Plot[edit]

In the late hours of the night at the forested garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ (Caviezel), at the height of his
cause, prays while his disciples Peter, James, and John (James's brother) are asleep. After he wakes them and tells
them to pray, Jesus walks to a secluded portion of the forest wherein during his prayer,  Satan appears in a hooded
ghost-like androgynous, albino form, and tempts him with reasonable doubt, stating, "It is not right for one man to
die for their (humanity's) sins." Ignoring it and praying on, Jesus' sweat turns into blood and drips to the ground
while a serpent emerges from Satan's guise. Jesus hears his disciples call out for him, and he rebukes Satan by
crushing the snake's head with his heel, and Satan vanishes.
Meanwhile, Judas Iscariot, another of Jesus' disciples, having received a bribe of thirty pieces of silver, leads a
group of temple guards to the forest and betrays Jesus (by confirmation of his identity) with a simple kiss on the
cheek. As the armed guards move in to arrest Jesus, a fight erupts wherein Peter draws his dagger and gravely
injures Malchus, one of the guards and a servant of the high priest Caiaphas, by slashing his ear. Jesus, in turn, heals
Malchus' injury while simultaneously reprimanding Peter for his actions. As the disciples flee, the guards secure
Jesus, and beat him during the journey to the Sanhedrin.
John informs Mary, mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene of the arrest, while Peter follows Jesus and his captors at
a distance. Mary begs a passing Roman patrol to intervene but a temple guard assures them that she is unbalanced.
Caiaphas holds trial over the objection of some of the other priests, who are expelled from the court. False
accusations and witnesses are brought against him. When questioned by Caiaphas if he is the  Son of God, Jesus
replies, "I am". A horrified Caiaphas tears his robes in outrage and Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy.
Peter, secretly watching, is confronted by the surrounding mob for being a follower of Jesus, and he angrily denies
this. But after cursing at the mob during the third denial, a sobbing Peter flees after remembering that Jesus had
foretold Peter that he would deny him thrice before the cock will crew thrice (the cock crow is not shown in the
movie). At the same time, a guilt-ridden Judas attempts to return the money he was paid to have Jesus freed, but is
refused by the priests. Tormented by demons, he flees the city and find solitude, eventually hanging himself from a
tree with a halter rope he finds on a decaying donkey corpse by morning.
Caiaphas brings Jesus before Pontius Pilate to be condemned to death, but at the urging of Pilate's wife Claudia,
who knows of Jesus' status as a man of God, and after questioning Jesus and finding no fault, a sympathetic Pilate
transfers him to the court of Herod Antipas, as Jesus is from Antipas' ruling town of Nazareth, Galilee. After Jesus is
again found not guilty and returned, Pilate offers the crowd options for either him to chastise Jesus, or release him.
He then attempts to have Jesus freed by the peoples' choice, between Jesus and a violent criminal Barabbas. To his
anger, the crowd demands to have Barabbas freed and Jesus crucified. In an attempt to appease the moment, Pilate
orders that he simply be flogged but not crucified. Jesus is brutally scourged, abused, and mocked by the Roman
guards until Abenader, their officer, angrily stops them. They take him to a barn where they place a crown of
thorns on his head and falling on their knees, they tease at him saying “Hail, king of the Jews”. One of them hits on
Jesus’ head with a stick. A bruised Jesus is presented before Pilate, but Caiaphas, with the crowds' verbal backing,
continues to demand that Jesus be crucified as an impostor and Barabbas released. Admonished, Pilate washes his
hands, takes no responsibility for the incident, and reluctantly orders Jesus' crucifixion. During the course of
events, Satan observes Jesus' painful sufferings with great interest.
As Jesus labors to carry a heavy wooden cross along the Via Dolorosa to Calvary, a woman avoids the escort of
soldiers and then she requests Jesus to wipe his face with her cloth, to which he contents. After that, she offers
Jesus a pot of water to drink but the guard hurls it away and dispels her. During the journey to Golgotha, Jesus is
beaten and pressed by the guards until the unwilling Simon of Cyrene is forced into carrying the cross with him. At
the end of their journey, with his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene, and others witnessing, Jesus is crucified. The very
act seems to affect the weather conditions of the earth itself.
Hanging from the cross, Jesus prays to God asking forgiveness for the people who tormented him, and
provides salvation to a criminal, who is crucified beside him, for his strong faith and repentance. Succumbing to
impending death, Jesus surrenders his spirit to the Father and dies. A single droplet of rain falls from the sky to the
ground, triggering a sudden earthquake which destroys the temple and rips the veil covering the  Holy of Holies in
two, to the horror of Caiaphas and the other priests. Satan is shown screaming in agonized defeat from the depths
of Hell. Jesus' lifeless body is taken down from the cross, and entombed. In the end, the healed body of Jesus  rises
from the dead and exits the tomb resurrected, with wounded holes visible on his palms.
A depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The
story opens in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot,
the controversial Jesus--who has performed 'miracles' and has publicly announced that he is 'the Son of God'--is
arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem. There, the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with
accusations of blasphemy; subsequently, his trial results with the leaders condemning him to his death. Jesus is
brought before Pontius Pilate, the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, for his sentencing. Pilate listens to the
accusations leveled at Jesus by the Pharisees. Realizing that his own decision will cause him to become embroiled
in a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in deciding the matter of how to persecute Jesus. However, Herod
returns Jesus to Pilate who, in turn, gives the crowd a choice between which prisoner they would rather to see set
free--Jesus, or Barrabas. The crowd chooses to have Barrabas set free. Thus, Jesus is handed over to the Roman
soldiers and is brutally flagellated. Bloody and unrecognizable, he is brought back before Pilate who, once again,
presents him to the thirsty crowd--assuming they will see that Jesus has been punished enough. The crowd,
however, is not satisfied. Thus, Pilate washes his hands of the entire dilemma, ordering his men to do as the crowd
wishes. Whipped and weakened, Jesus is presented with the cross and is ordered to carry it through the streets of
Jerusalem, all the way up to Golgotha. There, more corporal cruelty takes place as Jesus is nailed to the cross--
suffering, he hangs there, left to die. Initially, in his dazed suffering, Jesus is alarmed that he has been abandoned by
God his father. He then beseeches God. At the moment of his death, nature itself over-turns.

Jesus of Nazareth lives in a world that combines Roman rule, Greek thought, and Jewish tradition. He is crucified
because of the conflicts in this melting pot of cultures. Jesus performs miracles, such as raising his friend Lazarus
from the dead. His actions create problems and focus attention on the Jews living under Roman rule. Because
people are putting their faith in Jesus, the Jewish leaders plot his death. Rome conquers Jerusalem in 63 BC. This
results in a 400-year reign of Rome over the Jews and their country. In the beginning, the Jewish people have their
own rulers, but Roman rulers eventually replace them. These Romans oppress the Jewish people, but Jesus of
Nazareth taught love and forgiveness. The Roman rulers decide to stop Jesus because of his increasing popularity.
They plan his death by the horrible method of Roman torture called crucifixion. The word crucifixion translates to
an English word meaning intense pain. Crucifixion was agonizing death on a cross. During the process of
crucifixion, the person walks outside of the city gates. The victim carries his own heavy cross, then is stripped of
his clothes and tied or nailed by his hands and feet to the wooden cross. Modern medical doctors believe that death
by crucifixion causes the muscles in the chest to become paralyzed. Suffocation follows. People begin to doubt that
Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God that scriptures predict. As the doubt grows, people start to turn against Jesus.
During the Jewish Passover, Judas, a disciple, betrays Jesus to the religious leaders. Jesus predicts this will happen,
along with his death. The religious leaders see Jesus as a threat and arrest him because of his teachings. Once Jesus
was under arrest, no one wants the responsibility for his death sentence. He goes before Pilate, then Herod, then
back to Pilate. Pilate eventually gives in and condemns Jesus to death. Jesus is stripped, dressed in a scarlet robe,
and crowned with a circle of thorns. Soldiers humiliate him, then lead him to be crucified. He dies on the cross, and
is placed in a guarded tomb. Three days later he rises, and appears to several people. This is the Easter Story, and
has been celebrated by many of the world’s greatest painters, along with countless believers.

The film starts off in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus Christ is praying after the end of the Last Supper.
While his apostles, Peter, James and John are asleep, Jesus is tempted by Satan. Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus'
apostles, enters along with the temple guards, thereby betraying Jesus. In the act of arresting Jesus, Peter cuts off
Malchus's ear, but however, Jesus heals it. Jesus is, hence, arrested while the apostles run away, though Peter
follows Jesus to some distance. On the other hand, John informs Mary and Mary Magdalene about his arrest. Jesus
is presented before Caiaphas, where he undergoes a trial.  On being questioned whether he is the son of God, pat
comes the reply from Jesus "I AM". This horrifies Caiaphas and Jesus is confronted with accusations of blasphemy,
resulting in a condemnation to death. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate who sends him to the court of Herod
Antipas (Jesus belongs to Herod's ruling town of Nazareth), instead of sentencing him to death. After Jesus' return,
Pilate informs the crowd that Jesus would be first warned and then set free. He gives the crowd to choose from
freeing Jesus or the violent criminal Barabbas. Surprisingly, the crowd opts for Barabbas's freedom.  
Hence, Jesus is scourged brutally and adorned with a crown of thorns. However, the crowd continues to demand for
his crucifixion. Left with no choice, Pilate orders Jesus to be crucified. While carrying the cross from the Via
Dolorosa to Calvary, Veronica wipes his face with her veil. Simon of Cyrene is forced to carry his cross and finally
Jesus is crucified. While hanging from the cross, Jesus prays for forgiving everyone present. After Jesus dies, a
drop of rain falls from the sky, which results in an earthquake that destroys the temple and rips the cloth covering
the Holy of Holies. Jesus is lowered from the cross and laid into Mary's arms. The last scene of the movie
demonstrates Jesus' resurrection on the third day with holes in his hands revealing the victory of good over Satan's
temptation and death.