Encounter Christianity: In Questions about Jesus lesson plan 8

Lesson eight - The sermon on the mount (pages 16-17)

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;

explore the teaching of Jesus in the ‘Sermon on the Mount’;
consider the relevance of Jesus’ teaching for life today;
know that Christians are challenged by Jesus' commandments.

Text from the book

Why did Jesus want his followers to love God more than anything? Is it possible to love people who don’t like you?

Jesus of Nazareth often spoke to large crowds of people. The most famous occasion was the ‘sermon on the mount’. Jesus encouraged people to think about God and to look carefully at how they lived their lives. Some of the things he told people to do were very difficult for them. He taught his followers to love God and to love their enemies.

Background

A great deal of Jesus’ ethical teaching is collected together in the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Level Plain. Both sermons say that God’s rule, the Kingdom of God, can only come if people are prepared to put God first. They must love God because then everything else falls into place; only then can one love one’s neighbour. Jesus says people should not be worried about what will happen in the future because they will be looked after and cared for by God. Jesus’ teaching would be familiar to his hearers because it was largely traditional Jewish teaching.

Ways of using the picture

‘Do for others just what you want them to do for you’ (Matthew 7.12). Why is it so hard to follow this simple rule?
Discuss with the pupils their motives for doing ‘good deeds’. Is it ultimately self-interest or is there something else?

Bible references

Matthew 5-7, Luke 6.1-49

Key Words

Forgiveness
Thought
Unconditional
Enemies
Value
Love
Sacrifice
Understanding

Activity

Discuss the picture and text with the pupils.

Focus on the questions, especially the second one, ‘Is it possible to love people who don’t like you?’. Think about the times when the pupils feel that someone has wronged them. What was their reaction? Share experiences. Discuss how the pupils felt. Talk about how they feel now after the event and prompt the pupils to say whether or not they forgive the person.

Discuss the meaning of forgiveness. What actions would someone have to take to never be forgiven by their friends or their community/society? What if that person were a murderer/thief/terrorist?

Discuss that sometimes it is hard to forgive, but a helpful way forward is to love that person, as is also trying to understand the reason for their action.

If it is appropriate, sensitively discuss the events of September 11th.

Discuss cases in the news such as the Enniskillen bombing where a father lost his daughter, then, inspired by his belief in God and in spite his grief, he continued after wards to promote forgiveness and peace out Northern Ireland.

Instigate a class debate about a human dilemma, where one panel/body of thought could represent the views of the ‘forgivers’ and the other panel/body of thought would represent the views of the ‘unforgiving’.

Learning outcomes

Pupils will;

recognise the challenges of Jesus teaching;
have had the opportunity to debate some human dilemmas;
have explored some of Jesus’ teachings in relation to their own experience.

Extension work

Discuss why the crowd on the Mount of Olives would have been so interested to hear Jesus’ teaching about how to live their lives. Find out about the different ways in which people today find guidance for daily life. This could include researching both religious and non-religious viewpoints.

Web site links

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sistine/L.html
The Sistine Chapel is the setting for Cosimo Rosselli and Piero di Cosimo's The Sermon on the Mount. The beautiful stained glass windows of the Bapst Library are featured at http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/ulib/bap/walk.html and include one of the sermon on the mount.

http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tissot_james.html
Many of the works of James Tissot can be found from this web site, with links to over twenty art galleries and image libraries.

http://www.gameskidsplay.net/
Rules are important, whether keeping to safety guidelines or in playing games. This site has the rules to many of the well-known games (such as tag, hide and seek and marbles) as well as many less familiar ones.

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