The Passion Play had a core cast of fifteen
characters, and as many extras as possible to play the crowd. Everyone who followed the play became in a
sense part of the cast! Using some of
the interviews on the video together with the questions below make a study of
the People of the Passion. This could be
the basis of a series of group Bible Studies, or a way of examining what
happened at the first Easter and the impact Jesus had on different people.
Jesus
How would you summarise the teaching of
Jesus? How did Jesus break down barriers?
How did he respond to conflict, to betrayal and to the prospect of his
death? Think of the words he shared at
the Last Supper and the words he spoke from the cross - what comfort do they
bring? In what way is Jesus alive today?
Disciples
Of the four main disciples in our play one
lets Jesus down and another betrays him.
What did Peter make of Jesus and all that he stood for? How did he feel when he let Jesus down? Which words of Jesus from the cross would
have meant most to him? What difference
did the resurrection of Jesus make to Peter?
Why did Judas betray Jesus? Our play gives words of dissent among the
disciples to Judas from the beginning of the play. It also links the fourth blessing and the
fourth woe to Judas in Luke 6:22 and 26.
How did he feel afterwards? Which
words of Jesus at the Last Supper and from the cross would speak most to
someone in the position of Judas? Which
of the disciples do you most identify with at the Resurrection?
Women
Thinking of the story of the woman in the
crowd, Mary Magdalene and the woman at the well, in what ways did Jesus break
down barriers between men and women?
What would it have been like to have been the mother of Jesus while he
was teaching (see Matthew 12:46-50), on the road to the cross, at the cross and
at the resurrection? Is there any
special way that we can identify with her?
Religious Leaders
Caiaphas, Annas, and Joseph of Arimathea,
Religious leaders at the time of Christ, were played by ministers, clergy and
church leaders today. Why do you think
the religious leaders were opposed to Jesus?
Would Jesus come into conflict with religious leaders today? Of the religious leaders one, Joseph of
Arimathea was sympathetic to Jesus - what do you think it would have been like
for him to have stood up and be counted?
See Luke 23:50-56.
Civic Leaders ... and the Crowd
Pilate and Herod were played by the Mayor and
Town Crier of Cheltenham - why were the civic leaders opposed to Jesus? Would Jesus come into conflict with civic
leaders today? Where would he take his
stand today? The Centurion recognised in
Jesus someone very special, the Son of God - what would it have felt like for
him to stand up and be counted? Why did
the crowd swing from support of Jesus to hostility towards him ... would you
have gone along with the crowd, or been willing to stand out from the crowd?
