{"id":49424,"date":"2001-12-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-12-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/lion-king-honoring-christs-birth\/"},"modified":"2001-12-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2001-12-10T00:00:00","slug":"lion-king-honoring-christs-birth","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/lion-king-honoring-christs-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;The Lion King&#8221;: Honoring Christ&#8217;s Birth"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Disney&#39;s animated movie <em class=\"citation\">The Lion King,<\/em> portrays the struggle between good and evil through the adventures of a lion named Simba. Son of the lion king, Simba faces several challenges as he comes to terms with his royal heritage.<\/p>\n\n<p>In the opening scene, the long-awaited announcement of Simba&#39;s birth is carried throughout the valleys and plateaus of Africa. Tribal drums and African chants herald the cub&#39;s arrival. Elephants, gazelles, antelopes, vultures, zebras, giraffes, gulls, even tiny ants journey to receive the new royalty. They climb hills, descend sloping canyons, forge streams, and hike jungle paths.<\/p>\n\n<p>Once all the animals arrive in adoring reverence and praise, the infant cub is presented to the gathered subjects. Rafiki, the monkey elder, lifts the newborn high above his head to symbolize Simba&#39;s exalted calling.<\/p>\n\n<p>Symbolically, this is a grand picture of the Son of God, who came into the world as an infant and was exalted as king.<\/p>\n\n<p>Elapsed time: Measured from the beginning of the opening credit, this scene begins at 00:00:00 and lasts approximately four minutes.<\/p>\n\n<p>Content: Rated G<\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3385,3460,3600,3876,3907,4232,4326,4328,4389,4463,4585,5305],"tax_ctp_topics":[393,396],"class_list":["post-49424","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-adoration","tax_ctp_tags-authority-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-christmas","tax_ctp_tags-epiphany","tax_ctp_tags-exaltation-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-incarnation-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-kingdom-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-kings","tax_ctp_tags-lordship-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-messiah","tax_ctp_tags-palm-sunday","tax_ctp_tags-worship"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;The Lion King&quot;: Honoring Christ&#039;s Birth - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/lion-king-honoring-christs-birth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;The Lion King&quot;: Honoring Christ&#039;s Birth - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Disney&#039;s animated movie The Lion King, portrays the struggle between good and evil through the adventures of a lion named Simba. 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