Jesus and The Matrix: Free Your Mind?

How Can We Free Our Minds?

How can we free our minds when there is nothing we can do to liberate ourselves from the matrix of sin, death, and destruction? The realization of this perspective along with the accompanying perception that Jesus alone can free our minds, souls, and bodies is transformational to our well-being. In what follows, I will reflect upon this theme while also considering some of the themes in the film, The Matrix.

This is the fifth post in a series that reflects upon theological themes in dialogue with pop culture in the form of films. The others in order of appearance were: “The Book of Eli: Taking the Bible Seriously in Dystopia”; “Prometheus Unbound: Finding Direction Home”; “The Biblical Crisis & The Batman: Tragedy and Hope”; and “Blast Off with Interstellar: The Cosmic Force of God’s Love.” The five posts in order, including this one, highlight the biblical canon as a core foundation for theological inquiry, creation as the source of life, the crisis of the fall into sin and its aftermath, God’s covenant operations in caring for humanity, and Christ who is the savior of the world.

The Matrix: A Modern Classic

The Matrix is a modern classic film about a computer programmer, Neo, who awakens to his messianic role in defeating the matrix. “What is the matrix?” Neo asks. The answer that his guide named Morpheus provides is: “The matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.” The truth that the matrix blinds humans to is that AI controls the world and that humans are viewed as a “disease” destroying the planet. In contrast, these very AI sentient programs are the “cure.” The AI forces sedate humans so that they live in a dream world, blind to their oppression, while the matrix harvests humans’ bodies as an energy resource. (Check out this trailer).

AI and the System of Bondage in the Bible

Some of us might find this science-fiction thriller to be otherworldly. However, others see it as issuing a prophetic warning about the dangers of AI. Here it is worth noting that even entrepreneur and engineer Elon Musk once issued a strong warning about the dangers AI poses for humanity: “Hope we’re not just the biological boot loader for digital superintelligence. Unfortunately, that is increasingly probable.” In his estimation, AI is “potentially more dangerous than nukes.” (See James Vincent’s article, “Elon Musk says artificial intelligence is ‘more dangerous than nukes,’” The Independent, August 5th, 2014)

This post does not aim to feature the possible negatives and possible positives, or to resolve the debate over AI. What the post does highlight is the biblical warning that there is something equivalent going on to what we find in The Matrix. Biblically speaking, there exists a system that has blinded us to the truth. The truth is that we are in bondage to the disease of sin, evil, and death, and that we hardly recognize and seldom take it to heart. And yet, God promises to cleanse our hearts and clean our minds so we can love, see, and live freely.

Neo and Jesus

Since this post features Christ, it is worth noting that Neo in The Matrix was slow to realize his messianic status. Moreover, Neo had to experience the liberation of consciousness. As Morpheus exhorts Neo, “Free your mind.”

Jesus, on the other hand, had a keen sense of his mission as the Savior of the world and never doubted his singular identity and calling to redeem us from the curse of the fall into sin (Genesis 3). Even when Satan sought to undermine Jesus’ profound awareness of his identity and relationship with God in the wilderness, he did not waiver (Luke 4:1-13). What a striking contrast to Israel who wandered aimlessly in the wilderness, and humanity as a whole that has also wandered far from God’s home.

Further to what was said above regarding Jesus’ secure identity, we find that as soon as he triumphed over Satan in the wilderness, he set out to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the region. Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God as dawning and eventually being consummated in his person by the Spirit. Let’s consider the following passage of Scripture in Luke 4:

There is no sense in which he who preached was later transformed by the community of faith to be the one who was preached. Nor is it the case that Jesus had to free his mind as Neo did to realize his messianic state. Jesus was fully cognizant that the Spirit of the Lord was on him in a very unique sense and for a singular mission. The Messianic age had dawned in Jesus’ person.

The Disease: Humanity or Sin?

Contrary to AI’s claim in The Matrix, humanity is not the disease, but rather sin which emerged in the Garden of Eden is. What is the cure? Jesus came to identify fully with us in our human estate to reverse the curse and corruption of humanity that emerged in that garden paradise ages ago. Rather than lift himself to the place of God in his human estate by taking from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, like Adam and Eve did, Jesus who was already enlightened realized that true knowledge and freedom comes through obedience. And so, he was lifted on that cross hewn from the tree in submission to God’s will.

St. Athanasius on Corruption and Transformation

St. Athanasius addresses this subject well in On the Incarnation. Jesus reverses the curse and undoes the corruption by dying to himself in his human estate and rising to new life with God: “For the Word, realizing that in no other way would the corruption of human beings be undone except, simply, by dying, yet being immortal and the Son of the Father of the Word was not able to die, for this reason he takes to himself a body capable of death, in order that it, participating in the Word who is above all, might be sufficient for death on behalf of all, and through the indwelling Word would remain incorruptible, and so corruption might henceforth cease from all by the grace of the resurrection.” We find in the New Testament that Jesus’ entire life, passion, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension are what provide the cure for sin.

Jesus and the Cross: Dying to Ourselves

In view of Jesus, we must look to God to free our hearts and minds from the matrix. We must look to God to liberate us from bondage to sin, evil, and death. Through dependence and trust in Jesus, and dying to ourselves rather than try to elevate ourselves to God’s place as Adam and Eve tried to do in the Garden, we experience liberation. We must die to ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow him, as Jesus declares:

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26; NIV)

In the end, we who deny ourselves and take up our crosses (rather than take matters into our own hands to elevate ourselves to God’s place) will not be disappointed.

True Freedom: Partakers of the Divine Nature

Interestingly enough, we will experience the very thing we desired in the first place, namely, to be like God and to experience true freedom. However, this time around it will be on God’s terms and completely God’s initiative. In other words, we are made partakers of God’s nature by grace. (2 Peter 1:4) Or as Athanasius wrote in On the Incarnation, “Christ was made man that we might be made God.”

Neo never destroyed the matrix, nor can we. However, Jesus has begun the work of dismantling it. At the end of time, he will completely demolish the matrix. Moreover, if we will allow him, God in Jesus by the power of the Spirit will free our souls, bodies, and minds and make us partakers of the divine nature. What are we waiting for? Lord, free our minds!