Everywhere I go, people ask me, “What do you think about Mel Gibson’s new movie?”

It seems appropriate for me to share a few thoughts.

As to the artistic value or cinematic quality of the movie, I will offer no comment whatever. My knowledge is paltry, and so my opinions are uninteresting. I can tell you that I watched the movie in a room fairly well filled with people, including many teenagers. For those two hours and 10 minutes, nobody spoke. Nobody moved. Nobody ate popcorn or drank sodas. Many were weeping.

There have been warnings from some reviewers about anti-Semitism in the movie. If this accusation were true, then Christians should not support the movie. In my opinion, the accusation is not true. Of course, many of the villains in the movie are Jews, but all of the heroes are also Jews. The movie portrays a conflict between Christ and Satan, not a contest between Christians and Jews. You should realize that there are people among us who consider the New Testament itself to be anti-Semitic, and such people will also find this movie to be ant-Semitic. It is not so.

The movie is certainly violent. The title is “The Passion of the Christ,” and passion in this sense means “suffering.” If there were no suffering, there could be no passion. If you go to this movie, expect to see explicit violence.

If you have made the Stations of the Cross part of your Lenten devotions, you will recognize the 14 stations in this movie. They are done every Friday at the Friars’ Bakehouse, beginning at 5:15 p.m. Scenes in the movie that are not derived from the Gospels are derived from this ancient Lenten devotion. The effect of the movie is comparable to the effect of doing the stations.

I am very impressed with the theological content of the movie. The movie makes clear something the Gospels make very clear: Jesus was God Incarnate, Who freely gave His own life to save us from our sin. Mel Gibson’s movie is a portrayal of the mighty power of God’s love to overcome evil. Even more than the suffering of Jesus, we are given a glimpse of His might, working by love. “The Passion of the Christ” shows the victory of love over hatred, over evil, over Satan, and over death.

The Rev. Kevin Holsapple is rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Bangor.