Speechless. Breathless.

Never before have I left a theater without being able to say a word or even breathe.

The Passion of the Christ is the single most beautiful movie I have ever seen. From the beginning to the end it holds you. You can never look away from the screen. Even during the most violent parts of the movie where blood is being sprayed on the Roman soldiers faces from the brutal beating Jesus is receiving, you cannot look away. You can only cringe. If you try to look away, you cannot.

I left the theater shaking, crying, so emotionally drained I did not know how I was going to make it through the rest of the night. I only knew that what I saw was the greatest film about the end of Jesus’ life ever made. Nothing can compare to this film.

Mel Gibson has my utmost adoration and respect for making this movie. Only a man’s faith and love could produce such a powerful motion picture. Gibson has made an epic so grand that no matter what anyone says about it, positive or negative, it will never, ever prepare you for what you are going to see.

I grew up knowing the story of the passion. I was raised on it. I still was not prepared for what I was about to see. I have never really felt sorry for Judas before, but I do now.

Once the movie gets to the scene where Jesus is tied to the whipping post, the only thought in one’s mind is “how can they do this?”

And then, the pain begins.

Every hit he receives, you feel. It goes straight to the gut.

This is when the tears start to form.

At the point where the nails are driven into his hands, every hammer hit feels like a ton of bricks slamming down on you.

When Jesus took his last breath, I could not breathe. I only cried and attempted to breathe.

The movie does not end here. It ends with a quick scene of the resurrection and then the credits, which I sat through crying until the lights came on.

I fully recommend this movie to everyone, but take a Kleenex or two – you are going to need it.