I spent about half of 2025 journeying through Middle-earth, beginning with The Hobbit and then reading The Lord of the Rings trilogy for the first time in my life. (At the time, I had never seen the movies either, so it was an entirely new world.) I find it quite fitting that the series ends with the line, “Well, I’m back.”
All good journeys end with a return home, whether spiritually, emotionally, or physically, and The Lord of the Rings is no different. The Return of the King, the final book of the trilogy, does just that with the series, tidying up loose ends and delivering a resounding triumph over evil. Our heroes are victorious, both in the macro-world of Middle-earth, Gondor, and all that is good and noble and in the micro-world of the Shire, Hobbiton, and all that is ordinary and quiet. Aragorn, the rightful and prophesied king, takes back the kingdom from the clutches of evil, and the young Frodo destroys evil’s greatest weapon.
The thing about evil, as author JRR Tolkien makes clear throughout his writing, is that it does not honor the wishes of the ordinary, nor does it mind the will of the people enjoying peace. Evil corrupts every corner of the world, not limiting itself to Mordor but casting long shadows over every kingdom, from glorious Gondor to fallen Isengard, and, by the end of the story, even the quiet Hobbit country, where little folks lived who had never tasted war’s dregs.
The Lord of the Rings, of course, follows the adventures of a group of these ‘hobbits,’ ordinary people about half the size of a normal man, people who enjoy quiet lives of parties, eating, and tea. But when Frodo is tasked with destroying the One Ring, a perilous journey across all of Middle-Earth, he and his Hobbit companions are awoken from their slumbering lives and to the truth of the world around them: that evil seeks to destroy all that is good in the world, including the inoffensive hobbits.
There is neither a middle ground nor sidelines to this war; all are involved and at the mercy of the powers that be. Although it takes everything they have and more, Frodo and his fellows complete the great quest while Aragorn, takes back the sleeping kingdom and crown that has been bestowed upon him. But the true climax of the story is not Aragorn’s coronation, nor is it Frodo destroying the Ring.
The last battle is not against the personification of evil, Sauron, nor his legions of vile orcs. Instead, it comes much after that, when evil and death have been conquered forevermore, and the Hobbit heroes return to their homeland, the Shire, and discover it to be scoured by the evil wizard Saruman, a final act of defiance to the reign of good. Saruman has taken the Shire captive, has reduced the Hobbit inhabitants to a slave force, and has begun to make Hobbiton his new home.
But our heroes are not the same childlike paupers who left the Shire in the beginning; rather, they have been forged in something much greater and then entrusted to take that new life back to their people and homes and make a difference.
The four Hobbit heroes who went to hell and back now, for the first time in their lives, rally the spirits of their neighbors and fight for their lives. Their friends and families had never considered the infection of evil possible and had been subdued instantly, but by the strength of the heroes, they defended their homeland and drove out the wicked wizard for good.
Like how those hobbits and the people of Middle-Earth celebrated the crowning of good over evil, this Easter, we celebrate Christ Jesus’ ultimate victory over evil and death on the cross, the infinite sacrifice made to atone for our infinite sin, freeing us from slavery to wickedness.
The great battle has already been won, and we rejoice forevermore. Now we wait for the quick return of our King, who brings healing and righteousness by His hands and will soon make everything sad come untrue. In the meantime, we defend our lives and our homes from the final grasp of evil on this world.
You see, as delightful as the story of the crowned kings and the defeated dark lords is, The Lord of the Rings is ultimately a story about the duty of the ordinary; seemingly unworthy and unqualified people entrusted with a great gift and great responsibility in the great holy war raging about them.
Yes, eternal life or death hangs in the balance for us all, thus all have a duty to fight evil by doing good, living in our true ranks of service to a great King, defending what is true and noble in all corners of the world, especially our ordinary ones, our schools and offices, coffee shops and grocery aisles, homes and streets, for His glorious name.
May “Christ is Risen” be our battle cry until Kingdom Come.
He is risen indeed.
