Up Front Ministries thanks you, Mel

"I have often wondered what it must have been like to be a bystander during those last hours before Jesus' death," Graham said in a statement released from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. "After watching 'The Passion of the Christ,' I feel as if I have actually been there. I was moved to tears. I doubt if there has ever been a more graphic and moving presentation of Jesus' death and resurrection – which Christians believe are the most important events in human history. The film is faithful to the Bible's teaching that we are all responsible for Jesus' death, because we have all sinned," Graham continued. "It is our sins that caused His death, not any particular group. No one who views this film's compelling imagery will ever be the same."

"It is a lifetime of sermons, in one movie."

Gibson came to see the 85-year-old evangelist twice, before and after he screened the film. Graham says he became convinced of Gibson's "deep sincerity and great desire" that the motion picture be used to bring a new emphasis on the events that occurred two millennia ago. Actor Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in the film, reportedly joined in those meetings.

Official website:  www.thepassionofthechrist.com