Jesus' Success Principle: The Way to Up is Down (Mark 8:31-38)

“[After Peter declares that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus] then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns’”
(Mark 8:31-33, NIV, bracket mine).

Jesus, the Son of God gave up His life in order to save the world. To some, Jesus’ death on the cross looks like an unnecessary surrender, a ‘loser’. But we now realize that without His death and subsequent resurrection we would be “unredeemed” and the daily personal guidance of His Spirit would not be available to us (see John 16:7). That’s why it is necessary for Jesus to take up His cross…

Now, Jesus began to tell His disciples of His coming death. But these men, particularly Peter, refused to hear of it. They have misconceptions and misunderstanding of what the Messiah first came to do. “You’re the Saviour, you’re great,” they were thinking. “You’re going to smash our enemies and we’re all going to ride to glory with you.” They were rightly concerned, but they were wrongly concluded Jesus’ mission. That’s where Jesus had to cut Peter short and introduce one of the most important principles Christians must learn: the way to up is down. In other words, the way to success in God’s plan is not to rely upon our own intelligence or strength to push to the top. That’s the pattern of the Satan-influenced human nature – “Get behind me, Satan!” “…merely human concerns” – smash and grab, look out for yourself first, do unto others before they get a chance to do unto you.

But Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Roughly translated, that means to set aside the primary goal of pleasing yourself first, to accept willingly the unpleasant or uncomfortable situation that may result from denying yourself, and then leave the outcome to God. That’s Jesus’ pattern for success in the Kingdom of God. I love Jesus’ honestly; it hurts, but it is sweet and necessary. Jesus doesn’t promise any easy way. True discipleship is costly, but worth it. David Hewitt writes, “Jesus is very honest about things; he does not hide the unwelcome demands in small print. Neither does he ask anything of us that he is not prepared to give himself. He has the right to ask us to take up our cross because he has carried his own. The call to follow Jesus is not a call to give up certain things, but to die. In this way, Jesus sifts out the true disciples from those who are merely camp followers.”

On the surface, Peter’s way of success looks like more fun and happier, but remember: after Jesus’ cross came His resurrection. After His resurrection Jesus was more glorious and victorious than before. But it would not have been so without the Crucifixion. If we follow Jesus through the Crucifixion (deny self, take up the cross) we are also privileged to “follow” Him in the glory of Resurrection. In the early Book of Acts, Peter eventually experienced Jesus’ style of success. After received the power of the resurrected Christ, Peter committed to deny self, take up his cross and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside-down for his faith.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” (Mark 8:35-37). Jesus challenges our values. Do we want to follow Him or not? If we cling on to life selfishly, worry too much on our rights and privileges, we lose out in the end. That kind of life is not worth having. It is foolish to sacrifice eternity for a moment. Jim Elliot, a Christian martyr, says, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” Think about it.

“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words… the Son of Man will be ashamed of them

when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels” (Mark 8:38).

Have you been ashamed to identify with a ‘loser’?

When Jesus returns, who will be the loser?

Take your stand for Jesus now – deny yourself, take up the cross and follow me.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus Is the Son of God: Nobody Can both Accept God and Deny His Son (1 John 5:9-10)

The Question: What is the Truth?

“Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son”

(1 John 5:9-10, NLT).

What has been hinted at is now stated clearly: God is the One behind all of these witnesses. Through the events we see in history (“the water” Jesus’ birth and baptism; “the blood” Jesus’ death and resurrection), and the coming of “the (Holy) Spirit” into our lives, we can know beyond a doubt that our beliefs are really true (1 John 5:6-8). We know that Jesus Christ, “the Son of God” became a man to take away our sins; we know that we have passed from death to life; we know that we are God’s children and have received victory over this evil world. “True Christianity,” writes Dr. Henrietta C. Mears, “is more than a creed – it is something that can be known and felt.”

If “we believe human testimony” in court when two or three give evidence, how much more we should accept the testimony of God – “We can believe the greater testimony that comes from God.” God’s Word is greater than human’s words. Notice that John writes “believe in” the Son of God. He makes an important distinction here. There is a great difference between believing about someone (knowing lots of details about that person) and believing in someone (accepting the whole person, believing and appreciating all that he stands for). The second kind of belief is the kind that God wants us to have. God does not just want us to believe everything about Him (though it is very important); instead first and foremost, God wants us to “believe in the Son of God,” Jesus Christ – making a wholehearted commitment to Him.

“Those who don’t believe [that Jesus is the Son of God] are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.” We might not directly say that God is a liar, but by our unbelieving, we in fact believe that God’s testimony is not true. God has said all over the Scripture that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). He also said that Jesus is the Son of God. Some people do not believe this. They deny Jesus. They do not agree with God’s testimony. So they behave as if God tells lies. They act as if God’s words are untrue. They have refused to believe in God and Christ. “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23, NIV) and “No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son” (Matthew 11:27). To receive the Son is to receive the Father. To deny the Son is to deny the Father. Nobody can both accept God and deny his Son.

Again, nobody can both accept God and deny his Son. This is a serious matter. Here is God’s verdict: “He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12). Do you have Jesus in your life? Don’t sleep until you settle this question.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. START SMALL.

Jesus Is the Son of God: Three Witnesses, Come Forth! (1 John 5:6-8)

“[Jesus] Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross – not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. So we have these three witnesses – the Spirit, the water, and the blood – and all three agree”

(1 John 5:6-8, NLT)

Not only we can “achieve victory through our faith” (1 John 5:4), but we can know for sure that our faith is correct and based on facts! The Apostle John has mentioned that we need to believe that Jesus “is the Son of God” (5:5), God became flesh and lived among us (John 1:14). But how can we know for sure that this is true? You know how important it is to have more than one witness when there has been an accident or a crime. This has been true in courts for many centuries. As in Deuteronomy 19:15, “…The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses”. Well, John realizes that we would be surer about our faith if there was more than one witness to verify these faith-beliefs. So he mentions three key witnesses to our beliefs about Jesus:

Witness #1: The (Holy) Spirit. Again and again, in the New Testament, we read that “the Spirit” opens our eyes to the truth, that the Spirit will help us realize that Jesus is “God’s Son”. The Spirit is an inner witness to what we hear and see. For example, in John 15:26, Lord Jesus says that the Spirit “will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me”; the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:3, “I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit” (see also John 16:13-14; Romans 8:14-16). In other words, we do not just come to the conclusion in our heads that Jesus is God’s Son; we also have an inner witness, a divine Person that helps us know that this is true.

Witness #2: The water. There is some disagreement over what John meant here. Since John says that Jesus came “not by water only,” some people, in fact I think that he is referring to the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist (read Matthew 3:13-17). A voice came from heaven as Jesus was being baptized by water at the Jordan River and said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy” (Matthew 3:17). That experience certainly would have been a witness to the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. Soon after this event Jesus began His ministry. Others suggest that the reference to “water” is really to Christians being baptized, which is also a witness to the work of Jesus in our lives. This again would be a witness that we make as we are baptized. Some others suggest that “water” refers to Jesus’ birth, but I doubt it.

Note: You could probably build a case for either position. But it seems to me that the first interpretation – that the baptism of Jesus was a witness to His being God’s Son – makes the most sense, for this was an outward, obvious witness to all who saw Jesus being baptized. They saw Him baptized; they saw the Spirit come in the form of a dove; and they heard God’s voice announcing that Jesus was truly “God’s Son.” This idea, in the context of this passage, makes the most sense to me.

Witness #3: The blood. This witness was the death of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins [In theological terms this is called substitutionary atonement]. Jesus not only told us that He loved us; He showed that He meant what He said by giving His very life for us (see His love actions in Matthew 27:50-54). A phony or liar would stop short of that action, saying, “Uhhh… I really love you, but dying is just too much…” No, Jesus went to His death, and later even came back to life – resurrection – so that we would know that what He had said and promised was really true!

We have these three witnesses:

The Spirit, the water, and the blood – and all three agree.

Agree about what? That Jesus is really the Son of God. Amen!

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life, Why?

Can you see why Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life?

I can think of one other similarity. Consider how bread is made. Think about the process. Wheat grows in the field, then it is cut down, winnowed, and ground into flour. It passes through the fire of the oven and is then distributed around the world. Only by this process does bread become bread. Each step is essential. Eliminate the plant, and you have no wheat. Eliminate the winnowing, and you have no flour. Eliminate the fire, and you have no product. Eliminate the distribution, and you have no satisfaction. Each step is essential.

Now, consider Jesus. He grew up before the Lord “as a tender plant” (Isaiah 53:2). One of millions of boys on the planet. One of thousands in Israel. One of dozens in Nazareth. Indistinguishable from the person down the street or the child in the next chair. Had you seen Him as a youngster, you wouldn’t have thought He was the Son of God. You might have thought Him polite or courteous or diligent, but God on earth? Not a chance. He was just a boy. One of hundreds. Like a staff of wheat in the wheat field.

But like wheat, He was cut down. Like chaff He was pounded and beaten. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5). And like bread He passed through the fire. On the Cross He passed through the fire of God’s anger, not because of His sin, but because of ours. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Jesus experienced each part of the process of making bread: the growing, the pounding, the firing. And just as each is necessary for bread, each was also necessary for Christ to become the Bread of Life. “Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:26).

[Taken from A Gentle Thunder by Max Lucado]

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Jesus, the One Who Takes Away Our Shame

I invite you to think carefully about the supreme test Jesus faced in the race. Hebrews 12:2 offers this intriguing statement: “[Jesus] endured the cross, despising the shame.” Shame is a feeling of disgrace, embarrassment, humiliation. Forgive me for stirring the memory, but don’t you have a shameful moment in your history? Can you imagine the horror you would feel if everyone knew about it? What if a video camera of that event were played before your family and friends? How would you feel?

That is exactly what Jesus felt. Why? You ask. He never did anything worthy of shame. No, but we did. And since on the cross God made Him became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), Jesus was covered with shame. He was shamed before His family. Stripped naked before His own mother and loved ones. Shamed before His fellow men. Forced to carry a cross until the weight caused Him to stumble. Shamed before His church. The pastors and elders of His day mocked Him, calling Him names. Shamed before the city of Jerusalem. Condemned to die a criminal’s death. Parents likely pointed to Him from a distance and told their children, “That’s what they do to evil men.”

But the shame before men didn’t compare with the shame Jesus felt before His Father. Our individual shame seems too much to bear. Can you imagine bearing the collective shame of all humanity? One wave of shame after another was dumped on Jesus. Though He never cheated, He was convicted as a cheat. Though He never stole, heaven regarded Him as a thief. Though He never lied, He was considered a liar. Though He never lusted, He bore the shame of an adulterer. Though He always believed, He endured the disgrace of an infidel.

[Taken from Just Like Jesus by Max Lucado]

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Jesus: the One Who Gave Himself for Us

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV).

A twenty-five-word parade of hope: beginning with God, ending with life, and urging us to do the same. Brief enough to write on a napkin or memorize in a moment, yet solid enough to weather two thousand years of storms and questions. If you know nothing of the Bible, start here. If you know everything in the Bible, return here. We all need the reminder. The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16.

He loves. He gave. We believe. We live.

The words are to Scripture what the Mississippi River to America – an entryway into the heartland. Believe or dismiss them, embrace of reject them, any serious consideration of Christ must include them. Would a British historian dismiss the Magna Carta? Egyptologists overlook the Rosetta stone? Could you ponder the words of Christ and never immerse yourself into John 3:16?

The verse is an alphabet of grace, a table of contents to the Christian hope, each word a safe-deposit box of jewels. Read it again, slowly and aloud, and note the word that snatches your attention. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

“God so loved the world…” We’d expect an anger-fuelled God. One who punishes the world, recycles the world, forsakes the world… but loves the world?

The world? This world? Heartbreakers, hope-snatchers, and dream-dousers prowl this orb. Dictators rage. Abusers inflict. Reverends think they deserve the title. But God loves. And He loves the world so much He gave His:
Declarations? Rules? Dicta? Edicts?

No. the heart-stilling, mind-bending, deal-making-or-breaking claim of John 3:16 is this: God gave His Son… His only Son. No abstract ideas but a flesh-wrapped divinity. Scripture equates Jesus with God. God, then, gave Himself. Why? So that “whoever believes in His should not perish.”

[From 3:16 by Max Lucado]

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Anslem of Canterbury on the Atonement of Christ

In this classic text, originally written in Latin in 1098, Anselm sets out his understanding of the reason why God became human. The text as written here is basically a series of short extracts from the work, which sum up its central themes. The most important point to note is its emphasis that, on account of sin, humanity has an obligation to offer God an infinite satisfaction, which only God can meet. Therefore a God-man would have both the ability (as God) and obligation (as a human) to pay this satisfaction, and thus obtain forgiveness of sins. Anselm of Canterbury writes:

“The problem is, how can God forgive human sin? To clear our thoughts let us first consider what sin is, and what satisfaction for sin is… To sin is to fail to render to God what God is entitled to. What is God entitled to? Righteousness, or rectitude of will. Anyone who fails to render this honour to God, robs God of that which belongs to God, and thus dishonours God. And what is satisfaction? It is not enough simply to restore what has been taken away; but, in consideration of the insult offered, more than what was taken away must be rendered back.

Let us consider whether God could properly remit sin by mercy alone without satisfaction. So to remit sin would be simply to abstain from punishing it. And since the only possible way of correcting sin, for which no satisfaction has been made, is to punish it; not to punish it, is to leave it uncorrected. But God cannot properly leave anything uncorrected in His Kingdom. Furthermore, to leave sin unpunished would be tantamount to treating the sinful and the sinless alike, which would be inconsistent with God’s nature. And this inconsistency is injustice. It is necessary, therefore, that either the honour taken away should be repaid, or punishment should be inflicted. Otherwise one of two things follows: either God is not just to his own nature; or God is powerless to do what ought to be done, which is blasphemous supposition. The satisfaction ought to be in proportion to the sin.

Yet you have not yet duly estimated the gravity of sin. Suppose that you were standing in God’s presence, and someone said to you “look over there.” And God said, “I am altogether unwilling that you should look.” Ask yourself whether there could be anything in the whole universe for the sake of which you would allow yourself that one look against the will of God. You should not act against the will of God, not even to prevent the whole creation from perishing. And if you were to act in this way, what could you pay for this sin? You could not make satisfaction for it, unless you were to pay something greater than the whole creation. All that is created, that is, all that is not God, cannot compensate for the sin in question.

It is necessary that God should fulfil His purpose respecting human nature. And this cannot be except there be a complete satisfaction made for sin; and this no sinner can make. Satisfaction cannot be made unless there is someone who is able to pay to God for the sin of humanity. This payment must be something greater than all that is beside God… Now nothing is greater than all that is not God, except God. So nobody can make this satisfaction except God. If, then, it is necessary that the kingdom of heaven should be fulfilled by the admission of humanity, and if we cannot be admitted unless this satisfaction for sin is first made, and if God only can, and only humanity ought to make this satisfaction, then it is necessary that someone must make it who is both God and a human being.

This person must have something to offer to God which is greater than all that is lower than God, and something that can be given to God voluntarily, and not as a matter of obligation. Mere obedience would not be a gift of this kind; for every rational creature owes this obedience as a duty to God. But [Jesus] Christ was in no way under any obligation to suffer death, in that Christ never sinned. So death was an offering that he could make as a matter of free will, rather than of debt.

Now anyone who could freely offer so great a gift to God, clearly ought to be rewarded in some way… But what reward could be given to someone who needed nothing, someone who demanded neither gift nor needed a pardon?... If the Son [of God] chose to make over the claim he had on God to humanity, could the Father justly forbid Him doing so, or refuse to humanity what the Son willed to give him? What greater mercy can be conceived than that God the Father should say to sinners, condemned to eternal torment and unable to redeemed themselves: “Receive my only Son, and offer him for yourselves,” while the Son himself said: “Take me, and redeem yourselves”? And what greater justice than that One who receives a payment far exceeding the amount due, should, if it be paid with a right intention, remit all that is due?”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

References:

1) Extracts from Cur Deus homo, I. xi-xxi; ll.iv-xx; in S. Anselmi Opera Omnia, ed. F.S. Schmitt, vol.2 (Edinburgh: Nelson, 1946), 68.3-89.32; 99.3-132.6

2) The Christian Theology Reader, edited by Alister E. McGrath (Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1995) pg. 182-183.

C.S. Lewis on New Life

The butterfly is the symbol of resurrection and new life in Christ

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come”

(2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV. Read chapter 5 and 6 for the text context)

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963) or famously known simply as C.S. Lewis is one of my favourite writer. He was one of the intellectual giants of the 20^th century and arguably the most influential writer of his day (probably even now). Here on the subject of new life he wrote in Mere Christianity:

“In the long run God is no one but Himself and what He does is like nothing else. You could hardly expect it to be.

What, then, is the difference which He has made to the whole human mass? It is just this; that the business of becoming a son of God, of being turned from a created thing into a begotten thing, of passing over from the temporary biological life into timeless ‘spiritual’ life, has been done for us.

Humanity is already ‘saved’ in principle. We individuals have to appropriate that salvation. But the really tough work – the bit we could not have done for ourselves – has been done for us. We have not got to try to climb up into spiritual life by our own efforts; it has already come down into the human race.

If we will only lay ourselves open to the one Man (that is Jesus Christ) in whom it was fully present, and who, in spite of being God, is also a real man. He will do it in us and for us. Remember what I said about ‘good infection’. One of our own race has this new life; if we get close to Him we shall catch it from Him.

Of course, you can express this in all sorts of different ways. You can say that Christ died for our sins. You may say that the Father has forgiven us because Christ has done for us what we ought to have done. You may say that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. You may say that Christ has defeated death. They are all true.”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Around the Cross We See

CLICK TO ENLARGE. FREE TO COPY.

Isaiah 53

Who has believed our message?
    To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
    like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
    nothing to attract us to him.
He was despised and rejected—
    a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
    He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
    it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
    a punishment for his own sins!
But he was pierced for our rebellion,
    crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
    He was whipped so we could be healed.
All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
    yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
    And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
    he did not open his mouth.
Unjustly condemned,
    he was led away.
No one cared that he died without descendants,
    that his life was cut short in midstream.
But he was struck down
    for the rebellion of my people.
He had done no wrong
    and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
    he was put in a rich man’s grave.

But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
    and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
    he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
    and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
    he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
    my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
    for he will bear all their sins.
I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
    because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
    He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Jesus, the Ransom. I, the Ransomed

Jesus’ ministry on earth was very short, approximately 3 years. It was packed with wonderful teaching and miracles, but all the time Jesus knew that he was going to die, a fact that I still amaze while reading the gospels! He didn’t hide this fact from his disciples. Several times Jesus told them that he was going to suffer at the hands of the Jewish leaders and be put to death.

“[The] Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again” (Mark 8:31, NIV. See also Mark 9:31; 10:32-34).

Jesus, the Savior. I, the Sinner

This is out of my mind, I said to myself, I can’t imagine what Jesus felt and thought knowing that he was going to die soon. (By the way, how would you handle it?). But strangely as his prediction of his own death was, he made it plain that his death would not be pointless. It would achieve something even more wonderful than his teaching and miracles. Jesus told his disciples that he would “give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

‘Ransom” is not so familiar word for me, “to redeem” is. But the word “ransom” is richer in its meaning. Here it means two things: First, kidnappers demand a ransom to release the people they’ve captured, and all of us humans have been captured by the power of sin. Jesus told his disciples that he would pay the ransom which would release humans from the captivity of sin. Jesus would pay it by giving up His life, by the shedding of His blood on the cross.

The other meaning is that, because of sins, all of us humans have to be punished by the holy God. God who is holy can’t stand to see any sin – even a dot of sin – hated it and will cast sinners to hell out of His holy presence (Check: How holy is your God?). This punishment can be thought of as a fine – the fine of death. Jesus told his disciples that he would pay the ransom – the fine – which would release us sinners from the punishment of God. Jesus would pay it by giving up His life, by the shedding of His blood on the cross.

Jesus taught that He would suffer and die.

His death would achieve something greater than His teaching and miracles

He gave up his life “as a ransom for many” by the shedding of His blood on the cross

To free us from the power of sin and the punishment of the holy God

This is how much Jesus has done for you – what is your respond to this truth?

To all of this wonderful work of salvation, I say, “Hallelujah!”

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

A Deeper Magic

In C.S. Lewis’s book Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Edmund had been enslaved by the White Witch. He had been foolish and rebellious and evil and traitorous. And he had fallen under her power.

When the Great Lion, Aslan, came to rescue him, the wicked Witch reminded him of the Deep Magic that was written on the Table of Stone – that every traitor belongs to her and she has a right to the blood of every sinner.

But, to the amazement of all, after Aslan spoke to her privately she let the boy go. Later that night, Aslan surrendered himself into the witches’ camp. They took him, shaved off his magnificent mane, ridiculed him, beat him, spat on him, and tied him to the Table of Stone. The Witch whetted her knife, drew near him, and plunged in into the lion’s heart, killing him.

In the distance, Aslan’s dear friends, Lucy and Susan, cried and cried, and the next morning, they arrived sadly to discover his body. But they found the Stone Table broken, and the body of Aslan was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly they turned around and found him larger than they had ever seen him, shaking his magnificent mane, fully and physically alive.

They hugged and kissed him, weeping with joy, then asked him,

“But Aslan, what does it mean?”

This was Aslan’s reply: “It means that 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 darkness before the 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 backwards.”

I love the Narnia trilogy, but I love more the Gospels. Aslan, the Great Lion is a character-type of Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah. Aslan is fictional, but Jesus is real. On the Cross, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, treacherous and rebellious against God. Buried in a tomb, He rose again three days later as proof that His mission to conquer sin and death had been accomplished. He was “killed in a traitor’s stead” – us and thus, death “working backwards”.

In the Gospels, Jesus claimed to be much more than a wise man or great teacher. He claimed to be God – a God willing to die for His creation so that our love relationship with Himself could be restored (see Romans 5:10-11). Through his birth, life, death, and resurrection, Jesus fulfilled the hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament that foretold of a coming Messiah, a Savior not only for the nation of Israel, but for the whole world (1 Timothy 4:10).

Jesus said:
“I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look,
I am alive for ever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”
(Revelations 1:18, NIV)

How will you respond to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection?

How will you respond to His great love?

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.