Fairytales are modern parables, clothing important truths in stories that enchant us.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ is another of these stories, where the kindness and love of a beautiful girl (Belle) see beyond the ugliness and fierceness of the Beast to transform him and set him free from the spell cast upon him. It’s a tale of the transforming power of love.
In real life, the roles are reversed a little. We are the beast- people tainted by sin, unable to see beyond the physical world, trapped in a mixture of good and evil. Jesus is the Beautiful One who sees beyond that sinfulness and loves us unconditionally. Even while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. (Rom 5:8)
Just as Belle’s love for the Beast has power to overcome the enchantment which has turned him into an ugly creature, so Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross for us has the power to transform us and free us from the curse of sin, liberating us to become who we really are – people made in the image of God and created for a relationship with our Creator.
This story urges us to see beyond the physical and to believe in the transforming power of love. Far from condemning such love to the realm of fairy stories suitable for children only, we need to embrace these truths and be transformed. We need to see ourselves in these stories and find God in them too.