There is no spoon:
The Matrix Revisited
Alden Swan  

Yeah, I know… just what you want to read, one more commentary on The Matrix. I too, have heard more than my share about the obvious parallels to the gospel--which by the way--I was never very impressed with. The movie is full of obvious gospel rip-offs, mixed in with a variety of concepts from a few other religions as well as a couple of fairy tales. Christian themes found in the movie include a messianic prophecy, names like Trinity and Zion, a people in need of saving, and of course Neo the Christ-figure (he’s even referred to in the opening scene by his late-night visitor as "my own personal Jesus Christ"). Then you’ve got Cipher, the "Judas" character. But it’s all too obvious, and in my opinion that imagery falls short in far too many areas.

But, for whatever reason, a few months ago I decided to give The Matrix another watch--then I watched it again. Maybe I am just slow and the rest of you had picked up on this all along, but I discovered another layer of allegory in the movie that captured me to the extent that I actually went out and bought my own copy.

For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, here is a quick overview: the world as we know it is one big sinister virtual reality program (i.e. the Matrix), and Neo is thought to be "the one" who was prophesied to defeat the system. The problem is, he doesn’t believe it himself. Obviously, we have problems here in relating this to the gospel, unless you’re one of those "Jesus Project" people.

But as I watched the movie, slowly it dawned on me that a more true Christian parallel is that Neo is not the savior, Neo is an overcomer--he is one of us. He has spent his life looking for answers because he could sense that something was wrong with the world. When faced with reality, at first he wants no part of it, but by then has no choice. He doesn’t like it, but as Peter phrased it, "where else would I go?" And like Joel’s prophetic end-time army (there’s your prophetic parallel), he becomes empowered to defeat the substantial but limited power of the enemy.

The story of Neo could be any one of us. After failing in the jump simulation, an analogous situation to Peter's walk on the water, you could imagine a voice asking, "Neo, where is your faith?" Slowly we see Neo grow, not because he is told that he is "the one," but rather because of his struggle with doubt and the challenges placed before him. By walking in faith, as it were, he risks his life for another, and then we see an amazing thing happen. I love to watch the scene where Neo begins to truly understand who he is, not merely as the subject of a prophecy, but as a human whose real existence is outside the parameters of the Matrix. At that point, he can see what is real and what is not, Neo can now move mountains.

So what's the point?

Have you ever noticed that whenever Jesus scolded his disciples for not having enough faith, it was in the context of them not understanding what he had been telling them about the Kingdom? It was not that they weren’t buying what Jesus was telling them. They were trying--they just didn’t get it. How much harder do we have it today? We have created a worldview, which has all but destroyed the ability to even imagine a world, which is outside of our immediate touch or sight.

We live in a world that is temporary; in a sense, it is not as real as the eternal world. We have been told not to store up treasures here, but in the eternal. We are told that if we had just a little bit of faith, if we only had a small understanding of the reality of God’s Kingdom and who we were, we could move mountains. In The Matrix, Neo asks Morpheus if he will be able to dodge bullets. Morpheus responds that when he is ready, "…you won’t have to." In a similar fashion, we too have been told that we will tread on scorpions; that the weapons of our warfare are not of this world.

Jesus tried to model for us the reality of the Kingdom as opposed to the tentative reality of this world by healing incurable diseases, casting out demons and raising the dead. He bent the laws of science and mathematics by stopping storms and multiplying fish and bread. But still, the reality of this world is too strong for most of us. We fail to grasp the obvious--that some of the laws of this world can be bent, and others can be broken. If we only understood the true reality of the Kingdom, the walls around us would bend as we flex our spiritual muscles, and the world could not hold us.

The parallels in The Matrix all break down at some point, and I am not suggesting that any of these analogies are perfect. For example, in The Matrix the real world is a cold, dark, desolate place that is itself in need of saving. Our real world is just the opposite. Furthermore, our power is not just in the ability to believe that "there is no spoon." Our power is in the belief of the true "one" who is the only one who can truly free our minds.

The parallels of The Matrix can serve as wonderful springboards for contemplating our life in the temporal world, as citizens of the "already, but not yet" Kingdom. This is the power of allegory: it is its ability to remove us from the world we can see with our eyes, so that hopefully we can see with our spirit. The Matrix has done that for me. I wonder if the producers of the movie have any idea of how the true "One" can speak through their work.

What is the Matrix? Morpheus describes it to Neo as, "the world that has been pulled over our eyes to blind us from the truth." What is our "Matrix?" I think of the parable of the sower where Jesus defined the thorns as "the cares of this world and the deceit of wealth." Do we believe too much in the reality, and the concerns, of this world? Lately, I have been praying something, which may seem trite, or possibly unspiritual to some. But I think that God understands my meaning, which is what really matters. So for the moment, I will probably continue to pray, "Lord, show us the matrix." 

© 2002 Alden swan, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction of this article, in whole or in part, is expressly forbidden without prior written permission, used by permission. www.smallvoices.net  

Editors Note: 5/27/03 I just watched the sequel Matrix Reloaded, and while I'm still ruminating on it, it seems like a sell out for cash including some sex and nudity.
Therefore I won't recommend it, however if you have discovered some hidden redeeming value that I've missed, please let me know. R. Cody Smith
Ditto for Matrix Revolutions...

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