The Ironic Jesus of Our World

An essay response to The Power and the Glory


Jesus Christ was a saint--he committed no sins in his lifetime, had no faults in his lifetime, and had nothing to remorse in his lifetime. The whiskey priest was the antithesis of this, and this showed the ironic parallelism to the Passion. Throughout the novel, The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene uses Jesus Christ and the Passion to parallel the novel with the whiskey priest; demonstrating irony, the priest is a drunken, heinous man--exactly opposite of Jesus.

A conspicuous parallelism to the Passion from The Power and the Glory is Judas to the Mestizo. Graham Greene makes this comparison clear. From the first time the priest met the Mestizo, he knew he was in the presence of Judas. Judas was a disciple of Jesus--one who betrayed Jesus at just the right moment--just like the Mestizo was a follower of the priest. "'I wouldn't betray you. I'm a Christian.'" (91) The Mestizo tagged along with the whiskey priest throughout his journeys; the priest believed that the Mestizo would turn him into the government right away, but just as Judas did, the Mestizo waited for the perfect moment to convict the priest.

As Jesus sacrificed himself for everyone that would set foot on our earth, the priest sacrificed himself for the Lehr's. The Lehr's were Lutherans, while the priest was Catholic, yet they decided to house the priest for a few days and an event similar to the Last Supper took place. When the whiskey priest was about to leave for Las Casas, Mrs. Lehr-- who followed her convictions for one of the first times in her life--offered sandwiches and coffee for the trip. This small gesture helped the priest. It showed the difference that the Priest made in these people's lives, and also symbolized how Jesus changed the lives of many of his followers.

Many people in our world prove themselves to be cowards through actions. When the priest arrives to help an American man, the Mestizo, just as the priest thought, brought the police. "Even a coward has a sense of duty." (190) The Mestizo himself knows that he's a coward, but he does what he feels is necessary in the situation. This same pattern took place during Jesus' betrayal. Although, the irony presents itself when Judas regretted betraying Jesus, while the Mestizo had absolutely no remorse.

Pontius Pilate and the Lieutenant portray similar characteristics because they believed that the criminal they were pursuing was innocent, but eventually fell to the pressure of those around them. John 18:36 says "'What is truth?' Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, 'I find no basis for a charge against him.'" Even though Pontius Pilate believed that Jesus was not guilty, just like peer pressure in today's world, he gave in to the government, while trying to establish peace in the society. The Lieutenant was the same way. As the whiskey priest was standing before the Lieutenant, waiting to be released from jail, he was in front of his wanted picture on the wall. Conspicuously, the lieutenant could see the picture and realized that this man in front of him was wanted by authority--yet he let it go and dismissed the priest for the price of peace in the world and no trouble.

Jesus Christ never sinned because he was perfect: sent down from Heaven by God to sacrifice his life for everyone else. The priest, too, sacrificed his life, but it took him a while longer than Christ to see that this was the way to live. The priest and Jesus were parallel characters throughout The Power and the Glory and the Passion, but they were different in one major way: the priest committed many sins, such as drinking, having an affair, and not following his convictions.