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The Matrix – Neo
Even though Neo begins like someone having his eyes opened to the reality that the world is, like a Christian being born again, the movie portrays Neo becoming an obvious Christ figure. To simplify, he dies, rises again, and thereby lives in total control of the Matrix, unable to be defeated by the Agents of the Machine but able to decode and devour them from the inside out. But if it were that simple, the movie would not be genius, and it is genius.
Neo begins as a pawn of the Machine, like all other humans. So in that case, he is not like Christ, who came from outside this world to teach us about the outside of this world. After being freed by Morpheus, Neo comes from outside whenever he returns to the Matrix, but he is not free of the Matrix when he returns. At least, he is a witness of that which is above and beyond the world of the Matrix as Christ was a witness of the world from which He came.
Neo in Latin means New, and his name spelled differently is One, as in the One. Christ also was the new man, the second Adam, come to build a new kingdom, not like the old. “Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby.” Eph 3:15-16.
After rising from the dead, Neo ascends to heaven at the end of the movie. Part of the genius of the movie is that this supernatural gift of Neo’s is not just to show he’s the One. It’s to show how to escape slavery to the Machine, the world of rules, limitations, disbelief. Neo shows us to endure, even death, and that we will come out the other side of whatever is stopping, hindering, even destroying us. In Neo’s case, it is the greatest enemy of all – death. There is no greater difficulty. All our problems are less than death; therefore, if waiting on God, believing that victory is ours, is what Christ and Neo did, then that is all we need.
Another part of the genius of the movie is the discipleship phase of Neo’s life. Here is what we relate to the most as humans. Neo, according to Morpheus, knows there is something wrong with the world, but he can’t explain it. It’s “like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.” That’s how sin is. You can’t explain why and how you’re not right, nor why and how the world is not right. And you don’t know how to stop being a slave to that world. Jesus said, “He who sins is a slave to sin.”
Neo can’t be told what the Matrix is; he must see it. “Except ye be born again, ye cannot see the kingdom of God.” Jesus’ conversation in John 3 with Nicodemus. And Neo is. He comes out of the womb, seeing the world for what it really is, controlled by something unfriendly, keeping him blind to the truth of the slavery the Machine keeps him in. His new life requires learning new things, most importantly learning how to deal with suffering and fighting with those powers that held him.
His biggest fight is in his mind. In training Neo, Morpheus seeks to “free your mind.” He must let it all go – “fear, doubt, and disbelief.” And anything is possible. Neo’s relationship with Morpheus is subtle but evident; he loves Morpheus for freeing him, for teaching him, for being a fearless man standing for the truth. And this relationship leads to the key to Neo realizing his calling.
The oracle scene is profound. Instead of telling Neo he is the One, she tells him that he’s not ready. She deflates Neo’s inordinate attraction for himself and lets him know there’s someone more important – Morpheus. Based on the Oracle’s foretelling that he would have to make a choice between himself and Morpheus, Neo makes the choice to think of someone other than himself, and that is where his faith and power arise, from his love for Morpheus. Even so Christ did not suffer for the righteous but “in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6. Were we more deserving than Christ? On the contrary, it was the opposite case – we deserving His death, and He deserving life. Yet, he put us first. Thus, love conquered, and Neo’s calling was revealed.