Spirituality

How to pray

Lives

People changed

Creativity

Inspired invention

Mel Gibson’s Passion movie

The Passion of the Christ

It's been called "the most controversial film of the century" and has, like Jesus himself, drawn big crowds and raised lots of questions. These pages give you an opportunity to get close enough to the man at the centre of it all to ask some personal questions. Such as: why did Jesus suffer and die? What was his life all about? What difference does it make?

Mel Gibsons The Passion of the Christ

The backstory

‘The Passion’, for all its intensity, marks only a few hours in the life Jesus. Each of the flashbacks in the movie are windows onto some of the context, that made the execution of one man an event which continues to shape history.

Click on any of these examples for more of the stories beneath the story.

The woman caught in adultery

The story of Veronica

The woman caught in adultery – Jesus is faced with an impossible choice. Have mercy on a woman facing execution or stand by the rules and favour the pious hypocrites accusing her. What to do?

The story of Veronica – a woman braves the Roman guards to mop blood from Jesus’ face. But who is this woman and why has that cloth been the subject of conspiracy theories for centuries?

Herod wants miracles

Last Supper

Herod wants a miracle – is this a clash of kings? A clash of power? And who is this ragged preacher anyway? Is he a revolutionary... a seer... an all round family entertainer – or a threat to every institution on earth?

The last supper – the night before he died, Jesus hired a room and had supper with his friends. What is it about this meal that has made it the most famous supper in history and the central act of worship for millions?

Jesus' humanity

The Devil

The humanity of Jesus – he must be the most famous person ever to have lived, so how is it that we know next to nothing about more than 20 years ofJesus' life? What was he really like, at home with his sandals off?

Jesus and the Devil – who the devil is that pale guy with the hood skulking in the background? Eveyone’s always just a tiny bit fascinated by the evil one, but, why does he feature so prominently in Jesus’ life story?