THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is a vivid depiction of the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life.
A film by Mel Gibson and Icon Production, with James Caviezel and Monica Bellucci

Photo:The Passion of The ChristSometime around the year A.D. 30, in the Roman province of Palestine, an obscure Jewish carpenter named Jesus of Nazareth began to teach publicly and to proclaim the coming of a 'Kingdom of God.' For centuries, the Jewish people had expected the appearance of a promised deliverer known as the Messiah --a figure who would restore their ancient dignity, and free their sacred homeland from all evil and despair. In the minds of many, Jesus appeared to be this Messiah. Surrounded by a core group of twelve disciples, Jesus began to attract a massive following from among the common people of Galilee and Judea, who eventually praised him as their Messiah and King. However, Jesus also had many enemies in Jerusalem. The Sanhedrin, a governing senate composed of the leading Jewish priests and Pharisees, conspired to put Jesus to death.

With the aid of Judas Iscariot, a member of Jesus' own inner circle, the Sanhedrin succeeded in arresting Jesus, handing him over to the Roman secular authorities on unsubstantiated charges of treason against Rome. Although Jesus consistently maintained that his Kingdom was a heavenly and spiritual one, the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, faced with the possibility of a riot, ordered that Jesus be taken outside the city and crucified as a common criminal.

"My wife and I were given the privilege of a pre-release private viewing, along with NI’s press, of the latest portrayal of Jesus Christ’s last days on the earth. Mel Gibson’s much acclaimed, if controversial, The Passion of the Christ, was a very heady and powerful mix of emotion and visual shock.
Whilst I have never had a sanitised personal picture of Christ’s last days, I nonetheless found this film brutal, shocking and graphic beyond my imagination. I cannot in all honesty say that the film added anything to my faith, but I was still challenged to deeply think through once again the events of that last and fateful week of my Saviour’s life. I did so once again in awe of God and with deep deep gratitude for my Salvation - a peace, hope and certainty that cost so much.
May God bless you."

Major Rik Pears
Divisional Commander Ireland

"I think with all the hype surrounding the film I went into the theatre braced for something absolutely gruesome, and although the violence is extreme, it's not the worst film I have ever seen from that point of view. I dare say that many of the people who are finding the Passion shocking haven't witnessed many of the other violent films that have been on the big screen in recent cinematic history and therefore aren't conditioned to the violence.

Undoubtedly it is a powerful piece of work, very moving. Visually it becomes very striking because as Jesus receives punishment after punishment his body is almost completely red with wounds. This makes for good contrast with the flashbacks to his life and ministry where his skin is naturally unblemished. Never before has the crucifixion been made to feel so real than in this film. It stands out against earlier depictions of the crucifixion where Jesus only has the wounds in his hands and feet and talks in a pronounced english accent. The film makers strove to make this real, and whether the violence upsets you or not, this is about as real as it gets.

For me the most moving scene in the film is actually where Jesus is depicted as a carpenter building a table in his younger life, this scene is the most effective in showing him as a likeable, ordinary human being with that divine aspect flowing through him. Whether you believe or not, you can't help but feel that Jesus was the kind of person you'd love to sit down and have lunch with and have a good yarn.

Mel Gibson isn't the best director in the world, but he has now produced his best picture and the debate it has caused can only be a good thing. Good publicity for Gibson too."

Stuart Leathem

"I think it is a film all believing Christians should watch. It brought home to me again the fact that mostly our images of the crucifixion are very sanitised - devoid of any reality. Crucifixion was a horrible, unimaginable way to die, and it is very hard for us today to understand the extent of the suffering it caused. Mel Gibson's film went someway towards helping me to understand, but I felt the beatings and brutality was way over the top. I must admit that my reaction on watching the scourging was that no human being could ever have survived such an horrendous attack. That being said, for me it was an extremely moving film. I thought the flashbacks that showed events in his life very human and the use of the Aramaic and Latin languages enhanced the film for me.


As an evangelical tool I think its use is limited, but as a means of helping our understanding of Christ's suffering and death, I think it is commendable. "

Eileen Askham


"I was not fully aware of the horror that I would witness when I entered into the cinema to view ‘The Passion of the Christ’ yet from my own reading of the scriptures and the many sermons I have heard preached on this subject I knew that the final hours of the Lords life here on earth was ‘not a picnic.’

From the opening scene in the garden of Gethsemane I was gripped by the total horror of the events as they unfolded.

The arrest, the trial, the scourging, the walk along the vea del arosa, the crucifixion itself all revealed again just what the Lord went through on my behalf for my salvation.

I could not say that mine was an emotional response but just a sense of awe of what Jesus endured for me. He has to be Lord and ‘God in Flesh’ for no ordinary man could have endured what was depicted by Mel Gibson’s film and still was able to walk up that hill to Calvary.

As a piece of art (be it Hollywood art) there has not been a more provocative tool for the Church to use coming from this source in my lifetime.

If it achieves nothing else, it gives an opportunity for us to talk again to others about what Jesus actually went through on our behalf.

I was pleased that the film finally depicted the Resurrection of the Christ in its closing scenes showing for us again that Yes Jesus Died on the cross, but He arose on the third day and He now lives for evermore.
Hallelujah!”

Ian McBride
Major