The Matrix Vs. The Bible
...d with his permission extracts him from the Matrix. Neo now finds himself in a tough, real, existence with a team of ex-hacker types who had a similar experience. This team of hardcore hack into the Matrix mainframe and are inserted into the the Matrix world, where they are attempting to overthrow the machines. Morpheus is convinced that Neo is ‘the one’ the cyber messiah who will lead the people to freedom from the machines. His belief in this theory came from a character in the movie called “The Oracle”. The Oracle foretold the coming of Neo and his destiny to become “The One”. Everything that she has predicted has come to past. Is Neo the messiah? This leads to the religious aspect of the movie. The first movie of the trilogy was released on easter weekend in 1999. As it is well known, Easter is the celebration of Jesus ‘s last supper and his eventual capture by the Romans and the crucifixion of him on the cross. At the time the connection could not be made with the movie but after watching the movie, it correlates. This is not just a coincidence, as most religious films are shown on significant theological days. The protagonist is undoubtedly the “messiah character” (“Religion vs Philosophy). The main character’s Matrix name, Thomas Anderson, has religious history. The name "Thomas" can be linked to "Doubting Thomas", as in one of Jesus’s disciples who doubted Jesus's resurrection until he had proof of it, in that Neo never really believed that he was “The One”. "Anderson" is a play on "Son of Man", where the 'Ander-' finds its origins in the New Testament Greek root 'andros' meaning man. Christ was often referred to as the "Son of Man". "Neo" means "new", which is exactly why Neo was taken to the real world, to change the war against man and human. Put it together and there’s “New Son of Man”. As just for an aside the name Neo is a anagram for “one”. Along with the similarities in the name, Neo also takes on the roles much like Jesus did, i.e. the glow around Jesus when he is resurrected, the virgin birth, sacrificing himself for salvation to the human race, and many others. When Neo is taken out of the Matrix it’s like he is being reborn. He is literally born into the real world from the womb like incubator that he's existed in all his life. The imagery in the movie is even symbolic of a birth, from an enclosed sac , down the chute of the birth canal into the world. No fertilization was required to create Neo, he’s harvested from a crop, creating the illusion that the birth is a virgin like birth. “And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son” (The Student Bible Matt 1:24). The “son” in this case being Neo. When Neo is release from the chute and goes down in the tunnel he splashes into a pool of water, this could connect to being baptized. When being baptized, being dunked into water is involved. Immediately after falling into the “pool” Morpheus’s ship, the “Nebuchadnezzer”, picks him up out of the water. The rebel ship is named after the biblical Nebuchadnezzer, the greatest and most powerful of all the Babylonian kings. His name means, "Nebo, protect the crown!" or the "frontiers." A perfect name for the rebel ship. On this ship are other people released from the Matrix. They believe that Neo is “the one” much like how the Disciples believe Jesus is the “Son of Man.” It would only make sense that if there are disciple-like characters, that there is a traitor or a “Judas” based character among the group. It just so happens that the movie has just that. Cypher, one of the crew members on the Nebuchadnezzer , has been out of the Matrix for quiet some time. He is persuaded by the ‘Agents’ to give up Morpheus’s so they can gain access codes to Zion’s mainframe-Zion is the other name for Jerusalem in the bible-, in return Cypher will be put back into the Matrix where he will have no memory of the past. His reasoning of this is that “ignorance is bliss” (Irwin 113). Here, the Jesus allusion breaks down somewhat in that Neo is not really the target of the betrayal as Jesus was with Judas, but the occurrence leads to Neo’s death and eventual resurrection. The Agents, unaware of Neo's real importance, want Morpheus, Cypher leads Morpheus and the rest of the group into a trap where Morpheus is taken. The most significant and important role that Jesus did in the Bible is that he sacrificed himself for all the sins that man have placed on the earth. "...just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."( The Sudent Bible Matt. 20:28). When Neo makes the decision to go "in" to rescue Morpheus, Neo goes with the full knowledge that he will die as predicted by the Oracle. Previous to this incident, Neo's death & resurrection is predicted by the Oracle during a visit Neo goes to. While there, Neo finds out that he is “The One” but is waiting for something. Neo asks, "What?" And the Oracle replies, "Your next life, maybe!....." With this in mind Neo must protect the Zion mainframe codes, or humanity is lost. With this act, Neo is, in effect, knowingly sacrificing himself to save the rest of humanity. Later, Neo Is killed by the ‘Agents’, and, instead of 3 days, in less than 3 minutes he is resurrected. Knowing that showing the passing of 3 actual days in this situation would've been impossible, how did the movie symbolically represent 3 days? The moment Neo dies, from the ‘Agents’, and comes back to life again, 72 seconds pass. 72 hours equals 3 days. Another way of symbolically representing 3 days, is that Neo dies and is resurrected in a apartment room numbered “303”, any New Testament-savvy audience member who is aware of the numerical significance of the number three in the Gospels can clearly connect the room number to the 3 days that pass when Jesus is resurrected. Upon being resurrected, Neo has a radiant, or glowing, presence much like Jesus is described in the bible. “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.” Up to this point, the Christian religion has been the main topic of comparing to the movie. The Matrix barrows from not only Christian rel...