From the first moment I heard about this movie several months 
ago, I knew it was going to be something different.  I wasn't 
wrong. It hasn't only been different it has been a phenomenon 
- well BEFORE it was even released.

One is inclined to wonder why, whenever the name of Jesus 
Christ is mentioned, the name has the power to generate such 
controversy. Over 2000 years later, the name of Jesus still 
stirs up people, especially when the focus is the release of a 
major motion picture depicting the last 12 hours of His life. 

I know why. Those last 12 hours are the reason He came to this 
earth in the first place. He came to redeem us back to God the 
Father by willingly laying down His life for us. By taking the 
punishment we deserve for our sin and thereby granting us a 
pardon from God the Father. Yes, I said He laid down His own 
life. Not one human being on this earth had the power to take 
the life of Jesus. He gave us His life so that we might have 
eternal life in Him. 

You say, but the movie depicts Him being brought up on false 
charges by the Pharisees, and wrongly and savagely beaten and 
scourged by Roman soldiers. As if that wasn't enough to kill 
someone, he was then forced to carry a cross weighing 300 pounds 
up a hill. Granted he had help from Simon of Cyrene, but could 
you have even been able to lift YOURSELF up after enduring such 
torture and carry a 300 pound cross as far as he did ALONE? All 
the while being continually pushed, hit, spat upon, and whipped 
by the soldiers and for what? For humankind. Yes, humans did 
that to Him. However, they could not have, had the power not 
been given to them from God the Father AND Jesus' obedience 
to the Father and willingness to do so.

Some have said this movie is anti-Semitic and they said that 
BEFORE even seeing it. In fact that was said BEFORE the movie 
was even released. Some have said it depicted the Roman soldiers 
as ruthless and brutal. Guess what? The soldiers WERE ruthless 
and brutal.  The whole human race is and can be ruthless and 
brutal. Anti-Semitic? No, it is not. How can I say that? 
Because, first of all Jesus was a Jew. So was His mother. 
So were the apostles and most of His followers. The first 
Christians were Jews.

Some have said that Christians, and I am one, are promoting 
anti-Semitism by supporting and promoting this movie. You see, 
that is just not possible because those who ARE truly Christian, 
cannot be anti anyone. It would be a complete oxymoron to say 
I am a Christian and then be a racist. Anyone who is truly a 
Christian and abides in Jesus Christ will not and cannot be 
against any race.  Like Bill Gallatin, senior pastor of Calvary 
Chapel of the Fingerlakes, NY said, 'there aren't any races 
other than the human race, just different nationalities'. No, 
neither Jews, nor Romans put Jesus on the cross - God the Father 
did and our sin was the reason. Jesus obeyed the Father, and 
willingly laid down His life for us ALL. Why? Because He loves 
us, that's why and He wants us with Him for eternity. He became 
the perfect, sacrificial Lamb who laid down His life for our 
transgressions.

The movie shows Jesus finally making it up that rocky, craggy 
hill to Calvary. He is swollen, torn, and bleeding over his 
entire body. He had already lost massive amounts of blood due 
to the horrendous beating and scourging He endured. He had to 
have been in unbelievable agony and yet He is shown lying down 
on the cross of His own accord. He did not struggle and fight 
as all the others who were crucified. Your reply might be, 'How 
could He, he was already almost dead by then!' Then tell me, if 
that is so, how did He live yet another six hours hanging on a 
cross? He WILLED it, that's how!

Many have said how unbelievably violent this movie is. Hmmm, 
funny thing to be said when most of the movies, video games, and 
television programs coming out these days are extremely violent; 
not to mention Internet content. Such as? Movies: Pulp Fiction, 
Bad Boys II, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Kill Bill, True Romance 
-the list is endless. Video games: Carjacked, Assassins, Hitman, 
to name just a few of the endless supply there. Television: 
Third Watch, NYPD Blue, CSI, etc., and that is just on regular 
channels -   cable and satellite have endless violence, explicit 
sex, etc., and that is okay with most people!

Yes, the movie is violent but I don't think that is why so many 
are coming out of the movie in shock, sobbing, and reeling from 
an experience unlike any other movie they've seen. It is because 
we know in our souls, that our sin caused this horrifying 
torture and death to be necessary. Mel Gibson makes us feel as 
though we are actually in ancient Jerusalem watching this event 
unfold before our very eyes.

Was it bloody? You bet it was - that's the point: the shed blood 
of Jesus for us all.

It may have been extremely difficult to watch, but the ending 
gives us all eternal hope in Jesus Christ.

Will I see this movie again? Yes, but not yet. It's too soon but 
someday, yes I will. 

Does this movie leave people with questions? For those who don't 
know the scriptures, I hope so. I hope so enough that they will 
seek out the answers in the only place they'll find them - the 
Bible.