Scott Foresman

“the witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe only understands the grabbing kind of authority—if you want something, you take it. She does not understand Aslan's kind of authority at all. What does she think when Aslan comes to negotiate Edmund's release? Remember that Edmund had betrayed his brother and sisters, and because of that, even though he had been rescued from the witch, she has a lawful claim on him because he is a traitor. Aslan does not dispute the claim. Instead, he does something that is shocking and incomprehensible to all those who, like the witch, only understand the grasping kind of authority: He agrees to give himself in exchange for Edmund. This is because Aslan knows that the way to authority is through sacrifice. Even so, when Aslan fulfills his part of the agreement, it is very difficult for him. Just understanding the principle of sacrifice does not automatically make that sacrifice easy. When he goes to his death, he is so sorrowful that he allows Lucy and Susan to accompany him part way and provide some comfort and companionship. When the witch sees Aslan coming, she believes she has triumphed. "'The fool!' she cried, 'The fool has come. Bind him fast'" (151). All she understands is what Aslan calls the "deep magic," which allows a traitor to be freed if another chooses to die in his place. But after Aslan comes back to life, he explains the witch's mistake: "'It means,' said Aslan, 'That though the witch knew the deep magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know'" (163). The deeper magic is that love and sacrifice conquer hate and greed. Love and sacrifice create true, ultimate authority. So it is not just that Aslan died for Edmund as the perfect, substitutionary sacrifice for a traitor, thus saving him—though of course he did die in Edmund's place and he did save him. There is more to it: After his death and resurrection, Aslan gains true authority. He had authority before, but after this it grows and changes in a glorious way. But sinful people cannot understand this "deep magic." You can explain it, read it from the Bible, draw it on a blackboard, and shout it at the top of your lungs, but a sinful heart cannot know this principle: if you give, you get. They just cannot get it into their heads—or rather, into their hearts. For they do not have an intellectual problem; they have a spiritual problem.”
― Douglas Wilson, What I Learned in Narnia