"'Is--is he a man?' asked Lucy.'Aslan a man!' said Mr. Beaver sternly. 'Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion.'
'Ooh!' said Susan, 'I'd thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a Lion.'
'That you will, dearie, and no mistake,' said Mrs. Beaver; 'if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking they're either braver than most or else just silly.'
'Then he isn't safe?' said Lucy.
'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver; 'don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."
From The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, p. 86
This passage is probably my all-time favorite in all of the Narnia books. I love this description of Aslan. As you probably know by now, the character of Aslan in the Narnia books is written as a representation of Christ. I think we need to get away from these pictures we have in our head of Jesus (thanks to well-intentioned illustrators) of a frail, weak-looking man with flowing brown hair, who is usually playing with children or holding a lamb. Yes, Jesus loves children, and yes, He is gentle, humble, and meek. However, He is also God! His strength, power and might are unrestrained and can't be contained.
When you ask non-Christians what they think about Jesus, many of them will say that He's a nice guy who was kind to the poor. Yes, He showed kindness and compassion, and that's a huge part of His character. But Jesus also drove people out of the temple with a whip, and said things like: "You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?" and "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean" (Matt. 23:33, 27). Are these things that a nice dude would do? Jesus is more than just a nice guy! He is powerful almighty God in the flesh, who hates evil and will condemn all who reject Him.
Does it surprise you that Lewis speaks of Aslan as not being safe? Do you think that the Lord is safe? When you get to heaven and finally get to see Jesus face to face, will you casually give him a high five, or will your knees by knocking as that passage describes? In Mark 9 and Matthew 17, we see the story of Jesus being transfigured on the mountain, transformed into dazzling white light. The disciples who are with Him are terrified! Mark tells us in Mark 4:41, that after the disciples saw Jesus calm the storm, they were also terrified. When humans encounter the deity, their initial response is fear. Probably the best example of this in Scripture is Isaiah 6, when Isaiah encounters the train of God's robe and is completely undone.
So I would definitely say that the Lord isn't "safe," just like a lion isn't safe. When we encounter God's presence, we are reminded of how small and weak we are, and how powerful, big and holy God is. However, the fear we experience from beholding His splendor and greatness is different than the kind of fear we would experience from seeing a rattlesnake, for example. The difference is that we can completely trust the Lord, because we know His character. Like the passage says, He may not be safe, but He is completely good. He is perfect in righteousness and justice, and we can be completely at peace in His presence, because we know that He is a good God who loves us. Do you see the difference?
Praise God today for His majesty and unrestrained power. Rather than approaching Him irreverently, approach Him as if you were entering into His throne room, trembling because He is God, but confident because He is good.
