Eustace’s Un-Dragoning : Part 1 : Being afraid

One of the most powerful and memorable scenes of the entire series is the un-dragoning of Eustace. It occurs during VDT which is third in published order and is one of the most popular books in the series. It tells the story of King Caspian after 3 years reign, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, their cousin Eustace Scrubb, and our friend Reepicheep the mouse, who together embark on a voyage to find the seven lost lords and the end of the earth. During the journey, the friends each face an internal problem that they must conquer with Aslan's help.
It's important that you don't refer to your experience of this scene in the movie, but focus on the book version only. It is one of the many moments that really cannot be done justice cinematically. 

The scene is recollected by Eustace and told to Edmund early in the morning, before anyone else knows that Eustace has been changed back into a boy. In case you don't remember how Eustace became a dragon, or you simply don't know since the movie wasn't clear on this, among other things; after the crew lands on Dragon Island, Eustace wanders off alone to get out of working and comes across a cave filled with treasure which he takes a nap in. Then, as the book reads, "He had turned into a dragon while he was asleep. Sleeping on a dragon's hoard with greedy, dragonish thoughts in his heart, he had become a dragon himself."
I’ve divided this story and response into three parts. This is the first part, concerning Eustace’s reaction when he first met Aslan.

“I looked up and saw the very last thing I expected: a huge lion coming slowly toward me. And one queer thing was that there was no moon last night, but there was moonlight where the lion was. So it came nearer and nearer. I was terribly afraid of it. You may think that, being a dragon, I could have knocked any lion out easily enough. But it wasn’t that kind of fear. I wasn’t afraid of it eating me, I was just afraid of it – if you can understand. Well, it came close up to me and looked straight into my eyes. And I shut my eyes tight. But that wasn’t any good because it told me to follow it.”
“You mean it spoke?”
“I don’t know. Now that you mention it, I don’t think it did. But it told me all the same. And I knew I’d have to do what it told me, so I got up and followed it.”

The first significant point is the fear Eustace instinctively has for Aslan. Like he says, it wasn’t a fear that Aslan would harm him, but rather a different sort of fear. This corresponds to our fear for God. Although sometimes when the Bible speaks of fearing God, it does simply mean to be afraid of him for he has the power to strike us down, like in Matthew 10:28, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (ESV)

But often it means more than that. Luke 1:50 says, “And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.” (ESV) Here is a different sort of fear. He reserves his mercy not for those who tremble at the heavens, but for those who acknowledge who he is.

So this Fear is that of recognizing the alarming magnificence of he who created the heavens and the earth. It’s that sharp intake of breath when you stand on top of a mountain and look down around you. It’s the moment right before you jump out of an airplane with a parachute strapped to your back. It’s the excitement of riding a rollercoaster. It’s the rapid beating of your heart when you work up the nerve to talk to that certain someone. This is the type of Fear Eustace is talking about when he speaks of his first impression of Aslan, and the fear we should have of God.

We need more than the fear that he will smite us if we’re naughty, for there’s so much more to him than that. We see this in the next thing that happens, which is that Aslan looks Eustace straight in the eyes. Aslan doesn’t just sit on his mountain turning people into dragons when they have dragonish thoughts, but he comes down to where they are in order to turn them back. How marvelous that God would not only create us and rule over us, but look us straight in the eyes, face to face, and desire to make us better creatures!

That is not to diminish the value of Fear, but rather to enhance it. The Fear of God is a necessary part of a Christian life. We need to realize the magnitude and power of the God we serve, because it leads directly to our obedience of him, as it did for Eustace. We won’t do much good if we don’t take him seriously.

Eustace had every reason not to follow a wild lion into the mountains alone on a strange island, but he did so simply because “I knew I’d have to do what it told me.” A proper view of God leads to Fear, which leads to our unhindered obedience of him.
But of course, that’s only the beginning. Upward and onward to Part 2!