Happy Monday, friends, and welcome to another Gospel According to post, where we look at the deeper meanings behind our favorite stories and songs and how they can point us to the Word. This week, I want to explore one of my all-time favorite quotes from the Harry Potter universe, which just happens to contain my favorite word, “Always.” Hope you enjoy!
Fandom: “After all this time?” “Always.” – Professors Snape and Dumbledor, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Verses:
Truth:
The Fandom: “After all this time?” “Always.”
Severus Snape is one of the most controversial characters of the Harry Potter world, aside from Dumbledor himself. Many fans are convinced that Snape is a villain, a bully and one of the worst Death-Eater types in existence. And I will definitely agree: He made some questionable choices, especially in the books, in how he taught Potions and treated certain students.
But Snape is a much more complex character than many of us give him credit for. In fact, this article I found argues that Harry himself is a symbol of Snape’s internal conflict, as he sees the face of a man he disliked paired with the eyes of a woman he loved. There are several instances when Snape aims to protect Harry and his friends from danger, and ultimately, while he did kill Dumbledor, he did it to gain Voldemort’s trust and eventually bring him down.
In this iconic scene from Snape’s memories, Harry witnesses a conversation between him and Dumbledor in which Snape proves his loyal love for Lily by casting the Patronus charm. The appearance of the Patronus, which is a doe (the same as Lily’s), prompts Dumbledor to ask, “After all this time?” to which Snape answers, “Always.”
What does Snape’s Patronus being the same as Lily’s mean? I think it could mean that she was the person who kept him from fully going to the Dark side, and he lived all those years after her death trying to honor her memory and protect her son (begrudgingly at times, but still). This is based on the formation of the Patronus charm: a strong, happy memory. I imagine that, for Snape, that memory has something to do with his childhood with Lily, before they went to Hogwarts.
So suffice it to say that Snape’s “Always” is a messy, complicated thing. His actions aren’t always selfless, and he makes quite a few mistakes some of them Sirius — I mean, serious. But what if we turn this saying around? What if we put ourselves in the place of Dumbledor, and the answering “Always” comes from someone who can’t and won’t let us down? Let’s look at it!
The Verses
Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who love Him and keep His commandments;
Deuteronomy 7:9 NASb
This is the first verse that comes to mind when I think of this quote, and it remains one of my favorites to this day. In context: Moses, one of the most well-known leaders of the Israelite people, is in the middle of reminding them of the covenant that the LORD God made with them. He says something to the effect of, “God didn’t choose us because of us; He chose us because of who He is and how He loves us.” and then he gives us this verse, which affirms the faithfulness of God and promises His promises will continue even to a thousand generations. It makes me think of all the times when the Israelites would go on to disobey God over and over and over again, but He would continue to bless and protect them anyway. And centuries later, we’re still reaping the benefits of this promise. So cool!
Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth;
who keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation [of His Law,] and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, inflicting the punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Exodus 34:6-7 NASB
At the end of the book of Exodus, which describes the Israelites’ journey out of Egypt, Moses asks God to show him His glory. And God, the relational-but-still-holy God, hides Moses in a little rock cave and passes by so that he sees the “back side” of His glory, which still would’ve been almost too much to bear. And this is what He proclaims to him: that God is “compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth,” who forgives and keeps faithfulness without compromising His holiness or justice. There is more emphasis on the compassionate and forgiving side of God’s character than there is on His requirement that sin be punished. And these two verses are the most-quoted verses in the Old Testament!
This video series by The Bible Project explores them more in depth : )
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
Who made heaven and earth, The sea and everything that is in them; Who keeps faith forever;
Psalm 146:5-6 NASB
These verses are one of the many “Always” verses in the Bible, many of which appear in the book of Psalms. I especially love the phrase “who keeps faith forever” in verse 6; it really points back to the human reflections we see of loyal love and faithfulness.
God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:9 NASB
In the New Testament, we see many re-affirmations of what was already spoken in the Hebrew Old Testament. Because Jesus is the Son of God and the physical presence of God on earth for a time, He becomes the “Always” to the “After all this time?” that many had asked before His arrival. All of the prophets and religious leaders and everyday people who waited for Messiah to come have finally received their answer, the fulfillment of the promises and affirmation of God’s faithfulness for all time.
Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
Hebrews 10:23 NASB
This verse is an invitation for us to be faithful because God is faithful to us. We are called to hold on to the promise and the hope that we believe in because we believe in the God who saved us. Our faith and our hope aren’t dependent on our circumstances, but on the absolute trustworthiness of the Lord.
If we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He will also deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
2 Timothy 2:12-13 NASB
Okay, I re-discovered this passage this past summer and it’s SO GOOD! I just love how it affirms that, even when we are faithless (from apisteo, to betray a trust), He remains faithful. As in, when we faith to fulfill the verse in Hebrews above, when we sin or doubt or believe something that isn’t true, He still remains faithful to us. Amen! Praise God!
The Gospel According to Severus Snape
I believe that the Gospel message, or the steps of becoming a believer and receiving the gift of salvation, can be broken up into three parts:
- I am. Who is God? What is He like? Who are we, and why are we here? Is there more to life than just the time between our birth and our death?
- God is the Creator and Lord of everything that we know. He is light, He is absolutely perfect, and He is all-powerful and all-knowing. He is also love, and He created each and every one of us to live in relationship with Him. We, on the other hand, are hard-wired to resist that relationship. Because of the rebellion of the first humans, our nature is to resist God’s rule, and we are therefore separated from Him. This separation is called sin. Our sin causes us to feel a void or emptiness that we try to fill with other relationships or pursuits (like pleasure or success), but that can only truly be filled with the relationship with God that we were meant to have. For more thoughts on this, check out this post.
- With you. How can I “fix” my sin problem and find joy, peace, and a relationship with God?
- There is only one way to restore the relationship that we were always meant to have with the God who created us, and that is Jesus. As we already discussed above, Jesus, the Son of God, came as a human to rescue and restore us while we were weak, helpless to fix ourselves. He showed the love of God for us by subjecting Himself to all of the indignities and suffering of the Cross, and died a criminal’s death, even though He had done no wrong. Because of His perfect sacrifice, Jesus was able to end the eternal separation between us and God, and now gives us the choice to receive His gift of salvation and eternal life. For more thoughts, see this post.
- Always. God shows His faithfulness and steadfast love for His people (originally Israel, now including all who believe in Him) throughout Scripture. He will always be with us, and gives us reminders of His presence and His truth through Holy Spirit, who inhabits every believer. Through Him, we have eternal forgiveness of sin, access to His throne room through prayer, and the ability to grow into the people we were always meant to be, free from the power of sin. After we die, we have the promise of Heaven, where we will see our Lord face to face and never have to suffer or be separated from Him again. For more thoughts, see this post.
This fandom speaks to the “Always” part of the Gospel story. After centuries of people living without ever acknowledging God, walking in outright rebellion against Him, or at most serving Him with an imperfect and fickle heart, God chose to remain faithful. He sent Jesus His Son to die on our behalf, making a way for us to be restored to Him. Unlike Snape, who often seems to barely tolerate Harry, God will never stop loving us. His love has no limit, and while He won’t compromise His holiness or righteous judgement (we wouldn’t want Him to anyway), He is always ready to forgive us.
Here are some more posts about the faithfulness of God and our belief in Him:
- Maroon 5 – She will be loved.
- Griffin – All You Need to Know
- Luna Lovegood – “Don’t worry, you’re just as sane as I am.”
My journal pages
Application
Here are some “I will” statements to help us live out what we learned from Professor Snape in today’s post:
- I will give thanks and praise to the Lord for his unfailing love and faithfulness
- I will depend on Him to protect my heart and mind
- I will seek to live in a way that honors Him and declares His faithful love to the world
Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this post about Snape’s “After all this time?” “Always” quote from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. What do you think of Snape? Is he a hero, a villain, or somewhere in between? I’d love to know!
Happy fangirling!
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