in his physical presence but also in his holiness, perfection and majesty the embodiment of everything that is just and right.
2. You see most people think they are good, even people who do horrible things think they are good.
Let me ask you a question: Have you ever said or thought these words “well at least I don’t….”
You know why you said them? Because your understanding of good is based on yourself, your feelings and your emotions.
But when you come face to face with Jesus. That doesn’t hold water any longer. And pure goodness is so far beyond us it is terrifying And his goodness is terrifying because it will not leave you alone
In the OT God pursued a man who thought he was righteous. And Jonah found that he could not run from God even at in the stomach of a great fish.
In the NT a man by the name of Saul found that he could not run from God As he is traveling to go and arrest Christians Jesus appears to him in a great light and I might say terrifying light and says
Acts 9:4 (NKJV) Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.”
3. Jesus is good but he is not safe. The Bible says that one day everyone of us is going to stand before him and he is going to judge us and for some he is going to say ’Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.(Matthew 25:41)
Those who oppose him will receive no mercy.
“Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out.” John 12:31 NIV
“He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.” Colossians 2:15, The Message
4. But the good news is that he is not safe but he is good.
Mr. Beaver (again says) Wrong will be made right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” LWW, pg. 146
Sounds like Scripture doesn’t
Conclusion:
Less than one month before he died in 1963, C. S. Lewis wrote the following letter to a young girl who wanted to know if any other Narnia books were going to be produced. It turned out to be a fond and fitting farewell to all of his devoted readers.
Dear Ruth,
Many thanks for your kind letter, and it was very good of you to write and tell me that you like my books; and what a very good letter you write for your age!
If you continue to love Jesus, nothing much can go wrong with you, and I hope that you may always do so. I’m so thankful that you realized the "hidden story" in the Narnia books. It is odd, children nearly always do, grown-ups…hardly ever.
I’m afraid the Narnia series has come to an end, and am sorry to tell you that you can expect no more.
God bless you.
Your sincerely,
C.S. Lewis
Yes Aslan teaches us about Jesus and Jesus is not safe but he is good. And he has provided for us a way to salvation. But that way is through him and through him alone. And there may be times it may be terrifying but we must put our trust in him.
In the Book “The Silver Chair a young girl by the name of Jill Pole has gotten into Narnia and when she gets there she is terribly thirsty and she spots a beautiful little stream but between her and the water is a huge lion, Aslan and she is to scared to go forward..
Do you eat girls? She said. “I have swallowed up girls and boys and women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion…
“I daren’t come and drink, “ said Jill
Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.
:Oh dear!” said Jill coming a step nearer. “I suppose I must go look for another stream then.
“There is no other stream. Said the Lion
The question today is if you have not come to Jesus and given him your life, is it because you are afraid of what he might do to you? Are you afraid he might call you to some service that makes you uncomfortable? If so I can’t help. Jesus is not a tame lion. He is not safe
He said If you want to be my disciple then pick up your cross daily and follow me.
He is not safe but He is Good.
