Eustace's Baptism

One of my favorite authors is C.S. Lewis, his fiction in particular (except for his science fiction) speaks to me. I operate in the realm of stories, and so I can much more easily read a story about a man who travels to heaven than I could read a highly technical paper on what Heaven might be like. Some of C.S. Lewis' most timeless books are "The Chronicles of Narnia". If you've seen the movie "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" then you know that this series portrays very Christian themes and stories in rather unusual ways (like talking Lions). It is within this world which Lewis creates a narrative where the redeeming work of Christ is shown.
In "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" Lewis tells a story about a young man named Eustace, a rather "beastly" boy from England. Now remember, these stories take place in a fantasy realm, so when I tell you that Eustace, after sleeping on a pile of Dragon's gold, thinking "dragonish" (read: selfish, greedy) thoughts, finds himself actually turned into a dragon, try and stay with me. So Eustace is a dragon, and surprisingly enough, finds it unsatisfactory.
One night as he is lamenting about the pain in his arm (caused by an altogether too small bracelet he had put on as a child) a lion came and told him to follow him. The lion led the dragon to a bubbling well which would certainly ease the pain in Eustace's dragon leg. The Lion (who is, of course, Aslan) tells him that before he can go into the water he must first undress. So Eustace scratches the dead skin off himself (much like a snake) revealing fresh, clean skin. Seeing that he is fresh and new Eustace goes to get in the well, but sees in the reflection, that the new skin has become hard and rough just as the old skin. Eustace peels this layer of skin off, and the next, but he cannot stay clean.
Finally Aslan tells him that Eustace must allow him to undress him. Eustace when retelling the story later says:
The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt. The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off.
Aslan then threw Eustace into the well and while Eustace was swimming he realized that he had returned to his former, human self. He came up out of the water and Aslan dressed him in new clothes and Eustace became a kind and gracious person.
Think about it.