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January 29, 2006: Is Sacrifice Necessary?
Edmund has betrayed his sisters and brothers and in the process has been captured by the White Witch. Now the Witch and Aslan are talking.
“You have a traitor there, Aslan,” said the Witch. Of course everyone present knew that she meant Edmund.
“Well,” said Aslan. “His offense was not against you.”
“Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?” asked the Witch.
“Let us say I have forgotten it,” answered Aslan gravely. “Tell us of the Deep Magic.”
“Tell you?” said the Witch, her voice growing suddenly shriller. “Tell you what is written on that very Table of Stone which stands beside us? (She intensifies her incredulity before continuing.) “You at least know the Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to kill.”
“Oh,” said Mr. Beaver. “So that’s how you cam to imagine yourself a queen – because you were the Emperor’s hangman. I see.”
(Later the queen says this.) “He knows the Deep Magic better than that. He knows that unless I have blood as the Law says all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water.”
In Narnia, the punishment for betrayal is death. Edmund betrayed his sisters and brothers and therefore, he must die. The story echoes that famous verse from Romans, 6:23, “The wages of sin is death….” From the first chapter of Romans, we read, Romans 1:32,
“Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death….”
Edmund deserves to die according to the ancient Magic of Narnia. According to the Bible, the wages of sin is death!
A short time passes and Aslan negotiates with the White Witch. Shortly after that conversation, he makes his way alone towards the ancient Stone Table where the Witch’s frenetic mob waits.
“The fool!” she cried. “the fool has come. Bind him fast.”
The Hags made a dart at him and shrieked with triumph when they found that he made no resistance at all. Then others – evil dwarfs and apes – rushed in to help them, and between them they rolled the huge Lion over on his back and tied all his four paws together, shouting and cheering as if they had done something brave….
“Stop!” said the Witch. “Let him first be shaved.” (And his beautiful mane was shaved away.)
And they surged around Aslan, jeering at him, saying things like “Puss, Puss! Pussy,” and “How
“many mice have you caught today Cat?” and “Would you like a saucer of milk Pussums?”
“Muzzle him!” said the Witch. (And he did not struggle as he was muzzled.)
(Finally they drug him to the great Table and tied him to it. And the White Witch plunged an ancient knife into the great lion’s heart.)
(He dies and is later resurrected. He explains that there is a deeper Magic than the one that demands the death of the traitor.)
“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.”
C.S. Lewis is clearly using Aslan as Christ-like character – if a land such as Narnia existed and if God were to reveal Godself in a Christ-like way in Narnia, what might he look like? And Lewis says that he might look like Aslan. His intent is to tell a story that would open the heart to the story of Christ.
So, as we read about Aslan, we can not help but ask, was the sacrifice really necessary? Was the sacrifice of Jesus, the crucifixion of Jesus really necessary?
I’ll confess that the question is too big for me! There are some things in this world that only God know and this is one of them. Only God knows if the crucifixion was the only way. So I offer my observations with a profound sense of humility.
What we do know is the ways in which people have responded to the crucifixion. The group that was present responded to event in a most unusual way and men and women through the centuries have heard the story and been profoundly moved. This morning, I propose to share just a few of those responses.
When Jesus was crucified, those who crucified him expected that his movement would die with him. The expected that his disciples would be so discouraged that they would simply disband and fade away into the general population.
How did they respond? About fifty days later, Jesus’ disciples reemerged, telling the story of his resurrection and talking about a visit from the Holy Spirit of God that had completely reenergized them with a new sense of mission and purpose. Shortly after the crucifixion, the church was born and the Jesus’ mission to the world was given new power and passion. In some way beyond human understanding, the crucifixion was a tool that God used in his program to save the world from itself, from its own sin.
How did people respond? Those who had been nurtured in Jewish tradition saw the crucifixion in the light of the Jewish system of sacrifice. For a time in Israel’s history, the people would gather on the select day, the Day of Atonement, and they would symbolically place all of their sins onto the back of a goat and then send that goat into the desert. And then a chosen few would follow that goat into the desert and guarantee the goat’s death. That sacrificial “Scape Goat” was designated to carry all of their sins away. The goat’s life was sacrificed for the sins of the people.
People of spiritual sensitivity are always aware of their own sin. We all know that we are not worthy to stand in the presence of a holy and righteous God. We just know it! And here is Jesus, dying at the hands of sinful evil people.
Jesus’ disciples had already begun to discover the incredible grace of God through his life and instruction. Already, through Jesus, they had begun to discover the remarkable love that God has for each of us. So, it natural for them to say that he died for me. He died in my place. He took my place on the cross. Because of him, I am no longer held guilty in the presence of God.
How else did people respond? When the people of Jerusalem saw Jesus on the cross, they understood precisely what the Roman executioners intended. For the victim, crucifixion was intended to be the ultimate disgrace, the ultimate shame, the final defeat. The cross was a demonstration of Roman power and authority and the abject powerlessness of all who would oppose Rome.
So what happened? First there was the defeat of the cross. Jesus was placed in a tomb. His body lay there over the Sabbath. Some of the women went to the tomb on Sunday morning to anoint the body with spices and they found the tomb empty. And angel announced his resurrection and he appeared to the disciples. God transformed his defeat into victory! Jesus met the powers of sin and evil, absorbed them in his own death and God transformed that death into life itself. In the crucifixion and resurrection God demonstrated God’s ultimate triumph over the power of sin and evil.
How else have people responded? Obviously some of us have looked at Jesus himself. When we look at the suffering that was imposed upon him, we see the very worst that human nature has to offer. In an intensely personal way, we see the enormous cost that sin extracts from the human soul. Not only did Jesus lose his life but his tormentors and executioners lost their own souls. Sin is serious business. Lives are lost and souls are destroyed and we see it in the crucifixion.
As the same time, when we see Jesus on the cross and remember that he was the completely good man, we see the other dimension in human nature. We see human goodness at its very best. We see Jesus and our own hearts are moved to compassion. And when we experience compassion within ourselves, we experience ourselves at our very best!
On that Cross, we see humanity at its worst and we see humanity at its very best and we know that we have a decision to make, who and what will we be? The cross forces us to make choices about our own character and destiny. And we know that to refuse to choose is ultimately to choose for sin and evil. We know it!
How have people responded? In looking at Jesus on the cross, people have seen God! They have seen the remarkable lengths to which God is willing to go for the sake of our salvation. In some mystical way, God was personally hung on that cross. God suffered as we suffer so that we may know salvation as God knows salvation.
How have people responded? In seeing Jesus on that cross, his disciples remembered his instruction to the disciples. He said, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself daily, take up his cross and follow me.” And through the centuries, men and women have accepted the possibility of the cross and chosen to follow him. Men and women have made his mission the mission of their own lives, “that the whole world might be saved!” (John 3: 17)
You cannot help but wonder why men and women for the past 2,000 years have chosen to follow a man who ended up on a cross. What is there that is so good about following him that it is worth the risk of life itself? Ask the early disciples, Stephan who was stoned and Peter who was crucified and Paul who was beheaded, what is so good about discipleship to Jesus that it worth the risk of life itself?
And their answer, I believe, summarizes in this way. Jesus has taken me into the heart of God. In following Jesus, I have found a life worth living, life at its very best. In following Jesus, I have found joy and peace and faith. In following Jesus, I have found the spiritual resources for the abundant life. In following Jesus, I have been led to the gates of heaven itself. I know that just as God transformed his apparent defeat into victory, God will transform my death into eternal life.
Was the crucifixion necessary? Only God knows for sure. But this much is certain. In the crucifixion of Jesus, we have been given the salvation that only God can give. And that is a remarkable gift whose value is beyond calculation. It is grace beyond measure and while my heart breaks to think that it was necessary, my soul is grateful beyond words.
Amen.
Education Meeting