In 1999 an iconic movie called The Matrix was released and
it changed the way we see movies. It practically set the tone for action and
science fiction movies in the new millennium. It also spawned 2 successful
sequels. But I wanted to take a few minutes to do a religious perspective of
the original film. The movie had many religious undertones to it other than the
fact that the ship flown by the main crew in the film was named the
Nebuchadnezzar after King Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel in the Bible.
The entire plot of the film can be understood in much the same way Christians
perceive salvation. In the movie we learn that humans created machines, the machines eventually rose up against them and the humans lost the war. After the war, all subsequent humans were
born in "The Matrix" which, in the movie, was a simulated reality created by the machines to enslave
the human race and use their bioelectricity for power. Humans remained slaves
until they were unplugged from The Matrix. After being unplugged, their natural bodies were either
located by a ship and rescued or sent to be liquefied and fed to other
enslaved humans.
Now the religious tie I see there is that humans were created
by God from the dust of the earth (Genesis 2:7). Humans had dominion over the
earth but chose sin over obeying God which allowed humans to become slaves to
their sinful nature. Now every human is born into sin and remains in sin until
they are born again of water and Spirit (John 3:5) or they die and their
natural bodies return to the very dust of the earth the first human was formed
from. So in this scenario "The Matrix" represents humans' sinful nature. In the
film we follow the character of Neo who is believed to be "the One". The One is
prophesied by an Oracle to deliver all of mankind from the Matrix. Neo is born
into the Matrix and rescued by the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar and told of his
true identity. He trains to become this savior of mankind. During his
training he is taught that agents are dangerous software programs that patrol
the Matrix and eliminate threats.
Because anyone that was hardwired into the
Matrix was not aware that they were in a simulated world, they could be taken over
by these agents and used as the agents see fit. Neo was also told that not
everyone was ready to be unplugged from the Matrix and that they had to choose
to be freed.
That brings us to our next religious tie. If you haven’t guessed
yet, Neo represents Jesus whose birth was prophesied thousands of years before
he was born. Jesus was born into this world of sin so that he could be our Savior. He was freed from his fleshly body when he died on the cross
and rose again. The agents in the Matrix represent demons/the devil’s army/sometimes
the devil himself who roam about the earth seeking anyone that is
vulnerable, hardwired if you will, to their sin so that he can devour their souls
(1 Peter 5:8). Anyone that has not been born again i.e. freed from the Matrix can be
used as the devil sees fit.
Here is another connection, not every sinner is ready to be delivered from
their sinful nature but have to choose salvation before Jesus can save (unplug)
them to be freed. In the movie the crew of free humans aboard the ship
Nebuchadnezzar could hack into the Matrix and help free other humans that were
still plugged in. The crew represents Christians that have been born again who walk in this sinful world but are not of the world (John 17:14), spreading the gospel of our Savior, Jesus, which can
free anyone that is willing from their sinful nature. Also in the movie we saw
Neo willing to lay down his own life for his friend Morpheus, just as
Jesus actually laid down his life for His friends (John 15:13). Towards the end
of the movie Neo came face to face with agents and he actually died in Matrix. The symbolism is thick in that Neo rose again with more power than ever, defeated the agents and then put the
machines on notice that he would show people a world free of them.
When we look deeply at the Matrix and open our minds to the symbolism that the movie presents, we can see that the movie has Christian themes woven throughout. We all know that Jesus, who Neo represented, died on the cross and He rose with all power in heaven and
in earth (Matthew 28:18). In the book of Revelation, we see that in the
end the devil and his army will be cast into an eternal lake of fire and this
sinful world will pass way and a new world free from sin will be formed
(Revelation 21:1).
I realize that there are many parts of the movie I left out
like they betrayal of Cypher which you could compare to Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Jesus. The big picture that I am trying to convey is that the Matrix has numerous religious, namely Christian motifs that may have been overlooked by the casual viewer or the viewer that is not acquainted with the themes that are interwoven throughout the bible. So for me, this was just an interesting way to illustrate how
the subjects of Christianity and salvation are prevalent in this film and are presented in both subtle and overt ways. More importantly, my question to
you is this: "are you ready to be unplugged from the matrix of sin that you are trapped in?" Jesus is waiting and when you get tired of
being a slave to sin He will set you free. Thanks for reading and God bless.
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