The Lion's Roar at the Stone Table

In C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there is a moment that still stops me cold every time I read it. Aslan, the great Lion, knows exactly what awaits him at the Stone Table. He knows the Witch's knife. He knows the mockery, the shaved mane, the ropes. He knows he will die.

And he goes anyway.

What strikes me is not just that Aslan walks toward death — it is how he walks. Lewis describes him moving slowly, heavily, as though a great sadness weighs him down. He even asks Susan and Lucy to walk with him part of the way because he is lonely. This is not the courage of someone who feels no fear. This is the courage of someone who feels everything and still puts one foot in front of the other.

That is precisely the courage we see in Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Luke 9:51 tells us He "set His face" toward the cross. The Greek word there suggests a firm, deliberate resolve. He was not numb to what was coming. In Gethsemane, He sweat drops like blood. He asked the Father if there was another way. And then He went anyway.

Real courage has never meant the absence of fear. It means knowing the cost, feeling the weight of it in your bones, and walking forward because love demands it. The Almighty does not ask you to be fearless. He asks you to be faithful.