Gods_Kidd
Hey folks. This is an interesting discussion. I would like to add my two pennies:
The Matrix as a whole, to me, is kinda like another way of telling the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are, like everyone’s been saying, Biblical references and innuendos. I would like to break down, with scripture, some of the things that I see in this movie saga.
First of all, the entire Matrix story is a metaphor of the VERY REAL battle between the forces of the Lord and the forces of the enemy. And just like in the movie, it is man who is caught in the middle ground. The battle is between the machines and the forces of Zion (appropriately named) for the souls of man…in the movie, it is for the minds of man (same difference). The machines want humanity as an energy source, in reality, the forces of darkness want man’s soul to smite God. And just like it is in the movie, man is held captive by the enemy through distractions and yokes (the Matrix). God’s word states in Ephesians 6:10-12: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” , (NIV)
Zion---Zion is appropriately named in the movie. It is a metaphor for God’s church. If you noticed in “Reloaded” that every race was represented in Zion. The people acted in love toward one another and lived in harmony. That’s the way it is supposed to be in God’s church. John 13:34-35 states “’A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’” (NIV)
Zion is fighting to get the truth out about the Matix…this is very similar to Jesus’s bride, the church, charge to bring people out of darkness so that they will be saved from the fate of eternal damnation. The famous John 3:16 handles that: “’For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)
Neo---Neo represents two things: a) he is a personification of Jesus the Son of God who came reconcile the rift between God and man that happened in the garden and to set the captives free (Luke 4:18). Remember in M1 where Morpheus tells Neo of the prophesy that there was a man born inside who could do whatever he wanted with the matrix? Remember that he also said that the man disappeared (Luke 24:50-52, Mark 16:19-20) and would come again? Jesus will return again in glory to judge the living and the dead (Revalations 19:11-16)
Neo also represents b) the average Christian. As it was stated earlier in one of the earlier discussions, Neo, like all men at some point, doubt that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit exist. He doubts everything that he cannot touch, taste, hear, smell, or see. When we first meet Neo in M1, he is just this average guy who is trying to find the answer to the question: What is the Matrix? To me, this was like a question about salvation. When Neo meets the others and took the red pill (I thought the symbolism between this and Jesus’s blood was on point) he was taken and this metallic liquid encompassed him after he played with the mirror. To me, he was consumed by the blood of Christ or washed in the waters of Baptism, and was immediately open to a much larger world of knowing the battle between good and evil (knowing God and the truth about the devil). Thus, he was rejected by the world (when he woke up in that tank and grabbed by the machine and flushed into the sewers where he was picked up by the Neb.
Neo’s walk with Morpheus and the others is symbolic of one’s walk with Jesus. He picks up stuff as he goes and his faith is strengthened. When he and Morpheus do the kung fu duel, Morpheus tells him that he has to believe that he can move faster and fight better than the agents. When Morpheus and Neo walk through the construct and into the program with the “woman in the red dress” Neo asks something to the effect of “so what are you telling me? That I’m going to be able to dodge bullets?” And Morpheus replies “I’m telling you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to”. This to me is backed up by Ephesians 6:16 that says:
“Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].” (AMP) If you remember in both movies, Neo put up his hand to stop bullets that were flying at him. Christians with enough faith can do and last through some very trying times. Matthew 17:20 says “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’ “. (NIV)
Another instance of this faith was the testimony from the child that “there is no spoon”. This statement of faith came about through a discussion where the little boy told Neo that trying to bend the spoon was impossible…that he should try to bend himself by remembering that there is no spoon. This correlates, to me, directly to 2Timothy2:3-4 where it talks about a good Christian not getting wrapped up in the things of the world. In order to change situations, you have to pray. Rather than trying to deal with or change a situation in your own strength you should ask God to change your thinking or your reactions to different things so that they will not bother you. You have to engrain His word in you mind and heart so that your thinking will be changed, thus changing you into a different person, thus bending yourself. “Trying to bend the spoon is impossible, only realize the truth. That there is no spoon. Then you’ll realize that it is not the spoon that bends, but only yourself.” This means to me that you have to wait on God to change it.
Morpheus, to me, is like apostle Paul of the New Testament. He knew the truth of the things of God, just as Morpheus knows the truth of the things of the Matrix. In “Reloaded” Morpheus told the citizens of Zion that he was not afraid of the machines because of his “knowing” that the war would end soon. Paul tells his protégé Timothy in 2Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us the spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” (AMP) “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 (KJV)
Just a thought. Jesus reigns supreme…
The Matrix as a whole, to me, is kinda like another way of telling the gospel of Jesus Christ. There are, like everyone’s been saying, Biblical references and innuendos. I would like to break down, with scripture, some of the things that I see in this movie saga.
First of all, the entire Matrix story is a metaphor of the VERY REAL battle between the forces of the Lord and the forces of the enemy. And just like in the movie, it is man who is caught in the middle ground. The battle is between the machines and the forces of Zion (appropriately named) for the souls of man…in the movie, it is for the minds of man (same difference). The machines want humanity as an energy source, in reality, the forces of darkness want man’s soul to smite God. And just like it is in the movie, man is held captive by the enemy through distractions and yokes (the Matrix). God’s word states in Ephesians 6:10-12: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” , (NIV)
Zion---Zion is appropriately named in the movie. It is a metaphor for God’s church. If you noticed in “Reloaded” that every race was represented in Zion. The people acted in love toward one another and lived in harmony. That’s the way it is supposed to be in God’s church. John 13:34-35 states “’A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’” (NIV)
Zion is fighting to get the truth out about the Matix…this is very similar to Jesus’s bride, the church, charge to bring people out of darkness so that they will be saved from the fate of eternal damnation. The famous John 3:16 handles that: “’For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (NIV)
Neo---Neo represents two things: a) he is a personification of Jesus the Son of God who came reconcile the rift between God and man that happened in the garden and to set the captives free (Luke 4:18). Remember in M1 where Morpheus tells Neo of the prophesy that there was a man born inside who could do whatever he wanted with the matrix? Remember that he also said that the man disappeared (Luke 24:50-52, Mark 16:19-20) and would come again? Jesus will return again in glory to judge the living and the dead (Revalations 19:11-16)
Neo also represents b) the average Christian. As it was stated earlier in one of the earlier discussions, Neo, like all men at some point, doubt that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit exist. He doubts everything that he cannot touch, taste, hear, smell, or see. When we first meet Neo in M1, he is just this average guy who is trying to find the answer to the question: What is the Matrix? To me, this was like a question about salvation. When Neo meets the others and took the red pill (I thought the symbolism between this and Jesus’s blood was on point) he was taken and this metallic liquid encompassed him after he played with the mirror. To me, he was consumed by the blood of Christ or washed in the waters of Baptism, and was immediately open to a much larger world of knowing the battle between good and evil (knowing God and the truth about the devil). Thus, he was rejected by the world (when he woke up in that tank and grabbed by the machine and flushed into the sewers where he was picked up by the Neb.
Neo’s walk with Morpheus and the others is symbolic of one’s walk with Jesus. He picks up stuff as he goes and his faith is strengthened. When he and Morpheus do the kung fu duel, Morpheus tells him that he has to believe that he can move faster and fight better than the agents. When Morpheus and Neo walk through the construct and into the program with the “woman in the red dress” Neo asks something to the effect of “so what are you telling me? That I’m going to be able to dodge bullets?” And Morpheus replies “I’m telling you that when you’re ready, you won’t have to”. This to me is backed up by Ephesians 6:16 that says:
“Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].” (AMP) If you remember in both movies, Neo put up his hand to stop bullets that were flying at him. Christians with enough faith can do and last through some very trying times. Matthew 17:20 says “…I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.’ “. (NIV)
Another instance of this faith was the testimony from the child that “there is no spoon”. This statement of faith came about through a discussion where the little boy told Neo that trying to bend the spoon was impossible…that he should try to bend himself by remembering that there is no spoon. This correlates, to me, directly to 2Timothy2:3-4 where it talks about a good Christian not getting wrapped up in the things of the world. In order to change situations, you have to pray. Rather than trying to deal with or change a situation in your own strength you should ask God to change your thinking or your reactions to different things so that they will not bother you. You have to engrain His word in you mind and heart so that your thinking will be changed, thus changing you into a different person, thus bending yourself. “Trying to bend the spoon is impossible, only realize the truth. That there is no spoon. Then you’ll realize that it is not the spoon that bends, but only yourself.” This means to me that you have to wait on God to change it.
Morpheus, to me, is like apostle Paul of the New Testament. He knew the truth of the things of God, just as Morpheus knows the truth of the things of the Matrix. In “Reloaded” Morpheus told the citizens of Zion that he was not afraid of the machines because of his “knowing” that the war would end soon. Paul tells his protégé Timothy in 2Timothy 1:7 “For God did not give us the spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” (AMP) “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 (KJV)
Just a thought. Jesus reigns supreme…