Resurrection Parish Middle School Ministry
Jesus in the New Testament Course Overview
Academic Goal: To have students acquire a fresh, historically rooted, and factual understanding of the personality, mission, and mystery of Jesus the Nazarene.
Attitudinal Goal: To have the students use these insights to develop a more personal and practical friendship with Jesus in daily life.
Crossroads Jesus in the New Testament seeks to present a balanced profile of Jesus-- his person, his ministry, and the mystery of his identity. Two natures, one fully divine, the other fully human, are united in the one divine person, Jesus, the Son of Mary and the eternal Son of God the Father. There will be times when we are attracted to the human qualities we find in Jesus-- his warmth, his gentleness and concern. There will be other times when we are attracted to his divinity-- the fullness of knowledge he possesses as the Son of God, his power to cure and drive out demons, his victory over sin and death, his presence in heaven at the right hand of the Father. But the real challenge for us as disciples of Jesus is to maintain at all times that careful balance our believe in the Incarnation demands. Jesus is full human and fully divine.
The lowly origins and apparent insignificance of Jesus’ life are contrasted with the central role he now plays in history. The text explores the Jewish world of first-century Palestine in which Jesus grew up, and emphasizes the impact this had on his development. A key point is that Jesus did indeed have to grow and learn the way each of us does; he was influenced by family, friends, and society. In the same way, we try to imagine something of the revolutionary nature of Jesus’ teaching when he first proclaimed it. Students explore what his day-to-day life must have been like in order to give further insight into his person and his ministry. The text examines the kind of people who became Jesus’ followers and those who became his enemies.
Next, we focus on Jesus’ task of laying the foundation of the Church and the sacraments. We give special emphasis to the establishment of the Eucharist and its unique nature as the memorial of Jesus’ mission and ministry and his sacrifice for us. Finally, we examine Jesus’ last hours and the meaning behind his suffering and death. We then refocus on the fact that this man from Nazareth is, in reality, the Son of God who became human for us.
As the students proceed through this text, we hope they will begin to experience and understand Jesus in a fresh, more tangible way and this will help them enter into a more personal relationship with him.
Jesus in the New Testament
Chapter Goals
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Academic Goals
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Attitudinal Goals
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Chapter 1: It Doesn’t Make Sense
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To show that, given Jesus’ lowly origins and apparent insignificance and failure of his life, there is no “rational” explanation for the fact the his the most influential person in human history.
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To appreciate the value of the ‘miracle’ of our own faith two thousand years after the death of Jesus.
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Chapter 2: Where You Come From
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To know the nature of the major influences that shaped Jesus as he grew up.
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To realize how thoroughly Jesus, like each of us, was formed and influenced by his family and by society as he grew up.
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Chapter 3: A Personality Bigger than Life
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To gain some insight into the personality and qualities of Jesus that drew people to love him.
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To experience some of the attractiveness that Jesus possesses and to feel comfortable in his presence.
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Chapter 4: Have I Got News for You!
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To recognize the revolutionary impact Jesus’ message had on the people of his time and still has today.
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To appreciate that being a Christian today means we, too, must be revolutionary.
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Chapter 5: One Day at a Time
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To understand the day-to-day life of Jesus during his ministry and to form an overview of that ministry as it unfolded.
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To experience the humanness of Jesus.
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Chapter 6: Friends and Enemies
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To understand the various degrees of discipleship involved in following Jesus.
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To experience a personal desire to be a follower of Jesus in day-to-day life.
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Chapter 7: Don’t Forget!
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To understand both how and why Jesus founded the Church and instituted the sacraments.
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To gain a new, more mature appreciation of the Eucharist and the other sacraments.
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Chapter 8: Who Do You Say That I Am?
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To understand the significance of Jesus’ redemptive suffering and to gain a new insight into the significance of the incarnation.
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To feel drawn to greater intimacy with Jesus as someone who truly cares for and understands us.
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