Catechist Formation Session Objectives Cat 103 : Life of Christ Session 6 – The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Background Material • Matthew 26-28 • Dr. Ted Sri, ‘Mystery of the Kingdom’, Chapter through the Conclusion. • Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, RSVCE, Matthew edition. Session Goal This session will examine the Passover and the link with the Institution of the New Covenant during the Last Supper. We will also compare and contrast the betrayals of Judas and Peter and the trial before Pilate. Lastly we will examine the significance of the Jews picking Barabbas over Jesus for death, Jesus’ crucifixion, death, resurrection and the “Great Commission”. Three questions adults might have about this topic. What life-issues do I need to connect with in the people at my session? 1. What is the difference between Peter’s repentance from that of Judas’ repentance? 2. Why did Jesus believe that God had forsaken Him when he said “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani? – or, “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?” 3. What is the significance of the resurrection? Essential Points for the Teaching. Add in sub-points as needed. What points need to be made explicit and cannot be left to chance? A. Recap of the previous session. 1. Jesus restores marriage to God’s original plan in Creation. 2. Jesus calls His disciples to moral perfection and holiness. 3. Jesus announces the establishment of the New Covenant, seen in His Olivet Discourse. Cat 103 Session 6 1 The Death and Resurrection of Jesus B. Highlights of Matthew 26-28: Read Matthew 26:1-16. 1. Two days before the Passover, the chief priests and elders of the people conspire to put Jesus to death with the help of Judas . Read Matthew 26:17-19. Read Matthew 26:20-25. Read Matthew 26:26-30. 2. At the Last Supper, Jesus institutes the Eucharist as the memorial of His passion, death and resurrection. The Passover: Read Matthew 26:1-5. The Passover is part of a week-long celebration that included: Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the Feast of the Firstfruits. It is a memorial of the time God delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage and its central theme is liberation. All Jews traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate it. It is interesting to note that during any description of the Last Supper there is no mention of a lamb. Jesus asked them to eat bread, which he identified as his body. Jesus is in effect interrupting the meal and substituting himself for the lamb. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, who died so others might live. Relate the above words, “Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”, to the words that Jesus said in John 6:51-56. Jesus in now giving His Apostles a context in which they can eat his body and drink his blood as he mentioned in John 6:51-56. It is the Passover meal. Jesus is the Passover lamb that all pointed to. Note: Exodus 12 and 1 Peter 1:18-19. The Passover lamb was an unblemished lamb that was killed and eaten. Its blood spared them the death of their first-born sons and by it they were “ransomed” from Egyptian bondage. This pre-figured the way that Christ’s precious blood would ransom people from bondage to sin. Inaugurating a New Covenant. When Jesus says “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins,” He is doing something new. He is inaugurating a new covenant. Under the old covenant, redemption was obtained in a provisional way by the killing of lambs. Under the new, only one sacrifice would be required--that of Jesus Christ. Mankind is restored to God’s family by his blood. Read Matthew 26:31-35. Read Matthew 26:36-56 Cat 103 Session 6 2 The Death and Resurrection of Jesus 3. After the Last Supper, Jesus is betrayed by Judas and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus’ prayer in the Garden: Jesus’ prayer teaches us how to pray--not for our will but God’s, and persistently. It also tells us why--because in prayer, our will can be conformed to the will of the Father. We can therefore, gain the strength to obey, even to death. Read Matthew 26:57-75 4. Jesus goes on trial before the Sanhedrin and is denied by St . Peter . Sanhedrin is the Jewish high court. Jesus’ prediction in verse 34 came true. On the cock crow, he remembered Jesus’ words “and went out and wept bitterly”. Compare Judas’ remorse over sinning “in betraying innocent blood” (verse 4) with “Peter’s bitter sadness” in Matthew 26:75. Peter is truly sorry. He repented and was restored to a right relationship with God. Judas is just sorry that things went further than he thought they would. In the end, Judas did not believe God’s power to save was greater than his own sin. His remorse led to despair (instead of repentance), and he killed himself. Read CCC 1430 – 1431 to emphasize the need for true interior repentance and compare this Catechism reference to that of Judas’ repentance. Read Matthew 27:1-14. 5. Because they could not inflict capital punishment on Jesus, the chief priests and elders bring Jesus before Pontius Pilate , the Roman governor in Judea. Read Matthew27:15-26 6. Although he found no case against Jesus, Pilate had Jesus scourged and crucified . Barabbas: Note that Pilate was not convinced of the charge against Jesus. He had done no evil. The crowd had no evidence. Pilate knew they delivered him up out of envy. He also had received a divine warning through a dream sent to his wife. He seems to expect that when given a choice between an innocent man and a notorious prisoner deserving death, the crowd will free Jesus. Compare and contrast Jesus and Barabbas. You have Jesus and Barabbas, two very different people standing side by side before Pilate. Barabbas’ name means, son of the father. He is a violent revolutionary and insurrectionist, a murderer– guilty as charged – worthy of death on his way to be crucified. And next to him you have Jesus the Son of the Cat 103 Session 6 3 The Death and Resurrection of Jesus Father, The Lamb of God, you have forgiveness, you have love, you have perfect beauty, you have infinite compassion and faithfulness. Jesus takes the place of Barrabas, the son of the father. The Son of the Father takes the place of the son of the father. The Son pays for the son’s sin, so that the son of the father, Barabbas, can be released. God is showing us that we are Barabbas! I am the one who is the murderer. I was the one who was guilty and worthy of death. I am the one that was lost and confused – but the Son of the Father took my place so that I could be a born again son of the Father. Read Matthew27:27-56 7. Around three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus gave up His spirit. Jesus’ passion must be seen in light of the original curse meted out in response to mankind’s original sin, which Jesus came to set right. Read over Genesis 3:14-24 and point out to students those elements of the curse in Genesis that Jesus now takes upon himself. Answers are as follows: both take place in a garden; the sweat is there, in drops of blood on Jesus’ brow; the thorns appear and have become His crown; Jesus is raised onto a tree and becomes the new fruit of the tree of life resulting once again in accessibility to humanity; Jesus conquered death and will be raised in newness of life. Jesus’ final words on the cross are “Eli, Eli lama sabachthani? – or, “My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?” (verse 46). This begins Psalm 22. This psalm that begins with the anguished prayer of a Godly sufferer ends in a torrent of praise and the confidence that God will ultimately vindicate him. It declares that “All nations shall worship before him. For dominion belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations” (verses 27-28). Though Christ suffered the depths of humiliation in His agony, He did not succumb to despair. In the very words that seem to cry that God has abandoned Him forever, are hidden the certainty that God is in control and will overcome His enemies. The tearing of the curtain from top to bottom. The curtain in the Temple divided the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place and set it off limits to anyone but the high priest. This curtain was a tangible expression of the separation that sin puts between God and man. That this curtain was torn from top to bottom at the moment of Christ’s death was a graphic announcement that His death had opened a new way of access to God and that the old system of sacrifices would no longer be needed. That the Tombs opened and saints were raised and appeared to many illustrates the fact that in His death, Christ has conquered death. This anticipates the resurrection to new life that Christ’s resurrection will make possible for all. These signs convinced the centurion and those who were with him that Jesus was truly the Son of God. Cat 103 Session 6 4 The Death and Resurrection of Jesus 8.