Did you know that this month is the 20th Anniversary of the Walton Media’s Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe being released in theaters? I watched it with a friend last month who missed it when it first came out.
If you haven’t seen it or read the book, our main characters, the Pevensie children, get whisked away to Narnia, which looks like a winter wonderland. It may look lovely, but when they speak to Narnia’s inhabitants, they speak of it like “Always winter, but never Christmas.” The White Witch has made it winter forever. But they also say that there is a prophecy that this will be temporary when Aslan is on the move.
But as they journey on in Narnia, the children and their newfound friends do meet Father Christmas! His appearance shows that the days of winter will no longer have their hold. As Father Christmas says in the book, “I’ve come at last…she has kept me out for a long time, but I have got in at last. Aslan is on the move. The Witch’s magic is weakening.” Their joy is not of Christmas as it is, but of what the joy points to.
The author, C.S Lewis, might be alluding to something that we find in the Nativity story. In Luke 1:39-56, when Mary visits Elizabeth while they are both pregnant; Mary with Jesus and Elizabeth with John. There is so much joy from everyone during this meeting, both from Mary and Elizabeth, but also from Jesus and John! And it wasn’t just because Mary and Elizabeth were pregnant, but what these pregnancies point to. There had been numerous prophecies throughout the Old Testament, such as the one found in Isaiah 9, that there would be one who would be the Messiah; a king that would be a saving king of Israel.
When Mary hears about how Elizabeth’s baby John ‘leaps for joy’, she is stirred to speak a prayer of praise. Mary takes the words spoken by Hannah, who was in a similar position as Mary in 1 Samuel, and uses it to express her joy in God. She describes her joy despite her low stature in her culture and yet recognises Gods favour; she was chosen to deliver Jesus. Not only that, but God cares for the poor and downtrodden. She sees that this child is the fulfillment of what Abraham and Israel had been leading to; a “blessing for all people on earth.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
Mary speaks of Jesus as one who will fulfill all these things, which he does. However, his kingship is different. Jesus predicts that he will be rejected, convicted wrongly, and will die, but that three days later he will rise. And when we read the Gospels, we see this come true. When he returns, while there is joy from his disciples, he explains how his death and resurrection was also a fulfillment of what was prophesied in the Old Testament. (Luke 24:44-47) Yet his resurrection is just the beginning.
The Apostle Paul also speaks of the joy of our own resurrection, something that hasn’t happened yet, but also seen in Jesus. He speaks of Jesus’ resurrection as the first fruit, the first taste of what this resurrection will look like. Our own prophecy is that those who follow Jesus will experience the same resurrection that Jesus experiences when he returns. Those who follow Jesus all wait expectantly when we will all experience that joy. (1 Cor 15:20-22).
So, Advent is a time for Joy. Joy that Mary experienced that first Christmas, but also the Joy we have yet to experience when Jesus returns.
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