Chaplain

Yr 8 have been submitting creative works reflecting on the nature and identity of Jesus.

‘Who is Jesus?’, is a life question that is posed to each generation since Jesus himself addressed this to Peter. The gospels were written by four different disciples openly answering this question by presenting the life of Jesus, climaxing with his death and resurrection.

The historical evidence for Jesus is of the highest academic integrity, enabling good research to answering this question. The existence of Jesus and the accuracy of the New Testament accounts are the closest we get to fact in history. The textual reliability, the archaeological evidence, the non-Christian documents confirming details, all provide good evidence for the historicity of the New Testament’s account of Jesus of Nazareth. Yr 8 students have been reading for themselves the Gospel of Mark and have been repeatedly surprised to discover the tone, the details, the responses of people and the complexity of the historical period. It is great that they are seeing the details for themselves rather than relying on what people say about the bible. Going back to the primary sources is a valuable thing to do to intelligently respond to this question.

However answering this question is not just an academic question as it touches nature of reality. One inescapable aspect of reading the gospel is that Jesus, himself, claimed to be God in person. His life and teaching show that he is not a lunatic nor that he had delusions of grandeur but rather was a man of humility, full of compassion and integrity. His actions as described by the eyewitnesses seem to confirm the reality of extraordinary power, not magic but real majesty, supernatural actually miraculous. Some students were taken aback discovering the Gospel showed many people at the time who were sceptical and yet were convinced by the evidence. So Jesus challenges our ideas of the existence of God and nature of God, offering himself as exhibit A.

The student’s offering used a spectrum of mediums: art, poetry, dance, creative writing, photography, digital and sculpture. Each needed to consider Mark’s presentation and reflect it in their creative work. Essential to their submission was the explanations of their thinking including a personal conclusion.

Our hope is that our students will have a better grasp of the real Jesus, the biblical Jesus. Perhaps now is a good time for all of us to take some time to read the gospels and ponder Jesus and the question that has transformed lives through the centuries and today: ‘Who do you say that I am?’

Ms Bronwyn Lihou
Senior Campus Chaplain
blihou@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9830

Ms Fiona McKenzie
Junior Campus Chaplain
fmckenzie@redlands.nsw.edu.au
9968 9897