Gibson: 'Passion' About 'Faith, Hope, Love'

Feb. 14 -- Critics fear Mel Gibson's upcoming film, The Passion of the Christ, could be a too-bloody retelling of Jesus' final hours, and potentially could stoke the fires of anti-Semitism.

But Gibson tells Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview — airing Monday at 10 p.m. ET on ABCNEWS' Primetime — that those who accuse him, or the film he directed, of sparking anti-Semitism avoid the central point he hoped to make.

"I don't want people to make it about the blame game," Gibson says. "It's about faith, hope, love and forgiveness. That's what this film is about. It's about Christ's sacrifice."

‘Height of Spiritual Bankruptcy’

Gibson tells Sawyer that ultimately he was moved to depict Jesus' sacrifice on film after reaching "the height of spiritual bankruptcy" himself more than a decade ago. Things got so bad that he says he once contemplated hurling himself out a window.

Instead, he turned to the Bible.

"I think I just hit my knees," Gibson says. "I just said, 'Help.' You know? And then, I began to meditate on it, and that's in the Gospel. I read all those again. I remember reading bits of them when I was younger."

"Pain is the precursor to change, which is great," Gibson says. "That's the good news."

Gibson's renewed faith will be on display for moviegoers to see starting Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday, when The Passion, his Aramaic- and Latin-language film depicting the final 12 hours of Jesus' life, debuts in theaters.

Gibson insists on Primetime he is no anti-Semite, and that anti-Semitism is "un-Christian" and a sin that "goes against the tenets of my faith."

When asked who killed Jesus, Gibson says, "The big answer is, we all did. I'll be the first in the culpability stakes here."

Critics have worried the movie's depiction of the Jewish role in the death of Jesus could encourage anti-Semitism. But Gibson tells Sawyer he simply tried his best to interpret the Gospels in The Passion of the Christ.