Something to Think About

This post might be a bit helter-skelter, but I was just thinking this morning on how I love to see the gospel and Jesus in unexpected places.

One would not think that he would be surprised to see Jesus in the Old Testament - after all, it is the Bible; but until about 10 years ago, that was me. Since then, I have slowly grown to love seeing the picture of the gospel - or "types of Christ" in the Old Testament. Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery and through the wilderness to the Promised Land: Hello. Sound familiar? Boaz as Naomi and Ruth's (or was it just Naomi's?) Kinsmen Redeemer? Beautiful. I love things like that.

I also love seeing illustrations of the gospel or pictures of man's struggle with his own depravity in literature. Sadly, I have yet to read The Hobbit & Tolkien's trilogy - I should work on that this summer - so, I won't really comment on the delicious food for thought you can find there. But there are some other unexpected places where what you read might cause you to scratch your head when you stumble on tales with underlying meanings. I'm pretty sure that the only people who read my blog are other moms that I went to college with; and I would venture to say that most of you aren't fans of J.K. Rowling's wildly popular series involving a nice little wizard by the name of Harry. But herein lies (or hides) a pretty big fan. I'm not the type that will sport a Hogwarts robe and wand while waiting in line, nor did I go to Meijer at midnight on the release of the 7th and final book last summer and stay up all night reading it (but I'm married to someone who did). However, I do love those books and I am sad that I will read no more new tales of Harry, Ron and Hermoine! Ron is my favorite character: there's just something that I love about those faithful best friends (like Same Wise in LOTR). It's been a year since I've read the books, so I can't point to very specific examples of what seem to be allusions to the gospel. But there is definitely something to say about the need for one to save everyone and that savior being found exclusively in a young teenager. I can't compare Harry Potter to men of faith that are in the Bible - let alone compare him to Christ; and I am NOT saying that HP is like Christ in his deity or purity and holiness. Harry Potter, like Frodo Baggins, is on the good side fighting against evil to save his people; and sometimes evil nearly gets him, and that is very unlike Christ (Christ wrestled with evil, but evil did not come close to getting him). I am only saying that there is a picture there of salvation that I love to see. Hey, in this world, more and more people are rejecting the mere notion that we as humans have a problem, let alone NEED someone to save us. **

More fresh in my mind is some pretty cool Biblical themes and pictures of the gospel that can be seen in the movie Prince Caspian. Not long into the movie, the kings and queens of Narnia are debating how they are going to face the Telmarines. The High King Peter insists that they must invade the Telmarine's castle, and they are all uncertain as to what to do. Lucy is troubled and asks Peter why they can't just wait for Aslan, and Peter - clearly annoyed - says they have waited long enough. Fast forward to the moment when Peter has ordered his army to retreat from the Telmarine's fortress while several of his men are trapped behind the gate and slaughtered. You see his look of anguish as his eyes smart with tears because of the price that was paid because he did what was right in his own eyes and didn't wait for Aslan.

One other underlying message that I enjoyed was when Prince Caspian and later Peter are tempted by evil in the form of the White Witch. First Prince Caspian nearly released her from her captivity in a wall of ice, and then even Peter, when he came to intervene nearly fell to the same fate. With his sword held high, Peter began to waver as he stood face to face with the White Witch. "You can't do it alone," she said to him. No Peter could not defeat the Telmarines alone. But it was not the White Witch who he needed. As Edmund came from the other side of the wall of ice and shattered it, doing what Peter had become unable to do, the fierce and powerful face of Aslan was carved in the stone behind him.

Well, as I have a suspicion that this post is too long for most to care to read, I'll stop. But it's too rare that I write something that makes me think. I know pictures of the boys are more enjoyable and interesting, but it's going for the old brain to spin a little.

**To those that think the Harry Potter series is morally wrong, I would ask if you read them. Maybe you don't want to, and that's totally fine, although I think it's rather shaky to have a strong opinion on something that you're not knowledgeable about. I find the books easy to read, extremely funny, and presenting stories when good clearly prevails over evil. I've also heard some object to the tendency for Harry to disregard the rules, like sneaking out of bed at night and breaking rules in order to defeat Voldemort. Well, if you're going to go with that line of reasoning, then I have a bone to pick with the Little Rascals. And they weren't even out of line for the sake of good in the world.