For what it's worth, as an atheist watching The Last Temptation of Christ, it was the first time Jesus felt like a real presence, a man or a demigod or however he would be classified. The idea of his sacrifice meant nothing to me, and I still don't consider it relevant to my life, but Martin Scorsese adapting Kazantzakis's novel brought emotional weight to Christ and true gravity to his mission in a way that this godless heathen could understand.
I got none of that from The Passion of the Christ. Jesus seems like a nice enough guy. I hate to see him shredded to bloody pieces, but Mel Gibson doesn't imbue his suffering with any real meaning, except it's a shame the genius who invented chairs had to go through all that.