| Bible |
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| 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." |
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| The
script keeps closely to the biblical text, linking passages in unexpected
ways to bring home the message more powerfully. The script of the Passion
Play brought together passages from different Gospels. When making a study
of those passages it is interesting to set them out side by side. Among
the excellent sites doing this which can be accessed via the
New Testament Gateway is John Marshall's Five
Gospel Parallels. |
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| FRIENDSHIP
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| 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] |
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| CONFLICT
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| 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.
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| 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. |
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| DEATH
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| 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. |
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| RESURRECTION
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| 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. |
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