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The
Matrix - A Cyberpunk Parable?
B. THE PARABLE
3.
TRAINING: Conscription, Concepts, and Conditioning
3f. The Enemy
| KEY: |
| M = The Matrix Story |
| S = Spiritual Parallels |
| M. There are enemies in the Matrix. In the real world,
they are nightmarish machines, but they are represented digitally in the Matrix simulation
as humanoid 'Agents'. These Agents, like Neo, are not part of the Matrix either; they are
from 'outside' it, yet can enter it and move powerfully through it. The Agents have two
goals: (1) keep the citizens enslaved in the Matrix so that they can continue to drain
their lives in the machine 'power plant', and (2) eliminate anyone who tries to disrupt
the Matrix to save humanity. |
| S. Christians have supernatural enemies also –
Satan and his demons. (Ephesians 6:12). These wicked forces work within the world system,
wanting all humans to stay in deception and thus be forever separated from God. They
"blind the minds of the unbelieving" (2 Corinthians 4:4) and fight against
anyone trying to reveal the truth to the lost. |
| |
| M. In the training simulation, Neo watches a seductive
lady in a red dress walk by. Morpheus asks Neo, "Were you listening to me,
Neo, or were you looking at the woman in the red dress?" Morpheus tells Neo to
"look again" – and Neo sees that the lady in red has been replaced by an
Agent pointing a gun right between Neo's eyes. Morpheus freezes the scene to explain
Agents to Neo. |
| S. One of the main weapons against a Christian is
temptation, like the seductive woman in red. Morpheus can represent God in this sequence.
"Christian, are you listening to God? Or are you focused on temptation?" When a
Christian gives in to temptation, he is vulnerable and finds that beneath the deceptive
attraction is sin and Satan who wish to destroy his life - a bullet between the eyes, so
to speak. Speaking directly of lust, Proverbs 7:25 warns, "Do not let your heart turn
aside to her ways...her house is a highway to the grave...". We will also see Cypher
yield to the meaty temptations of the enemy, including riches, fame, or as Agent Smith
says, "whatever you want". |
| Neo learns that there are two ways of attacking him:
Straightforwardly (such as Agent Smith's physical assault in the subway or in the
Metacortex office) and deceptively (with temptation, illusion, etc.). |
| |
| M. Morpheus teaches Neo that "if you are not one
of us, you are one of them. ...Anyone we haven't unplugged is potentially an Agent",
because an Agent can "move in and out" of anyone still hooked up to the Matrix.
Thus, Agents are "everyone" and "no one." |
| S. Those who have not believed in Christ are
spiritually vulnerable to Satan and his demons. In addition to blinding and deceiving a
lost person, demons can also manipulate them - even possess them directly in the physical
world. Thus demons can be everyone [inhabit any lost person] and no one [they are not of
this world nor the people in it]. |
| |
| M. Morpheus tells Neo that "every single man or
woman...who has fought an Agent has died. ...Men have emptied entire clips at them and hit
nothing but air." |
| S. This emphasizes the spiritual nature of the battle.
You can't shoot bullets at a spirit. It is also interesting that Satan is called the
"prince of the power of the air" in Ephesians 2:2. To fight spiritual
enemies and their effects with natural abilities is hopeless, for demons are super-natural
in power. A Christian must use the spiritual weapons given by God (the Spirit of God,
prayer, the Word of God, faith, truth, love, righteousness in Christ, etc.) |
| |
| M. Morpheus tells Neo that the Agents have strength and
speed that "are still based in a world that is built on rules. Because of that, they
will never be as strong or as fast as you can be." |
| S. Satan and demons are limited in power; God has
ordained their boundaries. The Christian is indwelt by the Spirit of Almighty God, who has
no boundaries. The Christian must realize that "greater is He [God] who is in you
than he [Satan] who is in the world" (I John 4:4b). |
| |
| M. Neo asks, "Are you trying to tell me that I can
dodge bullets?" Morpheus smiles and says, "No, Neo. I'm trying to tell you that
when you're ready - you won't have to!" |
| S. Neo speaks about two things: Dodging a physical
attack (bullets) and about warring defensively (dodging vs. attacking). A Christian must
learn that the true nature of the battle is not physical, but spiritual. A Christian must
also learn that victory does not consist of dodging or evasion, but of overcoming! |
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