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Despite rough edges, Gibson is a passionate believer who has truly been changed by the Cross. He has built his own chapel in Malibu, California, called Holy Family. And several of his films of the last decade—Man Without a Face (1993), We Were Soldiers (2002), and Signs—have had a spiritual focus.

In interviews, the 48-year-old star has connected his faith journey over the last 12 years with leading him to make The Passion of the Christ. Gibson says as a young adult, he grew distant from God. When he was 35, he had a crisis of faith and no longer knew what he was living for. "I got to a desperate place," Gibson told The New Yorker. "And I just hit my knees. I had to use [Christ's] wounds to heal my wounds."

Gibson became obsessed with what the Incarnation meant for him personally. For years, he intensely meditated on Jesus' crucifixion. He told The Sydney Morning Herald that "a closer investigation of the gospels, of the story, of the whole piece, was demanded of me."

One of the questions that seems to drive Gibson is why God would care for unworthy men—let alone send His Son to die for them. "For some reason, we're important in this thing," he told The New Yorker. "We're a bunch of … idiots and failures and creeps. But we're called to the divine; we're called to be better than our nature would have us be. I don't understand it."

Gibson says he felt led by God to make The Passion of the Christ. He also hopes it will change lives. But perhaps the film can best be seen as Gibson's very personal effort to better grasp the Incarnation and Crucifixion. "What I am seeking is a deeper understanding of this event," Gibson told EWTN's The World Over Live. "One of my gifts is one of imagery. So I began to imagine: What was this like really?"

As evidenced by his Oscar-winning directorial debut with 1999's Braveheart, another one of Gibson's gifts is depicting graphic brutality. This could also be the means by which he best comprehends. Therefore, it makes sense that in an attempt to better understand the Crucifixion, he would focus on its violence. He feels no Jesus film has yet to properly capture the delicate balance between the horror and beauty of Christ's sacrifice. Gibson didn't want an ethereal depiction; he wanted to transport viewers to the foot of the cross.

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