12.15.2005

LWW chapter 17

1. Ed redeems himself, taking out the witch's wand. It is sometimes those who were closest to evil, who know best how to fight it.

2. Selfishness continues to rear its ugly head in the most inopportune moments and most unexpected people. Lucy wants to stay by Edmund when others need her life-saving medicine, too. "Must more people die for Edmund?" Will we recrucify Jesus, by continuing in the sin He died for?

3. Interesting side note on Edmund. He's better now than ever since he went down hill going to that wrong school. The result: he could look you in the face again. Wow, is there truth in this one. The vast majority of schoolkids these days do NOT look you in the face. Lewis refers to the character element of education, as in Men without Chests.

4. Aslan provides food for the whole party, "sitting down to the grass," just like Jesus feeding the 5,000.

5. A procession to Cair Paravel, crowning of the new regents, and all creation singing in their honor (Rev 5:13). Rewards given to those doing well (Rev 22:12), a feast for all (Rev 19:9).

6. I might have gotten ahead of myself with the Revelation passages. Aslan leaves, suggesting this is the Ascension, and that the kids reign on the earth, in the present. And now Aslan is gone; but He will come back: "One day you'll see Him, another you won't.... Only you mustn't press Him. He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion." Jesus is not at our beck and call, like a spiritual vending machine. He is our Lord, not vice versa.

7. This makes speculation into Lewis' eschatology interesting. It looks like he might have had post-millenial convictions. Remnants of the witch's army are progressively and finally stamped out. Then a peaceful reign commences.

8. Edmund becomes wise, "great in council and judgment," called Edmund the Just. This comes from his humility, which comes from remembering his early failings.

9. Don't know what the White Stag is all about. Little help on this one? All I can figure is that it's like the robin at the beginning only in reverse, leading them out of Narnia.

10. The Shakespearean language of the kids appears to symbolize the development of a Christian culture over time.

11. The professor says the same thing Aslan said, independently: "Once a king or queen in Narnia, always a king or queen in Narnia."

"They will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him" (Rev 20:6).
"And He shall reign forever and ever" (Rev 11:15).

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