Aslan's Presence - Melissa Marazzi

Throughout Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, the reader can almost always tell when Aslan is about to enter the scene. When he arrives, his presence is quite evident to nearly all creatures. He enters with authority but with tenderness, with power but reservation, all at once. Other creatures when they come near him, they feel almost unnerved but comforted. It is interesting to see the different reactions that the different types of creatures have. Those who follow him stand back with reverence; they are scared but still drawn near. Those who are against him stand their guard in fear. There is a tremendous difference in these two reactions. While they both recognize Alsan’s ability, his enemies are gripped by fear to guard themselves, in vain. Alsan is supposed to parallel the character of Jesus; He walked and spoke with authority. But His enemies did not understand Him so were gripped by fear and rendered defenseless. Those who followed Him still felt fear but accepted it and really experienced who He was and learned from Him, as with Aslan.