Bible Study on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (BBC)

The Chronicles of Narnia:

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

(British Broadcasting Company Movie Edition)

Authorship: The Chronicles of Narnia were written by C.S. Lewis, a Christian English professor at Oxford College in England. The first volume was published in 1950 and was a story meant to remind us of the greatest story of all, the Bible.

Setting 1940, England, just prior to World War Two

Discussion Points

* (0:3:30) “The servants will take these [luggage]. That is their function. One must not deprive people of their function. Everyone has their part to play.”

People do not now, nor have they ever, seen servants in a very esteemed light. We view servants as being of a lower status than those whom they serve. We don’t want to serve. We want to be served. But, as Christians, we understand that one type of person or one type of job is not really more important than another, that we need everyone and every type of role to function to our fullest capacity. 

See 1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 12-21

Christians should also understand what it means to take the nature of a servant: 

Jesus’ disciples had been arguing about which one of them deserved the most respect and authority. 

See Matthew 20:25-28

John 13:1-5, 12-15

Just as Jesus, the God of the whole universe, takes it upon Himself to serve us and to die for us, so we also should follow His example and be willing to serve each other. Those who serve others are most like Jesus.

* (0:11:00) Tumnus calls Lucy a “daughter of Eve” because she is a human. When God created the earth, He made one man.

See Genesis 2:7, 18, 21-22, and Genesis 3:20

God then made Adam a woman, named Eve, to be his wife. From these two people, came all the humans that are alive today. We’re all one big family, with our great-great…grandparents being Adam and Eve.

* (0:16:00) Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are sent into the boring country to live with a boring old professor in a boring old house. But, as we come to find out, things are not at all what they seem. As soon as Lucy discovers the passage into Narnia, her life goes from being boring to being exciting, from ordinary to magical. We can see this same kind of change in our own lives. We see the world around us and assume that this is all that there is. But, as Christians, we know that there is much more to life than just what we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands. There is another side of life, the spiritual side, that we can enter, that can change our lives to make them more exciting, more adventurous, more fulfilling. Just as the children entered into Narnia, so God invites us into this spiritual side of life:

See John 7:24

Things are not always as they appear.

See 1 Corinthians 2:7-9

This spiritual life has been hidden from us before, but now we can enter into it. Some people do not understand it, but now we can, and if we are willing to enter into this spiritual life with God, God promises that it will be more incredible than anything that we could ever imagine. Jesus says in John 10:10 – “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

* (0:20:45) Mr. Tumnus pretended to be Lucy’s friend because he was working for the White Witch. But then Mr. Tumnus had a change of heart. He was sorry that he had been working for the White Witch and turned away from the wrong that he had to serve her. The Bible says that we’re all like Mr. Tumnus before we come to know Jesus. 

See 1 Corinthians 6:16

Matthew 12:30

We can work for sin or we can work for God, we can be slaves to sin or we can be slaves to God, we can be with Jesus, or we can be against Jesus. Before we come to know Jesus, we’re all slaves to sin, working for the devil, against Jesus. But when we realize our sin, God gives us the opportunity to feel sorry for it and to turn away from it (repent). 

See 1 Corinthians 7:10

* (0:25:30)The first thing that Lucy does when she gets back from her visit to Narnia is to try to tell the other children what she has experienced. Of course, the other three children, not having experienced what she has, do not believe her and even make fun of her. Lucy gets frustrated that they do not believe her, but she knows what she has seen, and she sticks to the truth of her experience. After we have experienced the spiritual side of life, the first thing that we want to do is invite others to share that experience with us, but many people do not believe it when we tell them about it. The only thing that we can do is to hold firmly to the truth that we have experienced and to pray for and keep talking to those people who don’t believe us.

See Matthew 5:10-12, 44

*(0:38:10)Edmund, after finding himself in Narnia, comes face to face with the White Witch. She acts nicely toward him, offers him things, pretends to be his friend, but the Witch also demands that Edmund do certain things for her and it is obvious that the Witch does not really care for Edmund.

See 2 Corinthians 11:14

Just as the Witch acted nicely toward Edmund, so Satan can pretend to be an angel. The devil acts friendly toward us and tells us what we want to hear, but that doesn’t mean that we can believe him.

See John 8:44

He only acts friendly toward us and lies to us so that we’ll do what he wants us to do.

Just as the White Witch offered Edmund to be king of Narnia, so the devil tempted Jesus. 

See Luke 4:5-8

Satan can offer us Turkish Delight or kingdoms, power or money, but it’s not worth it. It won’t last. The only thing that matters is worshipping God.

See Mark 8:36

Have you ever wondered why the White Witch is so White? She’s pale. When do people get really pale? When they’re sick or dead. The White Witch is dead. She is dead spiritually. She has no life in her.

*(0:46:30)The professor says that nothing is more probable than that other worlds exist. Do you think it’s probable that other worlds with life exist? Do you think God created other planets to have life on them? If God is infinite, why limit Himself to just earth? If God created millions of different kinds of animals on this planet, why not create a few more somewhere else? If God created black and tan and white and red and yellow people here, why wouldn’t He create blue people somewhere else? Just something to think about.

*(1:10:00)The Beavers begin to describe Aslan to the children. They say that He is a lion. In the Bible, God is referred to as being a Lion. 

See Revelation 5:5

Hosea 5:14-15

What are some of the reasons you think the Bible would call God a Lion? What does a lion have in common with God? Strength, power, etc.

The movie also says that people should be afraid of Aslan, afraid of God. Why do you think people are or should be afraid of God? He’s strong enough to hurt you. He can discipline you.

The third thing that the Beavers say about Aslan is that He’s not safe. He is not tame. Neither can we tame God. God is in control of us, not us in control of God. Neither is God safe. Sometimes God has to hurt us so that He can help us. Sometimes God makes us give up a sin, something wrong that we’re doing, something that we don’t want to give up, something that might hurt to give up so that we can be better people. Sometimes God takes away a friend or a member of a family so that we can learn to trust Him better.

*(1:21:00)Notice how Edmund’s conscience keeps warning him, keeps telling him that what he is doing is wrong. Does your conscience ever speak to you? Do you listen to it? If you don’t, you’ll probably end up in trouble like Edmund’s about to. God gives us our conscience to help us.

*(1:46:00)Why do you think it was always winter in Narnia when the White Witch was in control?

See Romans 8:19-22

The Bible says that the whole creation is frustrated, is in bondage to decay, is groaning in the pains of childbirth. 

Genesis 3:17-18 tells us why.

The ground never used to be cursed. It never produced thorns and thistles before. But what happened? Adam and Eve sinned. And because Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, the whole world suffers for it.

Did you know that animals never used to eat each other until Adam and Eve sinned? The Bible says that the animal kingdom will have peace again in Heaven. 

See Isaiah 11:6-9

*(1:48:30)When we first see Aslan, He has some pretty strange-looking animals with Him. God also has pretty strange-looking creatures that are with him.

See Ezekiel 1:4-14 

Revelation 4:6-8 

*(2:19:00)Traitors are the rightful property of the Queen. Our parallel is that all sinners are the rightful property of the devil. Alsan does not deny this. God knows that all sinners, anyone who has ever done anything wrong, go to the devil. The consequence of our sin is being put to death. 

See Genesis 2:15-17

Genesis 3:17-19

Did you know that before Adam and Eve sinned, they would never have to die? They only died because they did what God told them not to do. That was the consequence. Now we all return to the dust from which we were made.

See Romans 6:21-23 

Death is the consequence of our sin. But this verse says that even though we have sinned, God gives us the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. If we believe in Jesus, we don’t have to die. 

*Just as Edmund was afraid when the Witch demanded his blood, so are we afraid when the devil comes to take us. But did you notice how Edmund kept looking toward Aslan for help, to protect him from the Witch? So we look to God to save us from the devil.

See Psalm 105:4

2 Samuel 22:2-3

God is the One who saves us, which is what Aslan did for Edmund. Edmund sinned, and the consequence of that was that he had to die. But Aslan made a deal with the Witch. He traded Himself for Edmund. Instead of Edmund being put to death, Alsan died in his place. It’s just like when we sin, we have to die, but God, in his mercy, allows us to make a trade. In the Old Testament, when someone sinned, they had to bring an animal to the priest and have it put to death. They had to make a sacrifice. The animal died so that the person didn’t have to yet. When Jesus died on the cross, He became our sacrifice. Instead of us being put to death for our sins, Jesus allowed Himself to be put to death in our place.

*Just like Aslan was sad about what He had to do, so was Jesus. And just as Aslan was happy to have Susan and Lucy with Him for part of the way, so Jesus took some of his friends with Him to keep Him company.

See Matthew 26:36-38 

*Just as Aslan did not resist or try to argue when the monsters were killing Him, neither did Jesus try to stop His death.

See Isaiah 53:7 

*And as Aslan died for Edmund, so Jesus died for all of us. 

See Isaiah 53:5 

1 John 2:2 

Colossians 1:13-14

*But not only does Jesus give us forgiveness for our sins; He has also defeated the concept of death itself so that, just as Jesus could not stay dead, neither will we stay dead. 

See 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

*(2:26:30)Aslan’s breath brings the statues back to life. This reminds us of how God breathed into the first human being to bring him to life.

See Genesis 2:7 

* (2:31:30) As the forces of good battle the forces of evil, we have to remember that we are also fighting every day.

See Ephesians 6:10-18

*(2:34:30) Now that Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are the kings and queens of Narnia, the prophecy has been fulfilled. God gives us many prophecies in the Bible, some of which have already been fulfilled, like the coming of Jesus, but some have not yet happened. Why do you think God gives us prophecies?

See Amos 3:7-8 

John 14:29 

God tells us what He is going to happen so that when it happens we can see it and will believe in Him because He obviously knew what He was talking about and the power to make things happen the way that He wanted them to happen.