Passion’s controversy
by Shannon Harrison
feature editor

   The Passion of the Christ, which has created controversy all over the nation, had viewers lined up at the doors when it premiered Ash Wednesday and over the weekend grossed more than all other top ten movies combined.
   Some people believe the movie is an anti-Semitic feature in which the Jewish people condemn and persecute Jesus Christ.
   Covering the last hours of Jesus before his death on the cross, the movie begins with the betrayal of Jesus by Judas.
   After his capture, the high priests and townspeople wanting Jesus executed take him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor.
   However, Pilate is hesitant to kill him, but the people insist. Therefore, at the urging of his wife, Pilate washes his hands of the situation and turns    Jesus over to the soldiers for punishment.
   Punished he is. The brutality of what this man endures for the world’s sins is unimaginable.
   Blow after blow, with his blood leaking out of him, Jesus silently suffers the pain.
   When the brutal beating is finished and the soldiers place the crown of thorns on his head, he is led back to Pilate.
   However, the people are not satisfied, and in the end, Jesus is crucified. Throughout the suffering, Jesus, his followers and Mary have flashbacks to different times in his life from his childhood to the Last Supper.
   Jesus knows that he will be betrayed and captured, but he continues his mission in life—to spread the word of God and his love for us.
   Even when tempted by the devil, he never turns his back on God because he knows there is a greater purpose in life: the eternal paradise in Heaven.
   Watching this movie sends a person through many different emotions: anger, sympathy, sadness and above all, gratefulness.
   As you sit there in astonishment, watching this man not only accepting his torture but praying for his torturers, you take a deeper look inside yourself.
   We are alive today and our sins forgiven because he gave up his life for us.
   Yes, the movie is gruesome, but for good reason. People need to know the brutality that one human endured for the sins of others.
   With every swoosh of the whip and every hammer of a nail, a message is sent. The message is simple.
   God gave up his only son’s life because he loves us. What this movie embodies is not so much death, but life … our lives.
   When the movie ended, not one person in the theater moved. Many people have read this story in the Bible, but to see the actuality of it is different.
   The movie impacts people in different ways, but the greatest impact is the love that God has for us and what we do with that love.
   Critics and skeptics abound, but what it really comes down to is faith.
   We all have a right to think how we want, and we either believe or don’t, it is our choice.
   Even for a non-believer, this movie is one to watch. It shows the last day of a man’s life, a man who knows what is coming and instead of running takes the consequences and deals with the pain the best way he can.
   Gibson did not produce The Passion of the Christ to make money, but to let people understand exactly what this man did for us and for us to have a deeper understanding of why we are here.