Spoilery endgame images and text inside. Proceed with caution.
It's been a year since I've last finished Undertale, so this wasn't something that came up on my mind until just recently. After putting some thought into it, more details caught my attention. I don't know if this has been discussed elsewhere (here, on YouTube, etc.), but I'm going to point it out anyway, in case it hasn't been already.
So after you defeat the final boss of the Pacifist route, Asriel uses the power of all the souls to destroy the barrier. He levitates and T-poses as he releases every single soul, and immediately after, the barrier gets shattered and everyone trapped in the underground is now free to come up to the surface:
(I'm gonna start removing spoiler tags from now on, since we're going in-depth on them.)
What strikes me as odd is how much it resembles... well, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The T-pose itself, while maybe not something that could catch your attention right away (given how memefied it has become over the last few years), could be considered as a first, right-of-the-bat indicator.
As you can see above, Frisk and Asriel are in a complete void, lacking any sort of light. When Jesus Christ was dying, something similar occurred: "And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour." -Mark 15:33
There's not a single soul in the Underground that isn't held hostage by Flowey/Asriel once he absorbs them, except for Frisk. (Sure, Napstablook somehow missed the boat, but that's another discussion.) Additionally, Asriel practically sacrifices himself in order to shatter the barrier. Only the power of 7 human souls can get the job done, and since he has no soul of his own, he has to use the ones inside him in order to do it. Once he does, he becomes a flower again. He had the option not to do so, though... After all, he could have kept the souls for himself. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. [...] And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die." - John 12:24, 32-33 (Fun fact: According to the Bible, God doesn't have a soul, since he is Spirit. Only humans have souls.)
Another very important and interesting detail is just how the barrier gets destroyed: it receives a vertical crack that opens up the barrier completely. Right after Jesus died, this happened: "And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." -Mark 15:38 (The veil represents the separation between men and God: "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." -Isaiah 59:2)
As you know, anyone can enter the barrier, but no one can exit. What could this represent? Well, the barrier is the human condition as sinners: "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" -Romans 3:23
The only way that anyone --including Frisk-- could have left the underground and come to the surface, without any monster getting killed in the process, was the way Asriel did it... Or should I say, through Asriel's sacrifice: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." -John 14:6
Basically, God's plan for the salvation of men could be read through Undertale's ending.
What do you guys think?
---
azuarc - Good friend, VGM lover, Guru Champion. I pass my baton on to you!
