Jesus in Wonderland

10 Mar 2010

Films are funny things. They make us laugh, they make us cry, they inspire us and they sometimes put us to sleep (thanks, Hugh Grant). They also present life in a new light and reveal things about our world that we’d otherwise not see. In light of this, we can also discover things of the character of God, if we look for them, through even the most unlikely of movies, of which Alice in Wonderland is surely one.

Upside down

In Wonderland we encounter a backward world: you celebrate your unbirthday 364 days per year, the first in a race is not necessarily the winner, and not everything is as plain as it seems. Similarly, Jesus turned things upside down with his teaching and example.

Jesus’ ideas were revolutionary and often contrary to accepted opinion and practice. To a world that believes in personal success and preserving your own image Jesus said, ‘the last will be first, and the first will be last’ (Matthew 20:16) and to be a leader is to serve.

Jesus provided the ultimate demonstration of this message by coming to earth as a baby born in a barn, growing up with no special status in society. He was finally to be given a criminal’s death. But as we read in the Bible, the depths to which he humbled himself on earth determined the greatness that Jesus has in Heaven. He was the ultimate servant, and this could only be done by the ultimate king!

The importance of size

 After falling down the rabbit hole, Alice encounters a collection of doors, one of which she finds a key to, but she is too large to fit through it—and to the wonderful garden on the other side. She finds a bottle, drinks its contents, and shrinks to a size suitable for the small door. However, she then is unable to reach the door key, which is sitting, now high up, on a table. Luckily, she finds a cake, eats it and grows big again, but this time much larger than her original size. And so the frustrating tale continues.

We are told that entering the Kingdom of Heaven is much the same. When we try by our own efforts we inevitably miss the mark, and when we try to enter it carrying extra luggage (like wealth) we again struggle. Jesus said that we need to accept God’s Kingdom as a child (Luke 18): humble, innocent and with no extra baggage.

Having said this, however, the Bible also implores us to ‘approach the throne of grace with confidence’ (Hebrews 4:16). So, just because we are to be small and humble doesn’t mean that we can’t stand up, hold our heads high and rejoice in the fact that we are no longer just servants, but friends of Christ (John 15:15) and sons and daughters of the Almighty God (Romans 8:17). What a privilege!

We’re all sleeping

At the end of the story, Alice awakes to find that Wonderland was just a weird and wacky dream. Now back in her real life everything seems to work once more as it should.

Paul compared this life to looking in a mirror: ‘Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully’ (1 Corinthians 13:12).

When we leave this life and find ourselves in Heaven it will be like waking from a sleep. We’ll understand things that were once a mystery; we will see God ‘face to face’; we will be liberated from the limitations of our fallen human frame. In Heaven everything will be as it should: no more tears, no more pain, no more confusion and no more loneliness.

Meaningless?

I remember watching the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland as a kid and being left with this overwhelming sense—even at a young age—‘what was the point of all that?’ It was mostly frustrating nonsense! And this is exactly how life can be to us. Things don’t go to plan, you lose a loved one, and when you expect to be fulfilled you’re left empty. This all leaves you to ask ‘what was the point?’

King Solomon had everything going for him: bountiful wisdom, a famous dad, money, power, palaces, fame, and 700-odd wives! Yet he writes in Ecclesiastes (1:2) ‘Meaningless! Meaningless! … Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’

Solomon too often put his trust in the things of this world, and found out the hard way that they let you down. We find a similar reaction in Alice as she walks away from frustrating conversations and meaningless relationships in Wonderland. And although our world isn’t as meaningless as this, it does in the long run leave us, like Solomon, unfulfilled and still asking the big questions.

The realisation that this world isn’t the answer and is ultimately meaningless is very important for each of us to grasp. For it is only then that we can discover that God—with his immense love for each of us—is the only one who can answer those deepest questions of our hearts. He alone is able to provide our lives with their true meaning. Enjoy venturing into God’s wonderland!

By Hayden Shearman (from War Cry magazine)