The biblical text on which the Passion Play
is based can form the basis for personal reflection, group Bible Study and for
historical research on the stories of Jesus at school. The script uses Eugene Peterson’s modern
paraphrase of the New Testament, The Message. Peterson’s hopes for The Message, were
the hopes we had for our script:
“Written in the rhythms and idiom of contemporary language - the way
you’d talk with friends, write a letter or discuss politics, The Message
brings out the expressive, earthy flavour of the New Testament Greek ... it
will allow you to experience firsthand the same power and directness that
motivated its original readers to change the course of history many centuries
ago.” The script keeps closely to the
biblical text, linking passages in unexpected ways to bring home the message
more powerfully.
Friendship
The play begins by identifying Jesus using
the titles that appear in John 1. It
then weaves together the feeding of the
5000 [John 6], the Sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5-7], the call and naming of
the first disciples [Matthew 4:18-22, 10:1-4], the beatitudes, addressed to
John, Andrew, Peter and Judas respectively
[Luke 6:20-22] and the invitation to follow [Luke 11:9] It goes on to tell of the healing of the
woman in the crowd [Luke 8:42-48] and then weaves the story of the woman at the
well [John 4 and at verse 35 ...] together with the parable of the sower [Mark
4:1-9]. The disciples’ confession of
faith [Mark 8:27-38], and their subsequent misunderstanding of the nature of
greatness [Matthew 20:20-28 and John 12:20-33] ] leads on towards the Gate and
the entry into Jerusalem [Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:29-44, with John 8:12 and
10:9]
Conflict
The cleansing of the Temple brings together
Matthew 21:12-17, Mark 11:15-33, Luke 19:45 - 20:8, and Matthew 11:28-30 and
moves on to the High Street where there is an echo of the start of the play as
Jesus is identified once more using the titles of John 1. The tension mounts as Jesus addresses the
woes of Luke 6: 24-26 to James, John, Peter and Judas respectively and tells
the Parable of the Vineyard, or the Cheltenham Millennium Wine [Luke 20:9-19]. Matthew 23:37-39 is a suitable comment on the
parable. The anointing, the footwashing,
the betrayal and the Last Supper weave together Matthew 26:1-30 and John 13-30, while the words of comfort shared
by the women are taken from John 14-16.
Betrayal
The scene at the Garden of Gethsemane, the
religious trial and the trial before the civic authorities brings together the
story told in Matthew 26:31-27:31, Mark 14:26 - 15:20, Luke 22:39 - 23:31, and
John 18 - 19:16 and 19-22. The penitence
of Judas and his death is based on Matthew 27:3-10. The Way of the Cross brings together Isaiah
52:13 - 53:12 in the NRSV and some of the traditional Stations of the Cross.
Death
The crucifixion scene is based on Matthew
27:32-56, Mark 15:21-41, Luke 23:26-49, and John 19:16-37. The Burial is based on Matthew 27:57-66, Mark
15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56, and John 19:38-42.
Resurrection
To recap the story so far we made use of
Nick Page’s wonderful poem The Baker and then based the story of Easter
on John 20. 547
words
Looking further at the People of the
Passion
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?
