The theme of the
glorification I think is hinted at in many movies at the end when they show the
hero or situation fading into pure light as in ‘Platoon’: the hero in a helicopter fades into the pure light of the
sun as the voice-over submits to seeking goodness; in ‘The Peaceful Warrior’
the master passes away by turning into pure light. But this is pretty remote
from the real thing. The common way the glorification is represented is by the superhuman
feats the hero performs to save humanity; as in the matrix when Neo saves
trinity by hanging on to the cable from a falling helicopter trusting she will
cut it and hang on; or in the Avengers when Iron Man swoops in and carries the atom
bomb into the heart of the enemy ship and thereby saves the world; or when superman
saves several men from certain death when he walks through fire and holds up an
enormous tower while men are saved in a helicopter; and many, many others. This
is glorious because the one has the skill and awareness to perform the feat
that saves the world. The theme of superhuman powers is most like the
glorification when it is combined with the willingness to sacrifice one’s life
for others. But there is much more to the process of the glorification that the
Lord went through and there are only a few movies I know of that depict greater
particulars of the glorification.
A specific way the glorification
process is represented is by the hero having the the power to enter the heart
of the enemies abode when this seems the most impossible thing to do, but by
doing it he destroys the evil forces from within. Superman does this when (he does
what no other man possible could) and enters the power beam from the world
engine that is transforming earth into Kripton. With incredible determination
superman flies up through the heart of the beam - withstanding its massive force,
and begins to move upward. He strains higher and higher into the light until he
reaches the world engine and destroys it. When it is done the captain of the
army is shown saying, “He did it”, which compares to Jesus saying, “It is
finished”. (Similarly in the Matrix when Neo has finally destroyed Smith, the
leader of the Machine world says, “It is done”). In the Bible these words
signify Jesus accomplishing the glorification. Superman is then shown in a
peaceful colorful scene laying down with the rays of the sun on him and he
reaches to the pure light of the sun, which is something many movies do with
the sun. One of the reasons this is so meaningful and powerful is that Jesus is
the divine human in the midst of the spiritual sun in the spiritual world, and
from it provides life for all living things. In the transfiguration and other places the Lord is described as shining like the sun.
Though to a lesser
extent, the new version of ‘The Day the
Earth Stood Still’ exemplifies this theme when ‘the one who can save the world’
(Keanu Reeves) becomes convinced of the goodness in humanity and fights his way
against the swarm into the heart of the alien mothers hip. He is shown fading
into pure light, and the swarm recedes and leaves.
The movie that represents
some of the details of the process of the glorification the greatest is the
Matrix. There are several movies that portray the theme of prophecies about the
one who will deliver the people from darkness. Prophecies are an important part
of the Glorification. In the Matrix the theme of prophecy is essential and well
developed. ‘The one’ is defined by the fact that they are the one who can and
does fulfill the prophecies. Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies told about him
in the Old Testament. Simply put, prophecy is divine truth from God, and He who
fulfills prophecy is from God and as he gradually accomplishes each
fulfillment he comes into oneness with God. The Lords process was not a forgone
conclusion, which is a common misconception; it was an enormous battle and
struggle in doubt from moment to moment. He fulfills all of these in the New
testament gospels, and when he fulfills the last temptation on the cross He
says, “It is finished”, meaning that He made his human body divine and returned
to oneness with the father, which is the culmination of the glorification. In
the first movie Neo’s status as the one is constantly in doubt but he gradually
performs the deeds as no-one but the divine can. His status as the one is confirmed when he resurrects from the dead and has exponentially greater powers then even the agents.
Then at the end of
the trilogy, Neo travels into the heart of the evil realm of the machines. As
he is walking closer to face the power center of the machines, the picture switches
between a realistic view of metal walkways, scrambling insect machines, grey cables
and such – to Neo’s inner vision, which is burning light that depicts perceiving
and entering the internal of all things. He transcends the power of the machines,
and does what they and no-one else can. He gives himself up, and trusting in the truth
he persuades the machines to allow him to do battle with the evil agents by
himself. He has a royal battle with the evil agents, and defeats them by the
power of his light and truth. This represents Jesus decent to hell where he
defeats all evil forces and releases the captives. All of these events are
allegories of the Glorification.
One of the reasons
the matrix is the greatest representation of the glorification is that at the
end of the battle between Neo and the agent the agent presses his hand into Neo
and he is consumed in blackness (hereditary evil). This is the moment Neo was
waiting for: for he then enters the power of hereditary evil that has extension
into everything and defeats it with the greatest power in the universe that he
embodies – Divine love and truth. Neo is then shown in the machine city laying
in the cross position, in pure burning light, and the machine voice says, “It is
finished” just as Jesus says when he has accomplished the glorification. This
corresponds to Jesus purifying his body of all hereditary evil, subjugating
all the forces of evil, and especially expanding his presence infinitely by entering
the natural level of reality, that is, the innermost of all things in all the
universe. In this way they both renewed all things of heaven and earth. Jesus,
by His supreme act of love and skill made His human body divine, merging it
with the divine of God. Neo also did these things by his might alone: he
redeemed all of Zion, and released all the captives that were held so long in the pods.
This release is confirmed at the end of the movie where the Oracle asks the Architect
if he will release all the people in the pods, and he says, “What do you think
I am – Human”.
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