Hello, everyone.

I'm so happy that you are here with me today.

Thank you for choosing to join in with this RE lesson.

We're going to have a fun time learning together.

Make sure you listen carefully, try your best, and keep that brilliant brain of yours working hard.

I know you can do it.

Ready? Let's get started.

Our lesson today is taken from the unit Holy Week: what do the stories say and what is their meaning? We're gonna find out about the events that happened to Jesus after Good Friday.

The lesson today is called the Resurrection: different Gospel accounts, and by the end of our time together, we will all be able to say, "I can explain why the resurrection is important to different Christians." We will know what is meant by the word resurrection, and we will hear from different Christians about their own personal thoughts and opinions about the different accounts of the story from the books found in the Bible.

Today, there are three keywords that I would like us to learn and to remember to use in this lesson and to remember after the lesson as well.

I'm going to say the keyword first and then I would like you to repeat it after me and then we'll talk about what that keyword means.

How does that sound? Good? Okay, let's get started.

Our first keyword today is resurrection.

Resurrection.

Now, this means being brought back from the dead, and we're going to find out in our lesson today that Christians believe that Jesus was brought back from the dead or resurrected.

Okay, our second keyword today is Gospels.

Gospels.

Now these are the stories of Jesus' life and teaching, and we're going to find out how many of these Gospels were placed into the Bible and we're gonna find out what they are called as well.

Our final word today is sacrifice.

Sacrifice.

In our lesson today, this word means surrendering as an offering to God, and we are gonna find out that Christians believe that Jesus act as a sacrifice.

We have those three keywords locked in.

Brilliant.

Let's get started.

There are two parts to our lesson today.

The first part of our lesson, we'll answer the question, what do the Gospels say about the resurrection? And the second part of our lesson will answer the question, why is the resurrection important to Christians? Before we begin, Aisha will explain to us what we mean by theology in religious education.

She says, "Theologians are interested in stories, texts, and traditions.

We can better understand people's worldviews by examining what the deeper meaning of these stories, texts, and traditions are.

We can also look at the difference they make to people today." So in this lesson, we are going to be using the tools of theology to better understand different Christian worldviews about the accounts of Jesus' resurrection and why this story is so important to them.

Here is Gemma to tell us a little bit more about the Gospels.

Now, Gemma is a Salvationist.

She has a Christian worldview and she regularly reads the Bible.

She says, "In the Bible, there are four books called Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

They are known as the Gospels and they tell me the good news about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection." But what do you already know and what do you already remember about what Christians believe about Jesus? Are there any other stories, any other things about Him that you can recall? Why don't you pause the recording for a moment and talk to the person you're with about all the things that you can remember about what Christians believe already about Jesus.

Welcome back.

So Gemma is going to tell us a little bit more about the people who wrote the Gospels.

She says, "The writers of the Gospels are thought to be people who followed Jesus when He was on Earth or who followed Christianity after the resurrection.

They gathered together stories about Jesus.

These included the miracles he had performed and the messages he taught.

Four of these Gospels were added to the Christian Bible to tell others about His life.

Now, the Gospels were written after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Historians have fragments of these writings that go back to as early as 63 CE.

Now all the dates I'm about to show you are estimations.

That means that historians have agreed roughly on when these were written, but they don't know for definite.

So here is our timeline.

Now we're going to have a look at some dates on this timeline and they're going to have CE written after them.

CE stands for Common Era and you're also going to see a letter C before the numbers, and this means circa, this means about or around that date.

Okay, with that information, let's have a look at the beginning of this timeline.

Now our timeline starts at 0 CE, circa 0 CE, and that is when historians believe was the birth of Jesus.

And all the dates then start from zero.

At around circa 30 CE, we have the ministry of Jesus.

This is when Jesus started his teaching, travelling around the area that he lived in, and talking to people about God.

Three years later in circa 33 CE, this is when the death, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Jesus occurred.

Now after this time, this is when the Gospels were written.

They weren't written down at the time it happened.

The stories would've been told verbally and passed on in that kind of communication.

But later, people thought it was important to get this information and these stories written down, and this was the order that that was done in.

We start off in circa 60 CE, so 60 years after the birth of Jesus, and that's where Mark's Gospel was written down.

Next in circa 80 CE, we have Matthew's Gospel.

Then in circa 90 CE we have Luke's Gospel.

And finally in circa 110 CE, we have John's Gospel.

Now that's quite interesting because in the Bible they are written down in the order Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

But in the actual time that they were written, it was Mark's Gospel first, then Matthew, Luke, and John.

Time for a check of our understanding so far.

So let's do a true or false.

Now, you can either use your whiteboards to write down true or false to show me your answer, or you can show me with your thumbs thumb up or thumb down, is this true or false? So, historians know the exact dates of when the four Gospels were written.

Is that true or is that false? It was false.

Well done if you got that correct.

Now, why is that false? Well, the exact dates remain uncertain because of how long ago they were written, but historians agree on the approximate dates and the order the Gospels were written in.

Now, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all give slightly different accounts of the story of the resurrection of Jesus.

Matthew is the first book of the New Testament in the Bible and the first of the Gospels.

Matthew wrote mainly for Jews who already knew the Old Testament.

Matthew wanted to show the Jews that Jesus was the promised Messiah.

Mark is the second book of the New Testament in the Bible and the second of the Gospels, even though it was the first one to be written down.

Now, Mark wrote for people who liked short, action-packed stories and perhaps he was in quite a hurry to get things written down, so that's why his stories happen so quickly.

Luke is the third book of the New Testament in the Bible and the third of the Gospels.

Luke wrote for people who were not Jewish, Luke wrote stories that showed examples of Jesus' kindness and love.

John is the fourth book of the New Testament in the Bible and the fourth of the Gospels.

John wrote his Gospel to try to persuade non-believers that Jesus was the Son of God.

John wrote stories that focused on Jesus' miracles and teachings.

So the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are all writing for a slightly different audience, but there are certain things that they do agree on.

So when we find out about the stories, the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus, we're going to find out that women were the first people to visit the tomb.

We're going to find out that there was an angelic being announcing that Jesus was not in the tomb.

We're going to find out that it was on day three after the crucifixion.

We're going to find out that Jesus appeared to his followers in different forms after the resurrection.

And in each Gospel, the core message stays the same.

Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose again on the third day.

I would like to do a quick check of your understanding to make sure that we understand what I mean when I'm talking about the resurrection.

So I've got three pictures here.

Picture A, picture B, and picture C.

Now I'd like you to have a look and think about which one of these pictures represents the resurrection.

You can either write your answer down on your whiteboard or perhaps show me with your fingers one, two, three for A, B, C, which of these pictures represents the resurrection? Okay, off you go.

Welcome back.

Ready to show me your answers? Let's have a look.

Well done.

The answer is C.

C shows the resurrection.

We can see Jesus standing outside of the empty tomb.

The stone has been rolled away and He's talking to one of his followers, this time Mary Magdalene, and telling her that He is alive again.

Now, it wasn't A because picture A shows Jesus arriving in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and we can see that He's riding on the donkey and people are waving the palm branches.

And picture B is from Good Friday where the crucifixion happened.

This is the part of the story that talks about when Jesus died, not when he was resurrected.

Well done if you got that correct.

Now, let's have a little think about this part of the story of Jesus.

The resurrection is a very important part of the whole story of Jesus for Christians, and we're going to find out today what those different Gospels say.

The four Gospels all tell the story in a slightly different way.

So I'm going to talk to you now about the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

And as I do so, you might want to have your book or a piece of paper or your whiteboards and you might want to write down some notes in bullet points underneath each of those names just so you can go back and compare what the different accounts say.

Or you might just want to listen to me telling you the accounts and then you can have a look at the picture and just imagine what's happening yourself.

I'll get started.

The first extract that I'm going to talk to you about is taken from Matthew.

Now, this is in a part of the book in chapter 28.

And here it is.

It says, "Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

There was a violent earthquake for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.

The angels said to the woman, 'Don't be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

He's not here.

He has risen just as he said.

' So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples.

Suddenly Jesus met them.

'Greetings,' He said.

They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshipped Him." So that was taken from Matthew.

Now we're going to have a listen to an extract from Mark.

This one says, "Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome we're on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, 'Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?' But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away.

As they entered the tomb they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side.

'Don't be alarmed,' he said, 'you are looking for Jesus who was crucified.

He has risen.

He is not here.

Go tell His disciples.

' Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb.

They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid." So did you hear some similarities and some differences there between the account from Matthew and the account from Mark? Okay, next we're going to have a think about the account from Luke.

In Luke it says, "On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleaned like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, 'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here.

He has risen.

'" So again, could you hear some similarities and some differences there in Luke compared to Matthew and Mark.

Now there's another account in Luke as well about something that happened later on that day.

And in Luke it says, "Two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus.

They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.

As they talked, Jesus Himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognising Him.

He asked them, 'What are you discussing together as you walk along?' They asked Him, 'Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?' 'What things?' He asked.

'About Jesus,' they replied.

'He was a prophet, the chief priest and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified Him.

Some of our women amazed us.

They went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find His body.

They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said He was alive.

' Jesus explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning Himself.

As they approached the village, they urge Jesus strongly, 'Stay with us.

The day is almost over.

' So He went with them.

Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.

Then their eyes were opened and they recognised Him and He disappeared from their sight." So in that encounter, some of Jesus' followers met Him whilst they were travelling to this place called Emmaus, but for some reason they didn't realise that it was Jesus and it was only when he did the same thing that He had done during the last supper with the breaking of the bread that they suddenly realised this person they'd been talking to all afternoon was actually Jesus.

What an amazing encounter.

Our last extract is taken from John.

And it says this, "Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.

Mary stood outside the tomb crying.

She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus.

He asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying? Thinking he was the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him and I will get Him.

' Jesus said to her, 'Mary.

' She turned toward Him and cried out in Aramaic, 'Rabboni,'" which means teacher.

So in this moment similarly from in Luke, Mary did not realise who she was talking to until He said her name, and then she realised.

What a moment of going from such sadness to such joy.

You can understand why people like reading these stories.

Now, again, just like in Luke, John has another account a little bit later on, this time a week later, and it's to do with his follower called Thomas.

"Now, Thomas had heard other people talking about seeing Jesus and the fact that they believed He'd come back to life and he said, 'Unless I see, I will not believe.

'" So this account is from John.

"A week later, Jesus' disciples were in a house.

Thomas was with them.

Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, 'Peace be with you.

' Then he said to Thomas, 'Stop doubting and believe.

' Thomas said to Him, 'My Lord and my God.

' Then Jesus told him, 'Because you have seen me.

'" There we have different accounts from the four different Gospels about what happened at the resurrection.

Now, they were all slightly different but they all have things that they contain that are the same.

Let's have a quick recap.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary visit the tomb.

Then in the Gospel of Mark, Salome is also with them.

The Gospel of Luke says it is a group of women who visit the tomb.

And the Gospel of John says that it's Mary Magdalene.

Now, why would it have been the women that were going to visit Jesus on this Sunday morning? Well, they would've been visiting the tomb to anoint Jesus' body with spices after His death.

This was a normal practise during that time and it would've been the job of the women to do.

They couldn't have done it any earlier because it would've been the Sabbath, and so it would've been forbidden.

Now, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all give slightly different accounts of the story of the resurrection of Jesus, and I've made a little table here for you to have a look at to see those differences again.

So in Matthew, an angel rolls away the stone and sits on it.

Women visit the tomb, find Jesus is gone, and then Jesus appears to them.

In Mark, to begin with, the women were afraid and didn't tell anyone.

In the Luke, the women see two angelic figures at the tomb.

And later on that day, Jesus walks with two friends on the road to Emmaus.

And lastly, in the Gospel of John, this was the one where Mary Magdalene was talking to Jesus and didn't realise it was Him.

She thought He was a gardener.

And then later on or a week later, Jesus met Thomas and let him touch His wounds.

That's a lot of information to take in.

Well done.

You've been concentrating and focusing really well.

Let's have a check of our understanding of what we've heard so far.

So can we recall, in which Gospel does Mary Magdalene mistake Jesus for a gardener? Was it A, Matthew, B, Mark, C, Luke, or D, John? Either show me on your whiteboard or show me one, two, three, four on your fingers to show me what you think the answer is.

The answer is John.

It was John's Gospel where Mary Magdalene mistook Jesus for a gardener.

Now, here's Izzy.

Izzy is wondering why there are different accounts of the resurrection in the Gospels.

Surely, the story should be the same.

So why is there a difference? Now, here's Gemma to help us to try and understand why that is.

She says, "Imagine four friends watching the same football match.

If they each told the story of what happened, they might focus on different details.

One might remember the winning goal, another might talk about the crowd cheering, and someone else might remember the weather.

Just like the friends watching a football match, the writers of the Gospel did the same thing.

They all agree that Jesus rose from the dead, but they each remembered all were told different details." Let's check our understanding.

So in the Bible, is there just one account of the resurrection of Jesus? Is that true or is that false? Show me on your whiteboards or with your thumbs what you think the answer is to that true or false question.

Okay, what did you put? Let's have a look at the right answer.

It's false.

Why is it false? Well, there are four accounts of the resurrection of Jesus.

They can be found in the Gospels.

Even though the accounts differ, they all agree that Jesus rose from the dead.

Now it's time for our first practise task of this lesson and joining us are Andeep, Sofia, Lucas, and Izzy and they've mixed up what each Gospel says about the resurrection.

So can you match them correctly? So Andeep says Matthew was the one who said that Mary mistook Jesus for a gardener and let Thomas touch His wounds.

Lucas says that it was Luke who said that an angel rolled away the stone and sat on top of it, and then Jesus appeared to the women.

Sofia thinks it was Mark who said that the women saw two glowing men, and later on the disciples saw Jesus but did not realise it was Him on that road to a Emmaus.

And Izzy says that it was John who wrote about the women being too scared to tell anyone to begin with.

Can you talk to the people that you're with? You might want to talk about the right answers or you might want to write them out and tell me how you know.

You go off and do that and I'll see you in a little while.

Welcome back, everybody.

Did you match them correctly? Let's have a look.

It looks like Andeep, Lucas, Sofia, and Izzy have managed to fix that problem now as well.

So we know that it was John who said that Mary mistook Jesus for a gardener, that fourth Gospel.

That's also where we learn about doubting Thomas meeting Jesus and Jesus letting Thomas touch His wounds.

We know Lucas, don't we, that it was Matthew who said that an angel rolled away the stone and then sat on top of it, and then Jesus appeared to the women.

Sofia, well done.

She's fixed hers too.

It's Luke that says that the women saw the two glowing men, and that later on, on that road to Emmaus, the disciples saw Jesus but didn't realise that it was Him.

And well done, Izzy.

Last of all, we have understood that it was Mark who first of all said that the women were too scared to tell anyone.

It's time to move on to the second part of our lesson.

And this part of the lesson is going to answer the question, why is the resurrection important to Christians? So as the four Gospels differ in the way they tell the story of Jesus' resurrection, so Christians interpret the meaning of the story differently.

We're going to meet Asher, Gemma, and Canon Ann and see how they interpret these stories and what they mean to them.

Here's Asher first of all.

Let's find out what the resurrection means to him.

Now, Asher is a Protestant Christian and he goes to a free church.

And he says, "The story of the resurrection is important to me because it proves to me that Jesus really was the Son of God.

This means that I can trust in and follow the teachings of Jesus.

The story in Luke of Jesus talking to two disciples on the way to Emmaus and them not realising is a favourite mine.

It tells me that God is with me even when I don't realise it." So, what I would like you to do now is to pause the recording and with the person you're with, talk about what Asher has said.

Okay, just pause the recording and have a talk about that and then come back and we'll find out what the answer is.

Okay, everybody, what did you pull out from Asher's quote to explain why the resurrection was important to him? This is what I've chosen.

For Asher, an important meaning of the resurrection is that it proves that Jesus was the Son of God and that he can trust in Jesus.

I think everything that Asher has said is all leading to the fact that Asher believes he can trust in God and trust in Jesus.

And the part of what he said that I think shows this is the bit where he said that the story of the resurrection proves to him that Jesus really was the Son of God and that he can then trust in and follow the other teachings of Jesus because of the trust that that story gives him in God and Jesus.

Let's have a check of what we've just found out about Asher.

Why was the resurrection important to him? Was it A, because it proved that Jesus was just a human being? Was it B, because it proved that Jesus was the Son of God? Was it C, because it proved that God existed, or D, it proved that Jesus did not actually die? Okay, on your whiteboard or with your fingers, you're gonna show me the answer.

What did you put? It was B.

Well done.

B is the answer.

The resurrection is important to Asher because it proved to him that Jesus was the Son of God and he can now trust what the teachings of Jesus were because of that event.

Hey, here's Gemma.

Gemma is a member of the Salvation Army, and we're going to hear from her about why the resurrection is important to her and what it means.

But can you, again, pull out a word or a phrase or an idea that shows why the resurrection is important to Gemma? "The story of the resurrection is important to me because it is about Jesus' ultimate sacrifice and the beginning of the greatest miracle of all for me.

Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection means that I am saved.

My favourite account is from the Gospel of John when Mary mistakes Jesus for the gardener.

I love how her emotions change from despair to joy so quickly when she realises it is Him and He is alive." Talk to somebody you're with about which word or phrase shows and demonstrates why the resurrection is important to Gemma.

Let's find out what the resurrection means to Gemma.

So for Gemma, an important meaning of the resurrection is that she believes Jesus' death was a sacrifice and that this means she's saved from sin.

She talks about it being Jesus' ultimate sacrifice, and she says that Jesus' sacrifice and resurrection means that I am saved.

So, she believes that because of this account of the resurrection, she is now saved from sin.

Why is the resurrection story important to Gemma? Is it that for her, Jesus' death was an incarnation? Is it that it was a sacrifice or was it a victory? So A, for an incarnation, B for a sacrifice, C, for a victory.

Gonna show me on your whiteboard or with your fingers what you think the answer is? Well done, everybody.

The answer of course was B, that the story meant that Jesus' death was a sacrifice for Gemma.

Now Canon Ann Easter is a priest in an Anglican church, and we're going to find out what the resurrection means to her.

And once again, what I would like you to do is to think of a word or a phrase from what she tells us that explains to us what the resurrection means to her.

She says, "The story of the resurrection is important to me because it shows me that Jesus had victory over death.

I can help people in my church understand that death is not the end.

We can have hope.

My favourite account is from the Gospel of John, when Jesus speaks kindly to Thomas about his doubts about whether the resurrection is really true." So for Ann, an important meaning of the resurrection is victory over death because this gives her hope.

She says that it shows me that Jesus was not defeated by death, and because of that, death is not the end and we can have hope.

Why is the resurrection story important to Canon Ann Easter? Because it gives her A, faith, B, hope, or C, love.

Show me on your whiteboards or with your fingers what the answer is to that question.

Well done.

It was B, hope.

The resurrection story for Canon Ann Easter gives her hope.

Now, we have our second practise task of today's lesson.

And here's Laura.

Laura's thinking about why the resurrection is important to Christians.

And she says, "I think all Christians see exactly the same meaning in the resurrection stories." Hmm, everybody, do we agree with Laura or do we have a different idea? Okay, I think we have a different idea.

So remember what Asher, Gemma, and Ann told us about why the resurrection was important to them and what they thought the meaning of the story was for them.

And then can you help Laura improve her answer using the different meanings Asher, Gemma, and Canon Ann believe about the resurrection story.

Can you use the words in your answer hope, saved, and trust? Have a little think about what you would like to write, and then you can either talk to somebody in your class about what you think the answer is, or you could write it down, and then come back and we'll share our answers.

Ready? Okay, off you go.

Now, when giving your reasons why the resurrection is important to Christians, you may have written, all Christians agree that the resurrection of Jesus is important to them, but they can understand different meanings from the Gospels.

For example, Ann says hope is the most important meaning.

Asher says, for him it is that he can trust God.

And Gemma says the resurrection story shows she is saved from sin.

Now, did you have another answer? Did you have a different explanation? So we have learned that the Christian story of Jesus' resurrection is the core of a Christian's faith and belief.

Christians believe that Jesus was a sacrifice and the resurrection shows God's power over death.

All four Gospels tell of the discovery of the empty tomb, the women first discovering Jesus was alive, and visits from angels.

Included in the stories of the Gospels are records of meetings between the disciples and Jesus after the resurrection.

And Christians take different messages from the different accounts in the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John about what this teaches them about Jesus.

It has been such a joy and a pleasure being with you today in this RE lesson, and I hope to see you again soon in our next one.

All right, everybody, take care and bye for now.