the shedding of dragon skin

One of my favorite passages from C.S. Lewis' book, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" has been weighing on my mind these last couple of days. To give you some background to the passage Eustace is the character that you love to hate, he's selfish, greedy, whiney, spoiled and complains constantly. He ends up in Narnia with his cousins Lucy and Edmund, who have been to Narnia before, and is taken aboard a ship with Prince Caspian, who is searching for seven (I believe) lost knights. The ship stops at several islands, one of which Eustace gets himself into a pickle. He wanders away from the crew and happens upon a cave, where he witnesses the death of a dragon. When he is sure the dragon is dead, he enters the cave and discovers that it is one huge treasure chest. Eustace begins loading his pockets with the treasure. You hear his thoughts as he does so, and he is trying to figure out how to get the treasure on board the ship without anyone else finding out about it, for he has no desire to share the wealth. He ends up falling asleep on the treasure only to wake up and find that he has turned into a dragon himself. He is miserable and lonely. He finally succeed in communicating to his ship-mates what had happened to him, and he realizes he is stuck forever in this predicament.


It is here that Aslan enters the picture and Eustace realizes that Aslan wants him to follow him. They end up at a bubbling well with marble steps going down into it.



"The water was as clear as anything and I thought if I could get in there and bathe it would ease the pain in my leg. but the lion told me I must undress first. Mind you, I dont know if he said any words out loud or not.




I was just going to say that I couldn't undress because I hadn't any clothes on when I suddenly thought that dragons are snaky sort of things and snakes can cast their skins. Oh, of course, thought I, that's what the lion means. So I started scratching myself and my scales began coming off all over the place. And then I scratched a little deeper and , instead of just scales coming off here and there, my whole skin started peeling off beautifully, like it does after an illness, or as if I was a banana. In a minute or two I jsut stepped out of it. I could see it lying there beside me, looking rather nasty. It was a most lovely feeling. So I started to go down into the well for my bathe.


But just as I was going to put my feet into the water I looked down and saw that they were all hard and rough and wrinkled and scaly just as they had been before. Oh, that's all right, said I, it only means I had another smaller suit on underneath the first one, and I'll have to get out of it too. So I scratched and tore again and this underskin peeled off beautifully and out I stepped and left it lying beside the other one and went down to the well for my bathe.


Well, exactly the same thing happened again. And I thought to myself, oh dear, how ever many skins have I got to take off? For I was longing to bathe my leg. So I scratched away for the third time and got off a third skin, just like the two others, and stepped out of it. But as soon as I looked at myself in the water I knew it had been no good.

The the lion said - but I don't know if it spoke - 'You will have to let me undress you.' I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.


The very first tear he made was do deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off. You know - if you've ever picked the scab of a sore place. It hurts like billy-oh but it is such fun to see it coming away.

Well, he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the others had been. And there was Ias smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me - I didn't like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I'd no skin on - and threw me into the water. It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious and as soon as I started swimming and splashing I found that all the pain had gone from my arm. And then I saw why. I'd turned into a boy again. You'd think me simply phoney if I told you how I felt about my own arms. I know they've no muscle and are pretty mouldy compared with Caspian's, but I was so glad to see them.

After a bit the lion took me out and dressed me - (with his paws?) - Well, I don't exactly remember that bit. But he did somehow or other: in new clothes - the same I've got on now, as a matter of fact. and then suddenly I was back here. Which is what makes me think it must have been a dream."






Eustace ends up a changed person outside and in. He is made new - though he struggles to live out this new life, his desires and his heart have been transformed.



This is a picture of redemption. We in our sin are like Eustace - we are selfish creatures playing at being lords of our own lives. While we may try in vain to "be good" - scratching and tugging away at the dragon scales, only to find another dragon skin underneath every time. It is only Christ that can dig deep enough - to the very heart and make us a completely new creation. It hurts because he has to dig deeper than we like. He has to put his claws beyond the tender parts of our flesh and into our heart. And then he washes us and clothes us anew with righteousness, holiness and purity. We still struggle to live out this new life, but our heart has changed. We are changed.
 
(thanks to the Great Divorce)