Encounter Christianity: In Questions about Jesus lesson plan 10

Lesson ten - Mary watches as Jesus is crucified (pages 20-21)

Aims for the book

To introduce pupils to key events from the life of Jesus and the way in which these raise questions about the person of Jesus.
To enable pupils to understand the importance of these events at the time of Jesus.
To enable pupils to reflect on the relevance of these events for Christians today.
To encourage pupils to raise questions about these events in the light of their own experience.

Learning objectives

Pupils will;

consider extremes of human emotion;
understand the sadness of Jesus' friends on Good Friday.

Text from the book

What could Mary’s friends say to comfort her?

Jesus was arrested, tried and put to death on a cross. On his cross was a sign saying ‘Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews’. His mother and some other women watched him die. They stayed close to Jesus even at his most difficult time. When he was dead, they helped to take his body down from the cross, they wrapped him in a cloth and placed him in a tomb.

Background

Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave birth to him and over thirty years later, she watches him die in public, slowly and in great pain. He is executed as a common criminal. Supported by female friends at the foot of the cross, it must have been the lowest point of her life. She may have believed Jesus to be the Son of God, but he was her son, dying in such a dreadful manner. Christians identify with the anguish felt by Mary as she watched her son die on the cross. Her trust and faith in God inspire Christian commitment. Stemming from this, within some Christian traditions, Mary is the most revered of all the saints.

Ways of using the picture

Discuss what feelings and emotions may have been experienced by Mary as she watched Jesus die. Start by looking at J. Elizalde Navarro’s painting.
Write a poem, after collecting words that express the anxiety of the women.
Discuss why the pupils think women were at the foot of the cross but few, if any, male disciples. Why women?

Bible references

John 19.25-27, Luke 23.48-49, Mark 15.40-41, Matthew 27.55-56

Key words

Sadness
Despair
Dejection
Anguish
Distress
Crying
Darkness
Helplessness
Hopelessness
Devotion

Activity

In a quiet and comfortable setting such as circle time, share examples of times of extreme human emotion: joy and happiness / sadness and sorrow. Try to keep the conversation as impersonal as the children want to make it, being sensitive to specific circumstances and family situations. Be guided by the children as the depth they wish to go when sharing such subjects as the death of a pet or a public figure such as Princess Diana, or when there is a national disaster. Contrast these with the highs of a birthday treat or a 'trip of a lifetime' to Disneyland, or the feeling they have when they wake up on Christmas morning.

Listen to suitably 'haunting' music that sets a sad or sombre reflective mood

e.g. Handel's Largo
Barber's Adagio for Strings
Elgar's Nimrod
Gluck's Dance of the Blessed Spirits

Whilst listening and looking at the painting of Mary and her friends (page 20), encourage the children to talk about the colour, the shape, and the rhythm of sadness and despair. In talking, help them to really feel the mood and empathise with the feelings of the women in the picture.

Paint or draw a picture, or make a collage, individually or in groups, to symbolise despair and grieving. It might be abstract, thinking of the colours and shapes representing the desolate mood and emotional anguish represented in the women's faces.

In small groups and using suitably sounding instruments, compose a simple piece of rhythm that is ‘in tune' with Mary's feelings after the death of her son, when she must surely have been inconsolable. Talk about how, very often, people lose themselves in a piece of music or in looking at a painting, when they find that they are too upset to talk or to share themselves with others at a sad time. How might this give them some comfort?

Pupils could share their music and artwork with others in a suitable occasion by performing the Bible readings to a backdrop of the pictures and mood music that they have composed.

Back in the intimacy of a circle time, share ideas about the despair Jesus' friends must have felt when they thought that it was all over on Good Friday. How could they have supported each other and those who had known and loved Jesus? How can we 'be there' for other people when they need us most?

Learning outcomes

Pupils will;

recognise the power of music to create and enhance mood as well as to comfort and console;

have shared in something of the sadness experienced by Christians on Good Friday.

Extension work

As a witness to Jesus’ death, write an entry for your diary, or a letter to a friend who wasn't present when Jesus was crucified. Describe the mood and your feelings as you watched and your feeling of emptiness at the end of the day.

In contrast, imagine the newspaper headlines that night, both from the point of view of the Jews, and their Roman keepers.

Web site links

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/M/michelangelo/pieta.jpg.html
The sorrow and despair of Mary at the foot of the cross has been a subject of many artists, including perhaps the most famous of all - Michelangelo's Pieta.13^th Century images on the same subject can be seen at http://faq.macedonia.org/religion/ohrid.archbishopric.html

http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/
A web site that takes children's feelings seriously. Issues such as divorce, adoption, death and bullying are dealt with simply and sensitively.

http://www.jesterbook.com/
The story The Jester has lost his Jingle is a more light-hearted approach to dealing with sadness and the importance of laughter. The author, David Saltzman died of Hodginkson's disease shortly after completing the story, at the tender age of 22.

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