The Matrix: Neo As Representation Of Jesus

In the movie the matrix Neo is represented as Jesus in the movie. This connection is formed as Neo also Thomas Anderson refers to the Doubting Thomas of the gospels, as well as this reference Anderson means ‘ son of man’ which Jesus uses to refer to himself.

Thomas Anderson also goes by his hacker alias Neo. Neo is an anagram for one, in the movie the term one is used to refer to the one who will be able to destroy the machines and free the millions of sleeping people. In this way, he is the saviour of mankind like Jesus was, also being referred to as Jesus one many such as the first scene when Neo hands over a disk over to a caller and refers to him as ‘You’re my saviour, man. My own personal Jesus

Christ.’ and also by Cyper ‘Jesus! What a mind job! So you’re here to save the world.’

Neo also dies but then rises again, this portrays the idea of resurrection. The idea of Neo’s resurrection directly ties in with Christianity, as the story of Jesus’s resurrection. The resurrection completes the analysis of Neo as a Jesus figure.

There is no God or God figure in The Matrix. This is one of the ways that The Matrix is not titled as a Christian movie as it does not go with the traditional beliefs of Christians. As a result of there being no God in any way there is no way that people were saved by believing in God. This is one of the major reasons that people argue that The Matrix is not a Christian movie, though it does have many other aspects of Christain beliefs.

There are many Christain symbols and references in The Matrix. Some of the obvious symbols are the last city, Zion, which is a reference to the holy city of Jerusalem and Trinity to the Trinity of Christianity. Others are small details often unnoticed like the number plates in the movie and that Morpheus’s ship that refers to lines of the bible. Nebuchadnezzar bears the inscription ‘Mark III No. 11,’ which refers to the bible line ‘Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God,” as well as the number plates of agent Smiths car which reads Isaiah, 54:16, “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into the flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who created the destroyer to work havoc;” and Trinity and Morpheus’s car which quotes Daniel 2:03, “I have a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”

There is also a traitor named Cypher which sounds like Lucifer (the devil). There is also the oracle’s prophecy, which refers to the Old Testament where the Jews believed the “One” will free their people from the oppressors and establish a new “Zion” or Jerusalem.

There are some differences between Christain beliefs and The Matrix. Jesus is believed to have been sinless who brings salvation to humans from their state of sin through his own freely chosen. Neo on the other hand Neo was certainly not sinless as he kills many people in the movie. He also doesn’t save anybody from there sin’s, but instead releases people from ignorance and illusion. This is in no way a metaphor for Christian salvation. Nor does Neo save humanity through a specifical death and there is also no god or any god-figure within The Matrix.