The Traitor Who Was Never Reminded

In C.S. Lewis's The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, young Edmund Pevensie sells out his own family for a box of Turkish Delight. He lies to his siblings, sneaks away to the White Witch, and betrays every person who loves him — all for enchanted candy that leaves him sick and craving more.

By the ancient Deep Magic of Narnia, Edmund's life is forfeit. The Witch has a legal claim on every traitor. Justice demands his blood.

But Aslan, the great Lion, goes to the Stone Table in Edmund's place. He is bound, mocked, shaved, and killed — willingly — so that a boy who chose poorly might live.

Here is what strikes me most: after the resurrection, after the great battle is won, no one ever throws Edmund's betrayal back in his face. He is not put on probation. He is not assigned to the back of the army to prove himself. He is crowned King Edmund the Just and given a throne beside his siblings as though the Turkish Delight never happened.

That is what grace looks like. The Almighty does not save us and then hang our failures over our heads. He does not bring us into the family on a trial basis. Paul puts it plainly: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). The debt is not reduced. It is erased. And the seat at the table was never in question.