Of Dragons and Salvation
One of my favorite chapters in all of the Chronicles of Narnia is when Eustice is explaining to Lucy and Edmond how he became a boy again after his time as a dragon. Eustice was not a very nice person, and upon sleeping on a dragon hoard thinking dragon thoughts he became a dragon himself. This pathetic condition spurred him to think and he went through a time of repentance. But he was still a dragon with all sorts of dragon problems. Finally, in what seemed like a dream, Aslan, the Emperor over the sea, the lion who is not tame, and the Christlike figure in Lewis’ books, comes to Eustice and tells him he will need to undress if he is to become a boy again. He enthusiastically scratches off a layer of dragon-y scales only to find he has another layer underneath. He puts himself to it again, only to find another layer. After several times, Eustice despairs of ever scratching the dragon off himself. Aslan explains he himself will need to do the job. Eustice is terribly frightened but submits to Aslan’s mighty claws. They tear deep and hurt something fierce. Aslan then throws him in water and it stings like only raw skin in water can – and he is a boy again. But not the same. He is changed.
I love this chapter because Lewis so powerfully captures the nature of what only Jesus can do for us. Let’s understand clearly – we’re not good enough for the glory God has purposed for us. We have ruined ourselves. Maybe we don’t look too dragon like, but the dragon is there. It’s called sin and it clings to us like our skin. No effort of ours can remove it and this one single fact about who we are is the most important one we can ever know – we need saving. The language in Romans 3 is instructive – in our sin we have fallen short. We could stop there. When we see our situation as it really is, it’s like looking across the Grand Canyon. Crazy to think we can leap that. We’ve never made it. We can’t make it. We won’t make it. We need Jesus….