11C Understanding the Gospel Story

Task 14: The 4 GospelsCard Activity

Instructions:

Groups of four students.

One set of cards for each group of students.

Shuffle the cards and place face down in the centre of the group.

Each member takes a turn to pick up a card.

After picking up the card, the student whose turn it is, reads out what is on the card and then states which of the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke or John – the information on the card refers to.

If the student does not know the answer, he/she can “pass” and another student can provide the answer.

A very different gospel from the other three / Jesus brings life and light to our human condition / Possibly produced in Ephesus
The washing of the feet replaces the Eucharistic narrative at the Last Supper / Includes the stories of the wedding at Cana, Nicodemus, and the Samaritan woman / The cleansing of the Temple comes early in this gospel
It was written for a community cut off from the Jewish feasts and traditions / Jesus replaces all that Judaism has to offer / It was probably written for Christians in Rome who were experiencing persecution under Nero
It is dominated by suffering and the Cross / It begins and ends suddenly / Jesus tells people to keep quiet about his works of healing
Jesus moves quickly around Galilee before beginning a final journey to Jerusalem / A Gentile centurion recognises that Jesus is the Son of God / This gospel asks: “Who is Jesus?”
This gospel does not proclaim the Christ of glory / It contains many quotations from the Old Testament / This gospel emphasises Jesus’ role as a teacher
It contains the Sermon on the Mount / Jesus is presented as the new Moses / It was probably written for Jewish Christians in Antioch
This gospel is organised around five blocks of Jesus’ teaching / It was probably written around 85 AD / Like Luke this gospel uses Mark as a source
Like Matthew this gospel uses Mark as a source / It was written around the same time as Matthew / It was written for Gentile Christians, possibly those living in wealthy cities
Jesus is full of compassion and great forgiveness / It contains unique stories such as the Lost Son / This gospel shows a special concern for women
The degraded and the outcasts are viewed with tenderness in this gospel / Although Israel has a special place in the history of salvation the Good News is intended for everyone

Answers:

The name of the relevant gospel appears in bold after the information contained on each card as below:

  • A very different gospel from the other three (John)
  • Jesus brings life and light to our human condition (John)
  • Possibly produced in Ephesus (John)
  • The washing of the feet replaces the Eucharistic narrative at the Last Supper (John)
  • Includes the stories of the wedding at Cana, Nicodemus, and the Samaritan woman (John)
  • The cleansing of the Temple comes early in this gospel (John)
  • It was written for a community cut off from the Jewish feasts and traditions (John)
  • Jesus replaces all that Judaism has to offer (John)
  • It was probably written for Christians in Rome who were experiencing persecution under Nero (Mark)
  • It is dominated by suffering and the Cross (Mark)
  • It begins and ends suddenly (Mark)
  • Jesus tells people to keep quiet about his works of healing (Mark)
  • Jesus moves quickly around Galilee before beginning a final journey to Jerusalem (Mark)
  • A Gentile centurion recognises that Jesus is the Son of God (Mark)
  • This gospel asks: “Who is Jesus?” (Mark)
  • This gospel does not proclaim the Christ of glory (Mark)
  • It contains many quotations from the Old Testament (Matthew)
  • This gospel emphasises Jesus’ role as a teacher (Matthew)
  • It contains the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew)
  • Jesus is presented as the new Moses (Matthew)
  • It was probably written for Jewish Christians in Antioch (Matthew)
  • This gospel is organised around five blocks of Jesus’ teaching (Matthew)
  • It was probably written around 85 AD (Matthew)
  • Like Luke this gospel uses Mark as a source (Matthew)
  • Like Matthew this gospel uses Mark as a source (Luke)
  • It was written around the same time as Matthew (Luke)
  • It was written for Gentile Christians, possibly those living in wealthy cities (Luke)
  • Jesus is full of compassion and great forgiveness (Luke)
  • It contains unique stories such as the Lost Son (Luke)
  • This gospel shows a special concern for women (Luke)
  • The degraded and the outcasts are viewed with tenderness in this gospel (Luke)
  • Although Israel has a special place in the history of salvation the Good News is intended for everyone (Luke)