About a month after its release and “The Passion of the Christ” is still stirring the hearts of people around the world. Students from the Fellowship of Christian (FCA) at Wapakoneta High School in Wapakoneta, Ohio, said the movie had various scenes that touched them and made the crucifixion more real to them.
"The movie is very intense," Wapakoneta High School junior Rachel Baucher said. There is an advice she picked up after she emptied the two boxes of Kleenex she brought with her into the movie.
"Bring lots and lots of Kleenex. You have to be prepared to see it. If you are a new Christian, it might be hard to see it."
Even to those who were Christian before, the movie translated what they have learned before into something easier to grasp.
"I think it brought it to a different perspective," junior Brittany Hampp said. "You read it, but you don't understand it."
Senior Brandon Ward agreed. "It makes it so real. It's almost like someone was videotaping it," he said. He said since people today live in a "visual society”, the movie was able to this kind of impact.
Ward said he felt his heart moved when Simon of Cyrene said, “I am an innocent man carrying a condemned man’s cross” as he picked up the cross for Jesus not knowing that Jesus was the most innocent person.
Although many felt the portrayal of the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life was realistic, Bill Sammons, the school’s FCA advisor and science teacher, said the movie was a toned-down version of the actual sufferings of Jesus. Sammons said there are references in the Bible to the severity of the tortures Jesus endured and to how Jesus could not even be recognized as a human after his beatings.
What Sammons admired the most about Jesus was how he obeyed even though he had the power to stop the crucifixion.
"It was amazing,” he said. “He was human and had to do this. Any time he could send down hoards of angels to protect him."
