In his "I Have a Dream" speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that black people were "still languishing in the corners of American society" and were "exiles in their own land."
Jesus understood the pain of racism. He preached and gathered to himself the outcasts of society. He called these people the anawim, or poor in spirit. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God."
The relationship between Jews and Samaritans at the time of Jesus approximates contemporary examples of racism. Many of the people of Samaria were Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles during the Assyrian captivity. Jews bypassed the region altogether as they traveled between Galilee and Judea. With your students, cite Gospel passages that refer to this strained relationship: Luke 9:52-54; Luke 10:25-37; Luke 17:11-19; John 9:48. Next, read Jesus' response to this behavior: his healing of a Samaritan leper (Lk 17:11-19), the conversation with the Samaritan women at the well (Jn 4:4-42), and the telling of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:30-37).
Discussion Questions
1. Why do you think people of different races have trouble getting along?
2. How do you respond when someone makes a racist statement?
3. Tell about a time you were excluded from an activity for no good reason?
Extending the Lesson
Ask an adult who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s to give a short presentation detailing society's (and his or her own) changing attitudes from then to now.
During the week before Christmas, remind the students that only Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels tell anything about Jesus’ birth.
Mark’s Gospel, the first written, opens with: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God (Mk 1:1). Although stories about Jesus ‘birth were likely in circulation among Christians communities by the time Mark began composing his gospel, Mark felt that there was more important information about Jesus that belonged in chapter one. From this verse we know that Mark considered it more important to tell readers of Jesus’ heavenly origins than his earthly origins. The stories in his Gospel that follow—the preaching of John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus—further emphasize Jesus’ divine origins.
On the other hand, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke do include information about Jesus’ human origins. For example,
• Both have genealogies.
• Matthew tells of the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt, paralleling the experience of the Exodus of the Israelites.
• The announcement to and the visit by the shepherds in Luke’s Gospel is consistent with Luke’s theme that the poor and lowly are singled out for God’s blessings.
• The courage the magi showed in not returning to King Herod was similar to the courage many young Jewish Christians of the first century exhibited in abandoning their traditional faith to follow Jesus.
Assignment
Listed below are several names and items associated with the Christmas story. Have the students guess as to whether or not they are found in Matthew’s Gospel, Luke’s Gospel, or both. After they have guessed, have them look up the correct answers by reading Matthew 1:18–2:23 and Luke 2:1–39.
Mary (M, L)
Joseph (M, L)
Caesar Augustus (L)
Shepherds (L)
Massacre of infants (M)
The Inn (L)
Bethlehem (M, L)
Nazareth (M, L)
Herod (M)
Magi (M)
Angels (M, L)
Turtledoves (L)
Simeon (L)
Quirinius (L)
Manger (L)
Egypt (M)
Star (M)
Swaddling Clothes (L)
Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh (M)
Temple (L)
Anna (L)
Dr. Daniel Smith Christopher, Professor of Theology at Loyola Marymount University and author of The Old Testament: Our Call to Faith and Justice is a “hands on” teacher who has envied those in the math and science fields who are able to enhance their courses with work in a “lab.” He’s proposing that teachers of religion (and the other humanities) have the same opportunities to make lab or studio sessions part of their coursework. And he’s asking for your help. Here’s a sample of Dr. Smith Christopher’s favorite Bible Lab sample with a link to two more lessons.
We hope to grow the Bible Lab with the possibility of eventually publishing a book with the best interactive ideas for teaching and learning Scripture. We are seeking out some of your best ideas with the invitation to have them sited here for many to share. If you are interested please label and e-mail them to the attention of the Bible Lab! at this special address.
Dr. Moorey’s Mystery
Background
The most successful hands-on experiment that I have used in my freshman college courses (and with visiting high school students and in adult education settings, too) is what I call: “Dr. Moorey’s Mystery.” It is named for Dr. P.R. Moorey of Oxford University (who passed away in 2004), with whom I consulted on the original design of the this experiment when I first invented it while a graduate student at Oxford.
Preparations
You will need a total of four homemade clay pots for this experiment.
Pot 1 should be roughly made as a “pinch pot” without using a wheel. For my series, each of the pots has an obvious rim . Each of your four pots should have one obvious feature that remains constant throughout the series. This is a very significant clue, and illustrates what archeaologists look for in studying pottery styles.
The next three pots should be made on a wheel.
Pot 2 should be made with thick walls. Leave your finger impressions on the side (e.g. do not smooth the walls on the outside). Don’t forget your constant feature (like the rims on my pots).
Pot 3 should be made with thin walls, smoothed surface, and even some decorations (e.g., a design, or even simple animal figures, etc.). After this one is made and fired, take it apart from the others, find a safe place to burn some paper, and set this one pot only on the burning paper to get some black sooty markings on this pot.
Pot 4 should be very much like Pot 3, but only with smooth walls, and no designs, and no burn marks.
When you have finished making these four, generally similar sized pots, each one of them should exhibit at least one generally similar feature (as I said, for my set it is rims around the top).
Next, break up (smash!) all four pots. Keep only a few pieces of the first, hand-made pot, including pieces that feature your main stylistic clue (e.g. rim, etc.). This is your “most primitive” pot, and should have fewer sample pieces than the others.
I keep all my pieces together in a box, and bring it to class on the very first day of the course, in order to have a surprising, “hands on” activity for a class that most students think is going to be bookish and slow.
Classroom Directions
I ask the entire class to stand, come forward, and draw pieces of broken pottery from the box. I then tell the entire room that there is a story in these pieces, and their task is to tell the story. Make up something fun, like, “While digging the foundation for my house, something incredible was found . . .” or “While the gardener was working in the garden by the school, he stumbled onto . . . .” I always stop, with a smile, and say, “This is not a true story.” Finish the story with: “These pieces are dying to tell you a story—your task is to give these pieces a voice! Tell their story!”
You must clarify, however, that the key to unlocking the story is that they must also seek the answer to a single critically important question that is answered with either “yes” or “no”. I inform them that they can ask any question they want at any time, but I will only answer the correct question. If the class is not moving toward this question, I give a hint – “it has to do with how they were found.” In the meantime, I tell the students to circulate around the room, collecting information about the pottery pieces.
They will make lots of good observations. Affirm the observations they make, like: “the pieces seem to come from more than one pot” and “the pieces are made from the same material” (suggests same people making them?). Eventually someone will say: “Were they all found at the same time?” That is the question and they immediately realize that the different pots they are discerning among the mixture must represent different pots from different times.
Now have them group the pieces, and try to guess which came first, then next, and analyze why they are saying this. The key to the experiment is making sure that students are not allowed to speculate beyond reasonable inferences from the evidence.
Teaching the Lesson
The point of the lab experiment to illustrate a number of critical skills for the study of biblical texts:
- biblical study requires careful, critical, and rational thought;
- biblical study requires historical analysis based on evidence;
- biblical study must rely on the evidence first and foremost;
- speculation must have a basis in evidence.
In this particular mystery, the evidence is the pottery pieces. In the Bible, the evidence is the text itself—not what we think it says, not what it is supposed to say…but what it actually says. The experiment teaches students to examine the evidence before making guesses as to meaning and purpose in biblical study.
And, it is lots of fun as you get better at guiding groups through the experiment.
April 25 is the feast day of St. Mark, the evangelist. Mark is the name associated with the shortest of the Gospels. Biblical scholarship tells us that Mark’s Gospel was the first written, probably around 65 to 70 A.D., after the death of St. Peter. Many passages from Mark’s Gospel are also included in Matthew and Luke. This is the reason that these Gospels are called the synoptic Gospels, meaning “seeing together.”
Mark’s Gospel is concerned with telling who Jesus is and what his mission is. It is also concerned with defining what it means to be a disciple. In the very first chapter and verse of his Gospel, Mark discloses that Jesus is the “Christ, the Son of God.” As we read on we find that, as readers, we have been given very privileged information, for in fact the disciples written about in the story—including Jesus’ closest friend, Simon Peter—have no real knowledge about Jesus’ identity. Many misunderstandings occur. When Peter mistakes Jesus’ mission to be one of great worldly power, Jesus calls him “Satan” and tells him: “You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do” (Mk 8:33).
I fact, these misunderstandings are a part of a general theme known as the so-called and oft debated “messianic secret.” For most of the Gospel, only we as readers of the first verse, Jesus, and the demons are able to identify his purpose. Finally, in Mark 10:45, the pinnacle of the Gospel, Jesus clearly defines who he is and what he is meant to accomplish: the Son of Man has come to serve and to give his life for all.
There is no clear biographical information about the author, Mark. It is assumed that he was a friend of Peter, and many early Church leaders verified this. Peter himself referred to “my son Mark” (1 Pt 5:13) as being with him when he was in Rome.
A traditional story has been passed on that Mark included himself in the gospel. Since he would have been a young man or boy at the time Jesus lived on earth, there is some feeling that Mark was the young man who followed Jesus after he had been arrested and all the other disciples had fled. According to the Gospel, this young man was seized “but he left the cloth behind and ran off naked” (Mk 14:52).
Mark’s Gospel is intended to be read from start to finish in one reading. It is a good Gospel for students to begin with in any study of Jesus and his message.
Additional Lessons Related to this Feast Day:
Have the students investigate other information about the author of Mark, especially the traditional understanding that he is the “John Mark” of Acts 12:12 and 25.
Assign the reading of the three predictions of Jesus’ passion (Mk 8:31–33; 9:30–32; 10:32–34) and note how the disciples’ misunderstand Jesus’ words each time.
Mark’s Gospel does not include an infancy narrative. Have the students work together in small groups to make a list of other differences in the synoptics.
As you know, Easter is not a one-day holiday. In fact it last for fifty days, beginning with the Easter Vigil and lasting until the feast of Pentecost.
In the liturgical year, the same Gospel reading is heard on the second Sunday of Easter in all three reading cycles. The reading is from John 20:19–29 and is commonly referred to as the story of “doubting Thomas.” The reading gives us several clues to the early Church’s understanding of the Risen Jesus.
First, Jesus appears to the disciples “when the doors were locked,” showing that his body was not made of flesh and bone. Jesus greets the disciples with “Peace be with you,” reminding them of his words at the Last Supper when he said, “Peace is my gift to you.” When Jesus showed them his hands and his side, the disciples recognized him and were joyful. Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” This recalls the second creation story from Genesis 2 where God brought Adam to life by breathing on him. Now, Jesus brings life in the Spirit to the disciples by breathing on them.
One of the disciples, of course, Thomas, was not present during this appearance by Jesus. If you recall the story of Jesus raising of his friend Lazarus, Thomas was the one who was afraid to return to Bethany, a small village near Jerusalem, in fear that Jesus would be harmed by his enemies. When Jesus said, “Let us go to Lazarus,” Thomas added: “Let us go to die with him.” It’s easy to notice the skepticism in his voice.
Sometime after the Risen Jesus’ appearance, Thomas returns and utters his famous words: “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later Jesus returns and allows Thomas to do just as he requested. Jesus tells him: “Do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas then declares Jesus “My Lord and my God!” He is the first disciple to utter these words.
When you and your students hear this reading on the Sunday after Easter you may feel that is intended just for you and that you have even more esteem as a disciple of Jesus living two thousand years after he walked the earth. After all, we believe in the Risen Jesus without ever having seen him, something even St. Thomas, the Doubting Apostle, first failed to do.
Meditate this week on the words Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”
Optional Lessons:
Uncover more of the life and legend of St. Thomas, including his missionary role in India.
Read and share biblical commentary on the other resurrection appearances of Jesus recorded in John 21.
Read St. Paul’s answer to the questions, “How are the dead raised? And “With what kind of body will they come back?” from 1 Corinthians 15:36–49.
Assignment
Have the students work in small groups to prepare a pantomime of John 20:19–29 and other resurrection appearances of Jesus. The characters should act out the scene in silence as a narrator reads the passage.
