We live in a world where, sadly, many people are more attracted to Harry Potter than they are to Christ. I think this occurs because people have the wrong idea about who Jesus is. What is even more interesting is that many of the things people love about Harry Potter are based on the qualities of Jesus. I have posted on this before, but this last similarity is perhaps the strongest parallel and it takes place in the final chapters of the last book. I know many people ($164 million worth of people) saw it this past weekend, so now is the time to discuss.
Towards the end of his story, Harry comes to find out that the only possible way to defeat Lord Voldemort is by freely offering himself to die. Although he is fearful, he chooses to submit himself to death and goes out into the Forbidden Forest alone, ready to face his fate. He finds Voldemort, and allows himself to killed. After the Killing Curse is used on him, he has an afterlife experience where he meets his old Headmaster, Dumbledore.
Dumbledore tells him that Harry has a choice: he can either move on into the afterlife, or return to the land of the living and help defeat Voldemort once and for all. Harry chooses to return to life, and returns with the power, ability, and knowledge to defeat Voldemort.
Most people will recognize the surface of this parallel. Harry, like Jesus, died for those he loves and then returned to life. But the parallels go far deeper. First, and perhaps most importantly, he was a willing sacrifice. No one took his life, he gave it. Christ did the same thing for us (John 10:18). His death was no accident! He gave himself freely so that we might have life. It is important to make this distinction because it demonstrates the love these two people had for the rest of the world. Not only that, but the fact that the sacrifice was freely given made all the difference.
For Harry, his sacrifice had the same effect that his mother’s did 17 years before. Although the movie does not mention it, Harry points this out to Voldemort in the book, “I’ve done what my mother did. They’re protected from you. Haven’t you noticed how none of the spells you put on them are binding? You can’t torture them. You can’t touch them. You don’t learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?”
This is so cool! Harry’s blood is now covering all the people he died for. They are all safe from the enemy; Voldemort has been stripped of his power, even before he was completely destroyed. Because Harry gave himself willingly, all the people he died for were saved and protected from death.
Sound familiar?
2,000 years ago, Jesus gave himself up to die for the people he loved. His enemies called for his death. When he gave it, they believed they had triumphed. They celebrated their victory and mocked him, but they were mistaken. Jesus returned to life, and by his wounds we are healed. Through his death, we too have been saved and no longer have to die. Through his blood, we are protected from judgment. The enemy has no power to accuse, and though he is furious with wrath, his time will soon come to an end.
I love the way Revelation 12 describes this: “For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
The ending of Harry Potter should inspire us. The life of Jesus should inspire us even more. Why? Because he was not a fictional character, and he did not die for wizards, he died for you.




