I love Holy Week. It gives us the opportunity to join with Christians all over the world in preparing for Easter. To help us make the most of Holy Week I’ll be writing some Harry Potter Holy Week reflections. Today we reflect on Spy Wednesday.
I thoroughly enjoy both the Harry Potter books and movies. While the books definitely have more detail and depth, the movies do a tremendous job of capturing the core spirit of each character and setting. This may be most true with Tom Felton’s portrayal of Draco Malfoy.
Like most of the characters, Draco begins his time at Hogwarts as a caricature. Harry is the hero, Hermione is the smart one, Ron is the funny one and Draco is the bully. These shallow representations make sense because kids don’t have a lot of layers and their worlds are very concrete, very black and white.
However, as the kids get older and enter adulthood, more and more subtleties emerge in their characters.
Harry is the hero with a dark side.
Hermione is the smart one but also insecure.
Ron is the funny one but also a hothead.
Draco is the bully but also a tortured soul.
Draco is the perfect foil for Harry. As much as Harry epitomizes all the courage of Gryffindor, Draco wants to epitomize the evil of Slytherin. Draco wants to follow in Tom Riddle’s footsteps, helping lead the Death Eaters to victory over Dumbledore and his pitiful Order of the Phoenix.
While Harry really does embody all of Gryffindor’s virtues, Draco is just a shell of Slytherin. He’s not truly evil; he’s just a bully trying to live up to some misguided ideal. Even though the Death Eaters had already been defeated, Draco still wants to bring them back to glory. Draco isn’t a true believer, which is why we end up pitying him more than hating him.
Some people have the same response to Judas, the focus of Spy Wednesday during Holy Week. We remember Judas’s betrayal of Jesus, how he turned Jesus over to the Pharisees for 30 pieces of silver. The gospels are filled with comments about Judas’s greed; perhaps Judas thought that there would be more financial gain in following the Messiah. Judas’s expectations weren’t being met so he decided to turn his back on Jesus, to become a spy amongst friends.
We can see the same turn for Draco in The Half-Blood Prince. He keeps making attempts on Dumbledore’s life, all to prove his commitment to the Death Eaters and their mission against Hogwarts’ headmaster. His resolve wavers, though, when faced with the opportunity to actually kill Dumbledore. And instead of hating Dumbledore’s would-be-assassin, we end up pitying the shell into which Draco has turned.
Judas’s resolve didn’t waver, though. He took the 30 pieces of silver and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Eventually he feels remorse, gives the money back and hangs himself. And while it’s easy to pass judgment on Judas, I try to look at him with the same pity I give to Draco.
I like to think that I’d never betray Jesus to the Pharisees, but I betray Jesus all the time. Every time I rebel against the Father and choose my own way, I am betraying Jesus. I may not be betraying Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, but I am betraying Jesus for the temporary thrill of sin. At least 30 pieces of silver aren’t as fleeting as a lustful glance or a judgmental gaze.
So as much as we don’t want to show Draco compassion because he’s such a little punk, we do because we see how tortured he is. And as easy as it is for us to pass judgment on Judas for betraying Jesus, we need to view him with mercy. Not because what Judas did wasn’t wrong, but because we probably are more like him than we want to admit.
How do you tend to view Judas?
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