Lessons from Edmund

What do 1 Timothy 2:5-6 and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe have in common? 

Being a pastor is quite an adventure. It is filled with some of the highest of highs life has to offer, and some of the lowest of lows as well. You meet strangers who end up becoming closer than family. You also run into some incredible con artists. 

Some people whole-heartedly receive the Gospel and continue to develop deep roots in the faith by intentionally pursuing discipleship relationships. Others attend gatherings when there’s going to be food served. In my 11 years in ministry, I've been prayed for at just the right time by folks who couldn't have known what I was going through. I've also been cussed out a couple of times and challenged to a fist-fight by attenders of the churches I've been at.

There are so many varying personalities that make up a standard gathering of the saints. Shepherding all of them faithfully can be a tall order. Knowing this, the apostle Paul wrote these powerful words to Timothy, a young pastor at Ephesus, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:5-6).” When Jesus died as a ransom for all people, He leveled the playing field. Perhaps like Timothy, I need to be reminded from time to time that we are all beggars at the foot of God’s door.

But let’s get back to that word ‘ransom’. A ransom is a price paid for the redemption of a prisoner, slave, or kidnapped person to the kidnapper, slave-owner or captor. So why does Paul say that Jesus is our ransom, and who or what were we ransomed from?

C.S. Lewis beautifully answers this question in his book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the story, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy discovered a wardrobe that led them into a new world named Narnia. While there, Edmund met the evil White Witch, who befriended him and offered him Turkish delight if he brought his siblings back to her. She also promised Edmund that if he accomplished that task, he would rule over his siblings. Edmund went back to his siblings, lied to them, and manipulated them, but he didn’t succeed in convincing them to follow him.

So Edmund left them and went back to the White Witch. However, according to the rules of Narnia, all traitors belong to the White Witch. He now became her slave. Eventually, the other children met Aslan the lion, the king of Narnia, and formed an army to fight the army of the White Witch. But before the battle, the Witch went to Aslan’s tent and reminded him of the rules. He couldn’t just take Edmund back, for she had the right to execute every traitor. 

Aslan persuaded her to renounce her claim on Edmund’s life by bargaining to exchange his life for Edmund’s. He negotiated a ransom. Aslan was tortured that night and finally executed so Edmund could be set free. But in the morning, Aslan was resurrected!

This is a beautiful depiction of the Gospel. We are all like Edmund, for when we sin, we choose Satan as our master—and nothing in our power can free us from his grasp. Only by the blood of Jesus can we be ransomed, redeemed, and born again into the kingdom of God. However, even after Aslan did all that was necessary for Edmund’s redemption, he didn’t force Edmund to choose life. By Jesus’ work on the cross and through His resurrection, the doors of Satan’s kingdom are now wide open for anyone on spiritual death row to go free. But they must choose to give their lives to Jesus by grace through faith in Him.

You might be thinking, “But Phil, was that really the orthodox belief of the early Church? God paid a ransom price to the devil to set us free?” Actually, yes. This is the orthodox position Christians held before the time of Constantine and until Anselm of Canterbury’s Satisfaction Theory of Atonement became popular around 1100CE.

Wikipedia shows the Ransom Theory tracing back to Origen in the 3rd century CE. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ransom_theory_of_atonement
However, check out these 2nd century CE writings of Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons and disciple of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who was the disciple of the Apostle John:

“For at the first Adam became a vessel in his (Satan’s) possession, whom he did also hold under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him. … We —who were but lately created by the only best and good Being, … who is perfect in all things, as the mighty Word, and very man, who, redeeming us by His own blood in a manner consonant to reason, gave Himself as a redemption for those who had been led into captivity. And since the apostasy tyrannized over us unjustly … the Word of God, powerful in all things, and not defective with regard to His own justice, did righteously turn against that apostasy, and redeem from it His own property; not by violent means, as the [apostasy] had obtained dominion over us at the beginning, when it insatiably snatched away what was not its own. … The Lord thus has redeemed us through His own blood, giving His soul for our souls, and His flesh for our flesh.” (Irenaeus, Vol. 1 p. 759, 884 [CD-ROM])

Oh, to what lengths our Savior went to ransom all of us out of the domain of darkness! This insight really challenges me to be a better under-shepherd of the flock in my care. I am like Edmund, and so is everyone else. However, as a pastor, I am called to act like Aslan. I need to be more compassionate and humble like Jesus, for, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).”

Irenaeus on Authentic Communion & John 3:18-21 Around 180CE

Communion with God is life and light, and the enjoyment of all the benefits which He has in store. But on as many as, according to their own choice, depart from God, He inflicts that separation from Himself which they have chosen of their own accord. But separation from God is death, and separation from light is darkness; and separation from God consists in the loss of all the benefits which He has in store. …

Now, good things are eternal and without end with God, and therefore the loss of these is also eternal and never-ending. It is in this matter just as occurs in the case of a flood of light: those who have blinded themselves, or have been blinded by others, are for ever deprived of the enjoyment of light. It is not, [however], that the light has inflicted upon them the penalty of blindness, but it is that the blindness itself has brought calamity upon them: and therefore the Lord declared, “He that believes in Me is not condemned,” that is, is not separated from God, for he is united to God through faith.

On the other hand, He says, “He that does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God;” that is, he separated himself from God of his own accord. “For this is the judgment, that light is come into this world, and men have loved darkness rather than light. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come into the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifested as having been wrought in God.”

Irenaeus, Vol. 1, p. 935

Justin Martyr on Why Christians Are Not a Threat to the Government in 160CE

When you hear that we seek a kingdom, you suppose – without making an inquiry – that we are speaking of a human kingdom. But that is not so. We are speaking of a kingdom that is with God. That is why we so openly confess our faith when charged with being Christians, even though we know that death is the punishment for our confession. If we were looking for a human kingdom, we would simply deny our Christ in order to escape death. We would do our utmost to conceal the fact that we are Christians, so that we might live to attain such a human kingdom. But since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men kill us. We recognize that death is a debt that we must eventually pay anyway.

Please understand that Christians are your allies. For one thing, we help to promote peace and order. For example, we teach that it is impossible for anyone – the wicked or virtuous – to escape God’s notice. We teach that every person will eventually receive everlasting punishment or everlasting salvation, according to the merits of his actions. If everyone believed this, no one would choose wickedness even for a short time, realizing that he would receive the punishment of everlasting fire. Everyone would restrain himself and clothe himself with righteousness so he would obtain the good gifts of God and escape his punishments. …

The teachings of Jesus have transformed our lives. We who previously delighted in immorality now embrace chastity exclusively. We who used to practice magic arts now devote our lives to the Good and Unbegotten God. We who valued the acquisition of wealth and possessions above all things now bring what we have into a common pool and share with everyone in need. Many of us used to hate and destroy one another; we would not live with people of a different race because of their different customs. But now, since the coming of Christ, we live familiarly with such people, and we pray for our enemies. We seek to persuade those who unjustly hate us to live by the wonderful teachings of Christ so that they can enjoy the wonderful hope of God’s reward with us.

Epistle of Barnabas on the Way of Light Around 70-130CE Pt. 2

Never be in a hurry to speak, for the tongue is a fatal snare. For your soul’s sake, be as pure as you can. Do not be one of those who stretch out their hands to take, but draw back when the time comes for giving. Cherish as the apple of your eye anyone who expounds the word of the Lord to you.

Day and night keep the Day of Judgment in mind. Seek the company of God’s people every day; either laboring by word of mouth – that is to say, by going among them for the purposes of exhortation, and striving to save souls by the power of speech – or else working with your hands, to earn a ransom for your own sins.

Never hesitate to give; and when you are giving, do it without grumbling; you will soon find out Who can be generous with His rewards. Keep the traditions you have received, without making any additions or deductions of your own. Never cease to detest evil. Make your decisions fairly and uprightly. … And make confessions of your own faults; you are not to come to prayer with a bad conscience. That is the way of light.

Epistle of Barnabas on the Way of Light Around 70-130CE Pt. 1

There are two ways of teaching, and two wielders of power; one of light and the other of darkness. Between those two ways there is a vast difference, because over the one are posted the light-bearing angels of God, and over the other the angels of Satan; and one of these two is the Lord from all eternity to all eternity, while the other stands paramount over this present age of iniquity.

First, then, for the way of light … love your Maker; fear your Creator; give glory to Him who redeemed you from death. Practice singleness of heart, and a richness of the spirit. … Abhor anything that is displeasing to God, and hold every form of hypocrisy in detestation. Be sure that you never depart from the commandments of the Lord.

Do not exaggerate your own importance, but be modest at all points, and never claim credit for yourself. Cherish no ill-natured designs upon your neighbor. … Commit no fornication, adultery, or unnatural vice. … If you have to rebuke anyone for a fault, do it without fear or favor. Keep calm and mild; reverence the words you have heard, and bear no resentment towards a brother.

Never be in two minds as to whether something is or is not to be. Never make free with the Name of the Lord. Never do away with an unborn child, or destroy it after its birth. … Do not cast covetous eyes on a neighbor’s possessions. Do not be greedy for gain. Do not set your heart on being intimate with the great, but look for the company of people who are humble and virtuous.

The Epistle of Barnabas on Holiness Around 70-130CE

Since I last spoke to you, there is a great deal that I have come to understand; for on my pilgrimage towards holiness I have had the companionship of the Lord. … The divine principles are three in number. Faith begins and ends with Hope, hope of life; judgment begins and ends with Holiness; and the works of holiness are evidenced by Love, and joy and gladness it brings. …

We must set our faces against any unprofitable trifling, and have a rooted aversion to the way of wickedness and its works. All the same, you are not to withdraw into yourselves and live in solitude, as though God had already pronounced you holy. Come and take your full share in the meetings, and in deliberating for the common good. Scripture says, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and knowledgeable in their own sight.”

Let us be men of the Spirit, then; let us make ourselves into the real temple of God. … Let us devote ourselves to practicing the fear of God and trying earnestly to keep His commandments; and then His ordinances will be our delight. … What a good thing it is to have learned the precepts of the Lord, as they are set forth in Scripture, and to put them into practice. For the man who does this, there will be glory in the kingdom of God.