Day: 40

Narnia

If you have read or watched C.S. Lewis’ classic story, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, then you will be familiar with the scene where the King of Narnia willingly lays down his life to save Edmund, the human traitor.

Edmund’s sisters, Lucy and Susan, secretly witness Aslan’s march to his death. They witness the terrible abuse he submits himself to for the sake of Edmund and Narnia.

He is bound and beaten by the creatures of a fallen and evil kingdom. The White Witch’s followers take their time in torturing Aslan and, in a final act of indignity, shave his mane and kill him.

Lucy and Susan watch these events, gape-mouthed, horrified, and bewildered. They are overwhelmed by the evil and injustice they are witnessing and unable to comprehend the scene before them. After Aslan’s death, they hold each other and weep as the White Witch shouts out in victory to her kingdom,

“The great cat is dead!”

Susan and Lucy

As the president of a persecution ministry, it seems to me that the church often looks on the fate of the martyr and finds itself in the place of Susan and Lucy.

The incongruity between the evil injustice of persecution and the righteous life of the martyr makes no heavenly sense to us. We are left horrified and bewildered, feeling impotent.

Perhaps forgetfulness lies at the core of our confusion. We must keep in mind that much of the time, the martyr willingly lays down his life.

To go free, all they have to do is bow to the evil one and offer up three words: “I deny Jesus.”  Yet, they don’t. The offer of the executioner is paltry and well-worn.

They have been offered this trade throughout every countercultural action that they’ve made in the name of Jesus. By the time of their death, they have weaned themselves off of the world. Life’s small rewards are of little regard when they stand on the threshold of real life.

So they look up and, like Pastor Ohji (LWOTM, Chapter 10), utter six short words: “Tell my family I died well.”

Alive, Not Dead

After Aslan’s death, Lucy and Susan spend the night holding onto the body of their King. As they leave the great stone table the next morning, they experience an earthquake. Turning around, they find that the stone table is broken and Aslan’s body is gone. All that’s left are the ropes that bound him.

As the Sun crests the hill behind the table, they see Aslan, restored to all His glory. Their joy is boundless. He tells the girls that the witch didn’t understand the deepest magic of the kingdom and the true magic of sacrifice. He says,

“Though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of Time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward.” (15.38)

The girls suddenly realize that the death of their leader and loved one, Aslan, was all part of a greater plan related to the “deep magic” upon which Narnia was governed by. This plan ultimately led to the defeat of the evil kingdom.

Deeper Magic

Narnia is a mirror image of our world. Aslan represents Jesus. The “deeper magic” represents the hidden rules and laws of God’s kingdom – these are quite lost in the world.

For instance, Satan’s agents on earth kill the martyr, thinking like the White Witch that they’ll extinguish the light of the kingdom in their neck of the woods. They never understand that their efforts to snuff out the light will actually cause “death to start working backward.”

That is, the unjust murder of the martyr actually breaks the chains that bind the kingdom. Their murder causes life to start to flow out. Death, where is your sting?

Pity No More

Here’s how it works. When the martyr is killed, his death deeply shakes the body of Christ. Believers grieve, shattered at the loss. Some weep at the feet of Jesus like Mary and Martha, longing for their loved one to return to earth.

The martyr’s death is a transformative act, causing something deep and holy to come to life in these believers.

Following the example of the martyr, they throw overboard all of their tiny idols, deciding that they can no longer live like the world. They too let go of the world and their idols and turn to God, saying, “Fill me to the full with your living water.” The spiritual desert around the martyr begins to bloom as God’s living water is fully released, flowing into the hearts that surround the martyr.

The world notices! Observers see and smell life, and they are irresistibly drawn to it. Other believers pick up where the martyr left off and say, “To heck with the world—it has nothing for me.”

They go out and boldly share the Gospel, despite the cost.

Those around them notice that an ambassador from some foreign, beautiful world has arrived in their midst, and they are drawn to them. Hell quakes!

They’re Calling You

The martyr stands as a spiritual lamppost, burning bright in this world of deep darkness. Standing at the threshold of the portal to true life, they are waving to you, urging you to follow them.

But the martyr isn’t calling you to die physically in one supreme sacrifice.

No, the martyr calls you to die to your old way of life—to live as the martyr learned to live. The martyr would tell you to come face to face with your true condition, acknowledging the truth of your spiritual state.

To fall to your knees, face to the ground, and call out to your Father. . .

“Oh God, I have lived by drinking my own water, but no more. I must have you and more of you still. Come flow into me and fill me. Come fill my cistern and teach me to live off of your living water.”

Only then will you discover and understand the life you were meant to live.