Snape is one of my favorite characters in fiction. He is phenomonally faithful, sacrificial, courageous, and so much more, in all the worst places without any recognition until the very end. He loved Lily Potter from childhood on. He hated James Potter who married Lily, and, by circumstance, their son Harry, except that Harry had Lily’s eyes. 

Snape had to rescue Harry though the course of the books despite Snape’s frustration because he was faithful to Lily. He became an insider spy against the most dangerous criminal of all time, facing untold dangers and terrors, protecting far more than Harry through his courage. Dumbledore challenged Snape regarding all his continuous and unstinting sacrifice being for the love of Lily. His entire life had been sacrificed out of his love. Was Snape still in love with Lily. Snape said, “Always.” 

I wonder what JK Rowling was thinking when she developed this character. I wonder if she was creating an image of a sacrificial love that this planet needs, we all need. I think of the word, “always.” For Snape it meant every moment, of every day, to the end of his life, and the last words he spoke. He was consumed. It truly challenges me as to how superficial I am. I wonder if I could be as sacrificial for another. I don’t think I have ever suffered to that extreme, for anyone. It is an amazing example to consider. 

There are two parts of this image, loving like that and being loved like that, through everything, thick and thin, highs and lows, danger and safety, going well or going terribly, “always.” I may never grow to a point that I can love like that, but I am learning to realize that I am loved like that.

The New Testament tells us that Jesus says “always” regarding His love for each of us. He has gone through far more than we could understand or imagine to say that to us. He has often done it when we are fighting Him and failing to understant His motivation. Harry blamed Snape for many of his troubles. We often blame Jesus when we don’t understand what is happening, or, more devastatingly, why. 

Snape is not a “Jesus” character. The stories share a natural and fictional example how much someone can suffer for the love of another. We have other real examples on our world of people who have endured amazing things for the love of others. The greatest example of all examples is Jesus, and He is not fiction. He loves each of us “Always.” The Bible tells us from the first chapter of Genesis to the last of Revelation that God’s plan has never altered or veered from the love He has chosen to give us. We are loved, completely, “Always.”