Jesus of Nazareth: This is your Life!
Peter Weatherby
Explanation
This activity was spread over two lessons as the culmination of a module on the Life of Jesus of Nazareth with a Year Seven mixed ability class in a Catholic School. The Catholic background of the pupils meant that there was already a high degree of familiarity with stories about Jesus.
In the course of lessons we covered the Temptation of Jesus, the Apostles, a Miracle (Feeding of the 5,000), a Parable (the Good Samaritan), and the Passion (including the Stations of the Cross).
The aim of this activity was to build upon work already done; to empathise with characters in Jesus’ story, to understand the importance of Jesus to Christian believers and also to evaluate some alternative interpretations of his life.
Lesson One
In the first lesson the pupils were asked to prepare for the following lesson which would be like a television programme: Jesus of Nazareth, This is Your Life! Each pupil was given a piece of paper with brief directions and a pen portrait of the character who they were asked to play. Each character (with just one exception) had a Bible text associated with him or her. Each pupil was asked to find and read the reference and, with the help of the pen-portrait, draft out what they would say in the television programme. In pairs pupils practised their parts. I took in books at the end of the lesson, to check on the accuracy of what was written.
Lesson Two
In the second lesson the furniture in the room was rearranged into a circle and the guests mingled, speaking to one another about how they knew Jesus and what he meant to them. Then our visitor, Mr Hogbin, was surprised to be handed a red book and be told that he was Jesus of Nazareth. The teacher acted as Michael Aspel, and, in turn, the pupils acted out their parts. At the end of the programme there was a discussion about the activity. With a short break in the middle of the programme (for advertisements!) the activity took about 40 minutes. The lesson concluded with a worksheet activity.
Resources
Each pupil needed his/her exercise book and a New Testament for the first lesson. They were also given a sheet about their character. Each sheet had the following words:
Then there followed the pen-portraits. I list these now..
1. Andrew
Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter. He was a fisherman in the Sea of Galilee. Jesus called him to follow him, and chose him to be one of the twelve apostles.
Like the other apostles, Andrew heard Jesus teach, he saw miracles take place and he ran away when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was afraid after the death of Jesus, and Jesus appeared to him when he rose from the dead.
Andrew was at the Wedding in Cana, when Jesus turned the water into wine.
2. James
James was the elder brother of John and the son of Zebedee. He was a fisherman, who Jesus called to become one the twelve apostles. He was perhaps a bit hot-headed, because Jesus called him and his brother ‘Sons of Thunder’. James, John and Peter were often with Jesus on special occasions when the other apostles were not present.
Like the other apostles, John heard Jesus teach, he saw miracles take place and he ran away when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was afraid after the death of Jesus, and Jesus appeared to him when he rose from the dead.
James was at the Last Supper, when Jesus took the bread and wine and said ‘This is my Body’ and ‘This is my Blood’ and told them to do this same service to remember Jesus.
See Mark 14:22-25
3. John
John was the younger brother of James the son of Zebedee. He was a fisherman, who Jesus called to become one the twelve apostles. He was perhaps a bit hot-headed, because Jesus called him and his brother ‘Sons of Thunder’. James, John and Peter were often with Jesus on special occasions when the other apostles were not present.
Like the other apostles, John heard Jesus teach, he saw miracles take place and he ran away when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was afraid after the death of Jesus, and Jesus appeared to him when he rose from the dead.
When Jesus was crucified, John was therewith Jesus’ Mother, Mary. In Saint John’s Gospel, John is called ‘the disciple who Jesus loved’.
See John 19:25-27
4. Peter
Like the other apostles, Peter heard Jesus teach, he saw miracles take place and he ran away when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was afraid after the death of Jesus, and Jesus appeared to him when he rose from the dead.
Peter told Jesus that he believed he was the Messiah, the Son of God, but also, after Jesus was arrested, Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times (just as Jesus had predicted).
See John 18:15-27
5. Blind Man
As Jesus was on the road near to Jericho there was a blind man by the side of the road who was begging. When he realised Jesus was passing by, he called out to him. Jesus healed hi sight and the man followed Jesus.
See Luke 18:35-43
6. Boy (at the feeding of the 5,000)
When Jesus wanted to fee the crowd of 5,000, the only food which they could find was five loaves and two fishes which a little boy had. This body gave up his food so that Jesus could work this miracle.
See John 6:1-15
7. Good thief
When Jesus was hanging on the cross, two others hung there with him. When one of them mocked Jesus, the other argued with him, and said that Jesus had done nothing wrong: he did not deserve to die. He said to Jesus
: ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’, and Jesus replied ‘Today you will be with me in paradise’.
See Luke 23:39-43
8. Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph was probably a member of the Jewish Council, and a rich man. When Jesus died, there was nowhere for him to be buried, so kindly Joseph allowed a tomb of his to be used.
See Luke 23:50-54
9. The Man who was paralysed
The paralysed man was carried by four of his friends to see Jesus. Because of the crowd, they opened up the roof of the house and lowered the man down to Jesus. Jesus healed the man.
See Mark 2:1-12
10.Lawyer
Many lawyers came to Jesus, asking him to explain the Jewish religious law and answer questions, such as which laws are the most important and how people would treat one another . One lawyer came to Jesus and asked him which the most important laws were. Jesus said to Love God and Love your Neighbour. The Lawyer asked Jesus who his neighbour is. Jesus answered the question by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan.
See Luke 10:25-37
11. Jairus
Jairus was an important person in the local synagogue and his daughter was very ill. He asked Jesus to come to her, but Jesus was delayed, and by the time he got there the girl was dead. Jesus told the people to stop crying. He went in and told her to get up - she did!
See Luke 8:40-42,49-56
12. Mary, Mother of Jesus
Mary gave birth to Jesus and brought him up. The angel told her that she was chose to have the baby Jesus. We don’t here a lot about Mary in the Gospels, but we do know that she was standing at the foot of the cross when he died.
See Luke 1:26-38
13. Mary, Sister of Lazarus
Mary was the sister of Lazarus and Martha. They lived in Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. Jesus stayed therefrom time to time.
On one occasion Lazarus was taken ill, and before Jesus could get there, Lazarus died and was laid in the tomb. Jesus was very upset, but he went to the tomb and called Lazarus out. The dead man walked out of the tomb.
See John 11:17-34
14. Mary Magdalen
Mary Magdalen was one of the many women who were followers of Jesus. She had been a prostitute, but she changed her way of life to follow Jesus.
After he had died, she went to the garden to visit his tomb. She found the tomb was empty. Very upset, she met a man in the garden who at first she thought was a gardener. She asked where he had put Jesus’ body, but when he spoke to her, she realised that this was Jesus and he had risen from the dead.
See John 20:11-18
15. Matthew
Matthew (also called Levi) had been a tax collector before he came to follow Jesus.
Like the other apostles, Matthew heard Jesus teach, he saw miracles take place and he ran away when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was afraid after the death of Jesus, and Jesus appeared to him when he rose from the dead.
Matthew was there when Jesus taught all his followers the prayer which we call the Lord’s Prayer.
See Matthew 6:7-15
16. Member of the Crowd (5,000)
When Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 there were, of course, many people there. This person was amazed by what happened. He or she thought it was wonderful.
See John 6:1-5
17. Member of the Crowd (5,000)
When Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 there were, of course, many people there. This person was not sure how to explain what happened. He or she thought it was some kind of trick, or could be explained in some ordinary way.
See John 6:1-5
18. Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate was Roman Governor of Palestine. He didn’t really understand Jesus, and he didn’t want to have him crucified, but he was persuaded to by the Jewish leaders and by the crowd.
See Mark 15:1-5
19. Rich Young Man
The Rich Young Man asked what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. When the man said he had done this, Jesus told him that he should sell everything he had. This was too much for him, so he walked away.
See Mark 10:17-22
20. Simon of Cyrene
Simon of Cyrene happened to be in Jerusalem when Jesus was crucified. He came from Cyrene, which is in Africa, and was probably a black man. It’s likely that he was in Jerusalem on pilgrimage for the Passover. As Jesus was struggling to carry his cross, Simon helped him.
See Mark 15:21-22
21. Soldier at the Foot of the Cross
Jesus was crucified by the Roman Soldiers. Many people made fun of Jesus as he hung on the cross, but one soldier, when he saw all that had happened to Jesus, said ‘In truth, this man was a son of God’.
See Mark 15:33-39
22. The High Priest
The High Priest and other Jewish leaders were afraid of Jesus. Perhaps it was because he was so popular and they were jealous of him. Perhaps it was because great crowds gathered round him and they were afraid that the Romans would blame them if there was any trouble. They decided to have Jesus arrested. He was tried by the Jewish Council before the High Priest.
See Mark 14:53-65
23. Thomas
Like the other apostles, Andrew heard Jesus teach, he saw miracles take place and he ran away when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was afraid after the death of Jesus, and Jesus appeared to him when he rose from the dead.
When Jesus first appeared to the apostles after he had died, Thomas wasn’t there, so he refused to believe that it had happened. Jesus appeared to him later, and let Thomas see the wounds in his hand and his side.
See John 20:24-28
24. Veronica
The story of Veronica is a very old one, but it is not in the Bible. It is said that as Jesus was carrying his cross, a woman came up to him with a cloth and wiped the blood and sweat from his face. It is said that when she looked at the cloth later she could see a picture of Jesus’ face on the cloth.
25. Zacchaeus
Zacchaeus was a tax collector and so a very unpopular man. He cheated the people he collected from. When Jesus came to town he wanted to see, but because he was so small he couldn’t see above the crowd. He climbed into a tree and Jesus called him down and went into his house. The crowd didn’t like this, but Jesus reminded them that he dame for everyone - even the most unpopular people.
See Luke 19:1-10
Running Order
I devised the running order on the basis of what the pupils had written. The programme fell into about five ‘sections’.
2. Miracles
3. Miracles of raising the dead
Interval
4. The Passion of Jesus
5. The Resurrection
R
Signposts
is a Painsley