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MAURICE RYAN JACINTA PETERSEN

RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

Teaching JesusTeaching Jesusof Nazarethof Nazareth

Teaching Jesus of Nazareth________________

Resources for Teachers

Maurice Ryan

Jacinta Petersen

lumino Press

Published in Australia in 2020 by

Lumino PressPO Box 1024

Hamilton QLD 4007www.luminopress.com.au

[email protected]

© Maurice Ryan and Jacinta Petersen, Teaching Jesus of Nazareth: Resources for Teachers

ISBN 978-1-921538-45-2

The authors assert their ownership of the original material in this manual. No reproduction of this work - manual, digital or otherwise, in whole or in part - is permitted without specific written permission by the authors. Permission is granted for those who have purchased this manual to use the materials with their own classes and students, as allowed by the Copyright Act. No further permission is required in these cases. All attempts have been made to establish the rightful owners of copyrighted material used in this manual. Anyone who believes their rights have been unintentionally infringed is encouraged to contact the publisher.

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) Bible: Catholic Edition copyright © 1993 and 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

All URLs described in this book were live and active with appropriate content at the time of publication. Due to the dynamic nature of the internet, no responsibility can be taken for subsequent changes, additions or deletions to these sites.

A number of pages in this book were designed and created by Kylie Phillips, an experienced and gifted classroom teacher. We are grateful to Kylie for sharing her expertise in our book.

AUTHOR CONTACT DETAILS

Dr Maurice Ryan is an author, publisher and lecturer in religious education based in Brisbane.

[email protected]

Dr Jacinta Petersen is a Senior Lecturer in Religious Education at the Catholic Institute of Western Australia in Perth, Western Australia.

[email protected]

RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS TITLES

Teaching the Christmas Story Teaching Jesus of Nazareth Teaching the Easter Story

MAURICE RYAN JACINTA PETERSEN I RESOURCES FOR TEACHERS

TEACHING JESUS OF NAZARETH

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Contents________________

THE LIFE AND CAREER OF JESUS OF NAZARETH

The Historical Jesus 3 Mapping Jesus 4Real Estate Advertisement 5 Building Jesus’ World 6See, Think, Wonder 7 News Headlines 8Jesus Using Social Media? 9 Images of Jesus and his Mission 10Jesus the Carpenter 11 Jesus the Carpenter in Art 12Was Jesus a Carpenter? 13 Word Find - Jesus and the Gospels 14Jesus Reading and Writing 15 Could Jesus Read and Write? 16A Life of Jesus in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 17 This is Your Life! - Jesus 18Mind Map - Jesus 19 Voice-Over Commentator 20The Transfiguration - Historical Investigation 21 Character Emotions Thermometer 22RAFT Writing 23 Jesus as a Child - Then and Now 24Jesus as a Child 25 Text Messages 26My Inquiry - Exploring the Life of Jesus through Art 27 Eight Ways of Knowing Jesus in the Gospels 28Jesus of Nazareth: A Poem 29 Jesus and Sculpture 30Re-imagining Stories of Jesus in our Times 31 Perspectives on the Historical Jesus 32-33Jesus of Nazareth: Story Starters 34 Story Bag - The Story of Zacchaeus 35Random Word Association - Jesus Calls His Disciples 36 Baptism of Jesus 37Jesus’ Baptism through Drama and Music 38

JESUS THE JEW

Jesus the Jew from Galilee 39 Wonder Wall - Jesus the Jew from Galilee 40Picture Writing - Jesus of Nazareth 41 Main Titles for Jesus in the Gospels 42Create a Jesus Slide Show 43 A Life of Jesus 44My Image of Jesus 45 Image of Jesus - Before and After 46Interviewing Others about Jesus’ Jewish Faith 47 Father Abraham 48Jesus the Jew: Official Catholic Church Documents 49-50 Jesus the Jew in the Gospels 51Jewish Festivals and New Testament References 52 Jewish Festivals Research 53Jewish Festivals - News Report 54

JESUS AND MONEY

Jesus, Wealth and Money 55 The Ways of Wealth 56Jesus, Wealth and Money - Quotable Quotes 57 Money and the Women of Galilee 58Six Thinking Hats: Poverty and Justice 59 The Divide Between Rich and Poor 60Children’s Literature - Poverty 61 Causes and Effects of Wealth Distribution 62Persuasive Argument Organiser 63 John Chrysostom - Wealth and Justice 64Money Words 65 Exploring Wealth in Early Childhood 66I Used to Think...But Now I Think 67 Election Campaign - It’s the Economy 68



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JESUS AND LEADERSHIP

Jesus and Leadership 69 Jesus: Leadership Style 70Annual General Meeting: Jesus Reform Movement 71 Biblical Resources for Reflecting on Leadership 72Groups Who Followed Jesus 73 Jesus and Servant Leadership 74Jesus Under Pressure 75 Was Jesus a Great Leader? 76Exploring Leadership in Early Childhood & Primary 77 Children’s Literature - Leadership 78 Qualities of a Good Leader 79 Creating a New Brand Image 80Write a Mission Statement 81 Design a Logo 82

PUZZLES AND GAMES

Using Puzzles and Games to Teach Jesus 83 Dictionary Race 84Tic-Tac-Toe 85 Jesus of Nazareth Board Game 86Games Jesus Played: Mill 87 Word Game Board 88Ten Jesus Word Games 89 Who Belongs Here? 90-91Basketball Team 92 Ten Classroom Team Activities 93Story Jigsaw 94

GALILEE

Jesus and Herod Antipas 95 Herod Antipas: Memorable Quote 96A Biography of Herod Antipas 97 Jesus’ Home Town - Nazareth 98Dear Diary 99 Galilee Herald 100-101Jobs and Occupations in the Gospels 102 Wanted to Hire 103Archaeology in Capernaum 104 Become an Expert 105Virtual Field Trips: Galilee and Beyond 106

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS

Collaboration When Teaching About Jesus 107 Developing Thinking Capabilities 108Plus, Minus, Interesting 109 Consider All Factors 110Using Poetry to Teach Jesus 111 Mantle of the Expert 112Project Tree Planning Chart 113 Inquiring into Jesus 114 Who Was Jesus? TWLH Chart 115 Talking Tub 116 Frequently Asked Questions 117-8



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The Historical Jesus________________

The life and career of Jesus of Nazareth has come into sharper focus over the past generation. The Nicene Creed - the Church’s statement of its core beliefs - included a mention of Jesus, but only fleetingly: “by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was made man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried”. This formulation moved from the birth of Jesus to his death, skipping over any consideration of the circumstances and meaning of his life and career.

Recent years have seen a burst of scholarly activity designed to provide greater insights into the historical Jesus than was provided in the Nicene Creed. A battalion of scholars has come forward to research the historical Jesus. These scholars have brought to their task a range of theoretical perspectives and commitments. The gospels are the main source for their historical research, but other texts are also relied upon, especially those written by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who lived and wrote in the same era as the New Testament authors. Scholars also sift and search the evidence provided by the geography, languages, philosophical perspectives, religions, political organisations, architectures and other artifacts available to archaeologists.

Today, many and varied perspectives are offered by scholars concerning issues such as: who was Jesus?; what was his mission and purpose?; what was his relationship to Jewish religious authorities?; how is it best to understand his preaching, teaching and healing ministry? Also, scholars have attempted to discover aspects of his life and career, such as: what did he look like?; what clothes did he wear?; what was his occupation prior to (during?) his public ministry?; and, his level of literacy: could he read and write? and could he speak other languages besides his own Aramaic?

The scholarly answers to these kinds of historical questions are determined, in part, by the cultural contexts of the scholars themselves, by which biblical texts they choose to highlight, and by their personal, political and social interests. Each scholar attempts to describe a portrait of Jesus that as closely as possible resembles the original subject who conducted a public ministry in Roman Palestine in the first century of the Common Era. Unfortunately, historical research has limits; not everything we would like to know can be told by historians. All forms of inquiry have limits. Each adds something to help solve the puzzles involved in coming to know Jesus.

The field of historical Jesus’ studies is large and growing. Debates and disputes among scholars can be lively and contested. Scholars tend to disagree on many key points. Some scholars think Jesus was a political agitator, others think he was a Jewish version of a Greek philosopher who advocated an austere lifestyle. Some think he was a prophet who announced the end of times about to happen; other scholars think he did not actually exist and was created by the first Christians for their own purposes. All scholarly insights add fruitfully to knowledge of Jesus; their disputes can be a cause for puzzlement among those who are unsure which perspective to adopt in their quest to understand Jesus.

Understandably, students will often ask their teachers for the “right” answer to contested notions concerning Jesus. For many students, ambiguity and contested claims about Jesus are not satisfactory and they seek for the teacher to clear up any ambiguities. The reality is that ambiguity and contest will continue to be characteristic of the study of Jesus in his gospel context. Teachers have access to a range of educational approaches to assist them and their students in the process of understanding Jesus of Nazareth.



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Mapping JesusWhere did Jesus live? What places did he visit? Label on the map the places mentioned in the gospels. Add to the list below three more places you find in the gospels. Provide a label for each place to show how that place is connected to Jesus. Make your own 3D map or use a digital technology tool such as Keynote to demonstrate your learning.

Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16) Capernaum (Mark 1:21) Gerasa (Mark 5:1) Nazareth (Luke 4:16) Tyre and Sidon (Mark 7:31) Bethsaida (Mark 8:22) Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:27) Jordan River (Mark 10:1) Jericho (Mark 10:46) Bethany (Mark 11:1) Egypt (Matthew 2:19) Bethlehem (Luke 2:4)

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•JerusalemMEDITERRANEAN SEA



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Real Estate Advertisement

Research one of the places mentioned in the gospels. What might this place have been like in the time of Jesus? What would be its selling point? Create a Real Estate advertisement for property in this area. Check examples of online or print advertisements. Use the template as your guide for planning, then transfer this information to an app to create a digital version of your advertisement.

HEADING: How will you get the buyers’ attention?

PHOTO/PHOTO DECK: Find or create images to feature the area.

DESCRIPTION: Write a paragraph highlighting the features of the property and area.

SPECS AND CONTACT DETAILS: What kind of property is it? How big? What are the closest cities? Who is the agent and how can they be contacted?



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Building Jesus’ WorldChoose one of the following places mentioned in the gospels:

• Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16) • Nazareth (Luke 4:16)

• Jericho (Mark 10:46) • Bethlehem (Luke 2:4)

Research this location to identify key features of the geography of the area you have chosen. Record the key features below:

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Use Minecraft EDU to recreate the setting of the story. Incorporate the key geographical features you have identified above in your design.

EXTENDING THIS IDEA

• Create screen shots of the setting and use these screen shots to retell the story using different media.

• Retell the story from another character’s perspective.

• Reconstruct the scenes and plot points from the whole story and present the story to the class.



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See, Think, Wonder

Present to students various artifacts about the life of Jesus. These could be displayed on a wonder table and might include religious and contemporary images of Jesus, links to websites or music and passages from the Bible. Students select an item and use the following thinking routine to reflect on this item. Reflections are shared with the class.

What do you see?

What does it make you think?

What do you wonder?



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News HeadlinesDivide the class into small groups. Allocate one of the gospel stories that represent different stages in Jesus’ life. Each group creates a catchy news headline for this story that summarises the main event of the story.

STORY REFERENCE

Jesus is Born Matthew 1-2, Luke 2

Joseph, Mary and Jesus flee to Egypt Matthew 2:13-23

Jesus lost in the Temple Luke 2:41-52

Jesus’ baptism Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-23

Jesus Calls His First Disciples Mark 1:16-20

Sermon on the Mount/Sermon on the Plain Matthew 5:1-7:29, Luke 6:17-49

Feeding of the 5000 Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:12-17. John 6:5-13

Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem Matthew 21:1-11 14-17, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, John 12:12-19

Last Supper Matthew 26:1-30, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:7-38, John 13:1-38

Jesus’ arrest Matthew 26:36-56, Mark 14:32-50, Luke 22:349-54, John 18:1-12

Crucifixion and Burial Matthew 27:27-66, Mark 15:16-47, Luke 23:26-56, John 19:17-42.



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Jesus Using Social Media?Imagine that Jesus could have posted about his life using social media. What pictures would he post? What caption would he have used? What might people from his time have commented in relation to the picture? Design a post using the proforma below:

BANNER - NAME OF SOCIAL MEDIA TOOL AND LOGO

PROFILE PICTURE AND USER NAME OF JESUS

CAPTION OF POST

IMAGE OF JESUS’ POSTS

LIKES (WHICH PEOPLE FROM JESUS’ TIME WOULD HAVE LIKED HIS POSTS?)

COMMENTS (WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN SOME COMMENTS?)



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Images of Jesus and his MissionWhat was Jesus trying to achieve in his public ministry? Consider the following pairs of descriptions about Jesus and his mission. On the dotted line between each pair, place an X to indicate the extent of your opinion on each description. When you have responded to each pair, use your results to write a paragraph on your own perspective on Jesus and his mission in the space below.

Political revolutionary who aimed _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _to lead social change

Religious mystic focused on _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _spiritual matters

Wild-eyed prophet who proclaimed _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _the end of the world was near

Introduced a new approach to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _the inclusion of women in the community

A wandering philosopher of _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Greek ideas urging detachment from worldly concerns

Concerned for future, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _other-worldly realities

A preacher who proclaimed a new _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _message about God’s kingdom

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Calm defender of traditional Jewish religion and life

Social reformer focused on earthly matters

Gentle teacher of love and care and preacher of parables

Continued to follow the dominant approach to the place of women in the community

A simple carpenter from Nazareth who shared his life with his friends

Concerned for here-and-now, present realities

A preacher who shared many ideas in common with other Jewish groups and individuals



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Jesus the Carpenter________________

The gospel of Matthew says that Jesus “left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum” a larger town at the northern end of Lake Galilee (Matthew 4:13). Matthew says that this move occurred at the beginning of his public ministry when he heard about the arrest of John the Baptist. Jesus is reported to have visited Nazareth infrequently during his adult life since it seems he was not received amiably there. On one visit to his hometown - Nazareth - locals were astounded by his teaching in the assembly and puzzled by the source of his learning and works of power. They remembered him, somewhat derisively, as the local carpenter - or more accurately in Greek, a tekton, a worker in hard materials such as timber, stone and ivory (Mark 6:3).

This slender identification in Mark 6:3 of Jesus as a tekton is the only mention of this aspect of his biography in all four gospels. The gospels highlight his role as preacher, teacher, healer and wonder-worker and mostly ignore any craft skills he may have possessed. While Mark identifies him as a tekton, Matthew and Luke, who both knew Mark’s gospel, avoid any association between Jesus and manual labour. They may have wanted to avoid identifying Jesus as a tekton due to embarrassment or in order to avoid any offensive implications. We cannot know for sure why they did this.

In none of the gospels, is Jesus shown using his manual skills as a woodworker/mason. This relative lack of mentions of “Jesus the Carpenter” in the bible contradicts the many popular presentations of Jesus in movies and children’s illustrated bible books where Jesus is pictured busily working away out the back of his mother’s house making wooden furniture and other household products.

If he was a tekton in Nazareth, Jesus probably enjoyed more independence, status and income than his fellow villagers, most of whom toiled as peasant farmers on small plots of land growing fruits, grains and vegetables. A small town tekton would have been able to make pieces of furniture such as a bed, table, stool and lamp stand (see 2 Kings 4:10). Galilean houses did not contain much timber, but did have wooden doors, door frames, window lattices and roof beams. Timber was expensive, not abundant and sparingly used in ancient Galilee.

A tekton would need basic business skills in addition to any trade skills: writing an invoice, calculating prices and negotiating the cost of materials. Also, a manual worker would need to be strong and fit in order to complete tasks that could require muscle and dexterity. Like any trades person, he would own tools and be trained in using them effectively. A tekton would not likely have been wealthy, but this occupation may have placed someone in this category above peasant farmers, landless day labourers and others at the margins of economic and social life. A tekton would not be rich, but would not be considered among the landless poor.



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Jesus the Carpenter in Art

Christ in the House of His Parents, (1849-50)

John Everett Millais (1829-1896)

Oil on canvas. Tate Britain, London

Joseph is in his workshop making a door. Jesus is assisting him. Jesus has cut his hand on a nail and some of the blood has dripped onto his foot, a premonition of the wounds he would suffer at his crucifixion. Mary, his mother, is comforting him with a kiss on the cheek. Her mother - known to Christian tradition, but not in the bible, as Anne - has removed the nail with a pair of pincers. Joseph examines Jesus’ wounded hand. The young John the Baptist, whose mother and Mary according to gospel tradition are kinswomen, brings in water to wash the wound, a symbol introduced by the artist to represent the later baptism of Jesus. An unidentified assistant, representing potential future disciples, watches these events. In the background various objects have been included to emphasise the religious themes. A ladder, referring to Jacob’s Ladder, is visible leaning against the back wall. A dove representing the Holy Spirit that will descend on Jesus at his baptism in Mark 1:10 rests on it. A carpenter’s triangle hung on the wall represents the Trinity. The sheep in the fold in the background represent the future Christian flock.

Millais based his scene on an actual carpenter’s shop in Oxford Street, London. The face of Joseph was modelled by his father and the others were family and friends, not professional artist’s models. When the painting was first exhibited in 1850 it was untitled, but accompanied by a quote based on the prophet Zechariah 13:6: “And one shall say unto him, ‘What are those wounds in thine hands?’ Then he shall answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’” Many - including novelist Charles Dickens - criticised the artist for portraying the characters wearing drab clothing in ordinary, lowly, circumstances, rather than in the grand style of earlier European artworks.



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Was Jesus a Carpenter?EVALUATE

The European art tradition has promoted the idea that, prior to his public ministry, Jesus was a carpenter in Nazareth. But how strong is the evidence to support this contention? Consider the following issues:

• The gospels mention Jesus as a carpenter only once, Mark 6:3: “Is not this the carpenter?”

• The Greek word used by Mark is tekton, which could mean a manual worker in any hard material.

• Other ancient manuscripts for this text say that it was Joseph who was the carpenter, not Jesus.

• The other gospel authors when they rehearse the same scene omit the reference to Jesus as carpenter. Matthew 13:55 says: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” to identify the unnamed Joseph as the tekton, not Jesus.

• The gospels never show Jesus doing carpentry work or being asked by anyone to do such work.

• The gospel portraits of Jesus present him as a preacher, teacher, healer and wonder-worker.

DISCUSS

Discuss the extent to which we can reliably claim Jesus to have been a carpenter.

Does it matter if Jesus was, or was not, a carpenter?

Why might the gospel writers have been unclear or reticent about this aspect of his biography?

What can we say about the status of carpentry workers in Jesus’ time?

USEFUL WEBSITES

Contesting the Evidence for Jesus the Carpenter

http://podacre.blogspot.com.au/2009/11/nt-pod-18-was-jesus-carpenter.html

New Testament scholar Mark Goodacre’s blog discusses the evidence for Jesus as a carpenter.

Considering Misconceptions about Jesus the Carpenter

http://gospelgeeks.net/10-misconceptions-about-jesus-4-jesus-was-a-carpenter/

Popular Presentation of Jesus as a Carpenter

www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/ben-hur/jesus-the-carpenter

A clip from a modern re-make of Ben Hur depicting Jesus doing carpentry work while preaching and teaching.

LUMINO PRESSwww.luminopress.com.au

THE BOOK

Teaching Jesus of Nazareth has been written to support teachers in planning and teaching their classroom programs focused on Jesus of Nazareth.

This book combines practical, classroom-ready resources with comprehensive background information for teachers on the gospel stories of Jesus.

A wide range of resources is included in this collection for immediate use in classrooms. In addition, copious teaching and learning activities are described that assist teachers to create engaging presentations for their students.

All teacher background discussions, guidance for students, and teaching and learning materials are expressed in clear, uncomplicated language.

The aim of this book is to provide teachers across all year levels with resources they can select, adapt and readily implement in their classroom programs.

THE AUTHORS

Dr Maurice Ryan is an author, lecturer and publisher based in Brisbane.

Dr Jacinta Petersen is a Senior Lecturer in Religious Education at the Catholic Institute of Western Australia, based in Perth.