Easter week is now upon us, and for me personally and Christians everywhere, it’s a time to celebrate and remember. We do not celebrate the death of Jesus but instead the sacrifice HE made on the cross and His victory over death. There are several ways in which you can learn about this time in history including, obviously, a Bible, history accounts, and various cinema sources. Presently though, if you have the History Channel, you may also be aware of the ten part series called “The Bible” now debuting that has the finale this Sunday night. The death of Jesus is also depicted in the movie “The Passion of The Christ”, but because of the films intense graphic nature the general viewing age recommendation is age 13 or older.
But, if you are looking for another source to help younger children understand this time in history, then I recommend the book or movie “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”. The movie is adapted from the C.S. Lewis book with the same name. Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia series in a way that would help children relate to and more easily understand the stories in the Bible. He paralleled the stories and the characters in his book to the Bible stories and Bible characters. While watching “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” with your children, you can help them relate to stories that they may be learning about at this time of year. The characters and story line are related to the Bible by C.S. Lewis as follows:
Narnia is an illustration of a future earth, where good and evil battle.
The gateway through the Wardrobe is compared to a gateway to a Spiritual Kingdom.
The children are illustrations of those called by God to fight the good fight.
Aslan the Lion and His sacrifice is an illustration of Jesus and His sacrifice.
The White Witch is an illustration of evil and Satan.
The Boy Edmund is an illustration of us and the human condition – sinful & broken.
The sacrificial death and the secret that the witch is unaware of can be found in 1Corithians 2:6-8 which says: We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
The stone table is an illustration of The Cross of Calvary.
Aslan’s resurrection and victory over death is an illustration of Christ’s resurrection and victory over death.
You can click here for a more in depth explanation of the story and characters.
So if you are looking for an additional way to explain and relate the story of Jesus to your children then I definitely recommend renting or purchasing “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” this Easter season. If you would like a small preview of the film you can click on the video below.
How do you help relate the Easter Story to your children? Tell me below.