The One: Neo and Jesus

The Matrix is an action packed movie combined with massive amounts of symbolism. Although it may not seem clear, there are many allusions from religious history in this movie. The Matrix is an allegory for Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

            Neo has a lot of similarities with Jesus. Morpheus is highly convinced that Neo is the one. He is the one that is supposed to bring salvation to the people who are suffering in the real world: a treacherous world. An important thing to notice about Neo’s name is that Neo is Greek for “New.” This could possibly that he was meant to bring a New World Order. Another thing to notice is that Neo is an anagram for “one.” This would make sense since he is considered to be the one. In the movie, although, he is referred to Neo, his real name is Thomas A. Anderson. His last name is key. “Ander” is Greek for “Man” while “son” still remains as “son.”    This could translate to “Son of Man”, which is something that Jesus was referred to.

            It was prophesized by the oracle that the One would return to save the people by the Oracle. It was also prophesized that the Son of God would return to free the people. The Oracle had told Neo that it seemed like he was waiting for something, like a 2^nd life. This seems to be foreshadowing the fact that Neo gets shot to death but is then resurrected and scares off the Agents. He even took over one of the agent’s body and exploded his insides. This parallels the resurrection of Jesus Christ as a spirit. Jesus didn’t explode any body like Neo, but the fact that Neo was able to enter another entity, whether it be real or not, helps parallel the resurrection.

            Trinity is the symbol for the Holy Trinity. She represents “The Father, The Son, and the Holy Spirit.”  It is said that one can receive eternal life by the Trinity. This is demonstrated when she declares her love to Neo after he has been shot to death. It was her declaration of love that resurrected him and made him even stronger.  An important symbol to point out is that green is the color of the Holy Trinity. Green is often showed in this movie, especially as the color of the codes for the Matrix.

            Cypher’s character can be easily be compared to Judas. Cypher betrays the Resistance and decides to approach Agent Smith. He decides to sell out the Resistance in exchange for a life of luxury and to continue living in ignorance. Since he found out the truth, he realized and appreciated the fact that some things are better left unsaid. Judas had approached some Priests and traded in Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Some may argue that it also may have been because he thought that Jesus was betraying the country. Even if that was true, it is important to note one thing about both of these: it was destined to happen. Jesus had foreseen the betrayal and if it were not for it, God’s plan would not have been able to play out like it was prophesized. In the Matrix, the Oracle had foreseen that Neo would have to choose between living his life or Morpheus. Were it not for the betrayal, the Oracle’s prophecy would not have been fulfilled and Neo wouldn’t have realized that he was really the one.

            The events in the Matrix parallel the story of Jesus Christ. Besides the points mentioned above, there are little hints here and there. For instance Zion, the hidden city which contained the last free humans, is another name for Jerusalem. The names and actions displayed by each character portray a very modernized version of the messiah.

http://www.matrix-explained.com/symbolism_in_the_matrix.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judas_Iscariot