The Passion of The Christ numbed me, at first. Like many in the theatre, I was slow to move or to think afterwards. I understand those who cried at the end, but I think the emergence of Jesus from the tomb at the end just foreshadowed what was to come. So much of the appreciation of the movie rested on familiarity with scripture. Knowledgeable readers know that he was walking out to a meeting with Mary, where she would mistake him for the gardner and then, in surprise, "Rabboni". We know the environment outside the tomb. We anticipate the fish fry on the beach with the apostles. We anticipate Stephen's doubting. We are primed for the Upper Room and the Pentecost experience. Come, Holy Spirit. The scene to us was fresh with anticipation of the entire creation of the church in Acts.

Help your friends deal with the movie. It is for believers or fallen away Christians.