Professor Tolkien has commented that what is so appealing in fairy tales is the "sudden joyous turn" in the face of catastrophe.  He notes "...this joy, which is one of the things which fairy-stories can produce supremely well, is not 'escapist' nor 'fugitive.'  In its fairy-tale -- or otherworld -- setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace:  never to be counted on to recur.   It does not deny the existence of...sorrow and failure:  the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief."

It is Professor Tolkien's contention that the Gospel is just such as story, with the exception that it is true.  All the elements are there, and if encountered with the same attention and expectation we give to stories of lesser worth, we will experience " a catch of the breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears."