Easter in Narnia?
Robert Skead • April 4, 2025
Dawn Treader is named after the ship in the Chronicles of Narnia series. As such many of the books’ themes are also taught to our students via chapel messages and in the classroom. Easter is the perfect time to reflect on some of these themes—and on Aslan the mighty lion (Jesus).
As you read the themes below, please think about your own childhood memories and how important these were (and are) to your spiritual growth.
- Christianity:
The story uses allegorical elements, like the talking lion Aslan, to represent the Christian journey, suggesting that faith can be challenging but ultimately transformative.
- Growing Up and Selflessness:
Eustace, a character who is initially selfish, undergoes a transformation, learning the value of companionship and helping others. His journey highlights how selfishness can lead to isolation, while selflessness can foster purpose and connection.
- Temptation:
The characters encounter situations that test their moral compass, such as the temptation of greed or power. These moments highlight the importance of resisting temptation and making choices that align with one's values.
- The search for the divine:
The story also explores the desire of human beings to grow in their character, to become better people, and of the search for the divine in this life, and the hope for something beautiful in the next.
- The Christmas and Easter connection:
A life without Jesus (darkness) is best reflected by these lines from the book - “It is winter in Narnia,” said Mr. Tumnus, “and has been for ever so long…. always winter, but never Christmas.”
How sad a world without Christmas would be. We rejoice because after Christmas we know there is Easter! When Aslan gave his life for Eustace’s sin on the slab, he broke the curse of “winter!” Jesus took our sin on the cross and broke the curse of death! Like Aslan, Jesus rose in real life to real life!
That’s good news! May the peace of Christ be with you always as you journey with us on the Dawn Treader.
Meet Dana Roberts, Alumnus and President of our First-ever Alumni As sociation
1. He served as a corrections officer in Passaic County before joining Dawn Treader. 2. He is the father of four children, all girls. 3. He has been married for 25 years, and last month celebrated that milestone anniversary. 4. He is the founder of King of Kings Worship Ministries and City Impact in Paterson. 5. He is a traveling missionary, often serving people in the Dominican Republic. 6. He has served in ministry in Paterson for 30 years and has a heart for children, young adults and Christian education. 7. He names his dogs after characters from the Little Rascals. Bonus Fact: He will never shave his beard.
My prayer has always been "Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in His commands. Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed." Psalm 112:1-2
In the early 1970s there was a group of Christians who gathered as a missional prayer group to help provide Christian Education for students of Paterson and Passaic who could not afford it. They purchased the current building, which had been abandoned for nearly 40 years in July 1977 with the school opening in September. The decision had been made to name the school Dawn Treader, borrowed from the CS Lewis book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, one of seven of the Chronicles of Narnia. Pastor Stan VanderKlay, of Northside Chapel CRC and ECUMP Board member, preached at the Sunrise service the day before the school opened and explained in his sermon the reason for this name. I quote from Stan’s message as recorded in his book Chains of Grace: “The Son of God was incarnated in Narnia as a large golden lion named Aslan, who had once offered himself to be slaughtered, but then came alive again to save the Narnians from the corruption of sin which had entered that world. Dawn Treader was a sailing ship on a royal mission to the East, toward Aslans’s country. Three children of our world were looking at a picture of that Viking-type, single sail ship with its dragon head and tail splashing through the waves when suddenly they began to get wet and then found themselves drawn into the real Narnian seas. Rescued by the Dawn Treader they spent more than a year on that mission having many adventures and learning much about life and faith. “Near the end they were directed to go to the side shore of the sea. Aslan met them there, opened a door in the sky which ushed them back into their real world and told them that there they would come to know him by a different name. Their voyage on the DT would help them learn how to live Christianly back at home. “Dawn Treaders are people of the Son” was our motto. In this living history lesson, in a mill where children once worked long, hard days weaving sild, brightness would now be woven into their lives, so that with Christ as the center of everything, their voyage in our Dawn Treader would, we prayed, empower them to live relevantly for Christ in the real world .” Jesus saves us to live in a relationship with God not just so we can go to heaven after we die, but so we can live out Christ’s mission while we live. We are “saved to serve.” Just like Aslan sent the children back to their world Jesus sends us out into His world to carry out his mission of “making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19 Our goal is to disciple each child at Dawn Treader to follow Jesus so they can then also make disciples. Thank you for all you do to help our students on their academic and Jesus- following journey.
