S16 E4: The One About GCSE RE - Incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, ascension

Do your students get confused between these four events, or mention reincarnation?  Such a common misconception.  I hope this episode clarifies these key events in the life of Jesus, helps students understand the significance of them and apply them to 4 & 6 markers.

Over the summer, I recorded a series of episodes to support GCSE RE - specifically AQA Islam and Christianity.  Suppose you are a student of GCSE RE, or a teacher of GCSE RE who is new to teaching GCSE, or new to AQA, or you are a teacher from another subject teaching GCSE for the first time. In that case, I hope these episodes are beneficial to you in consolidating your learning, preparing for exams if you are a student, or helping you feel more confident if you are a teacher.

The first episode provides an overview of Paper 1 - Religious Beliefs and Practices, covering the exam structure, how to approach the various question types, and offering some top tips for the exam. Each subsequent episode will provide an overview of the main content and apply it to key exam questions. Last week I released one on Creation and the role of the word and the spirit in creation, including the two key quotes that must be learnt.

This episode focuses on two bullet points on the Christian beliefs spec;

Beliefs and teachings about:

• the incarnation and Jesus as the Son of God
• the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension

Explain two ways in which belief in the incarnation of Jesus influences Christians today.

So belief in the incarnation influences Christians to celebrate Christmas.

This event marks the birth of Jesus and is a chance for Christians to give thanks to God for sending Jesus to save them from their sins.

Christians will be encouraged to show forgiveness to others and this is because whilst on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive those who put him there.

So Christians may wish to demonstrate forgiveness in their own lives.

Explain two Christian teachings about the crucifixion of Jesus. Refer to sacred writings or another source of Christian belief and teaching in your answer.

Many Christians believe that Jesus is crucifixion was the act of sacrifice which saved them from their sins.
Through Jesus' death, Christians can achieve salvation and go to heaven to be reunited with God.
Christians believe that the crucifixion is the ultimate act of love from God
This can be seen in the Bible when it says for God so loved the world he gave his only son.
This shows that God loves his creation unconditionally and wants to give them the chance to be saved.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to the RE Podcast, the first dedicated RE podcast for students and teachers. My name is Louisa Jane Smith, and this is the R.E. Podcast. The podcast for those of you who think RE is boring, which it is, and I'll prove it to you. So, welcome to the fourth episode in this series on GCSE RE, focusing specifically on AQA, Islam and Christianity. So, episode one was a general introduction to Paper 1. Episode 2 looked at the nature of God and the Trinity and the oneness of God. Episode 3 looked at creation and the role of the Word and the Spirit in creation, as well as those two key Bible verses, Genesis 1, 1 to 3 and John 1, 1 to 3. In this episode, we're going to look at four key events in Jesus' life grouped together. We'll be looking at the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension individually, but also consider how they connect. Now, don't worry about all those big words, I will explain them all. They're not quite as scary as they might first seem, and you might already feel quite confident in them. For each one, we're going to look at two key ideas, two influences that this belief could have on Christians today, and a quote to prepare you for your exam. There are four separate events in Jesus' life, and sometimes students get confused between them. So we'll start with the incarnation. This literally means in flesh. So if you speak Spanish, carne is meat or flesh. So incarnation means in flesh. And Asian means a process. So it's the process of becoming flesh. And so it's the belief that God became human, so took on human form in the person of Jesus. We're talking here about the event which begins with the birth of Jesus for Christians. As we've looked at before when we did an episode on the Trinity, Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time. He was born as a Messiah, which is a word that means saviour, someone sent to save, to save humans from the consequence of their sins and restore that relationship between God and humanity that was damaged from sin and original sin, which we will look at in future episodes. So how does this belief of God coming to earth in human form influence Christians today? Well, first it could encourage them to celebrate Christmas. So Christmas is the Christian festival that celebrates the birth of Jesus, a part of which will involve giving thanks to God for Jesus' birth and for sending Jesus to earth as a sacrifice to save humans from the consequence of sin. Secondly, thinking about the nature of God from our previous episode, sending Jesus as a Messiah to save humans from sin is another example of God's omnibenevolence or his loving nature. God sends Jesus for the purpose to save humans, making the ultimate sacrifice as a sign of his unconditional love. This can help Christians to understand God's love or to show God's love to others in their lives as well. A quote to illustrate the incarnation that you could use in your exam is this one. Again, remember when we see that term the word, this is another title for Jesus. And this quote is actually the next line from that quote we did last episode. This is the next verse. So the word became flesh and lived among us. So this quote is just showing that Jesus became flesh, became human form, and lived as a human on earth. So the next event we're going to look at is the crucifixion of Jesus. Now, this is the death of Jesus, and it was a normal form of capital punishment used at the time by the Romans. And interestingly, if you've ever used the word excruciating, meaning extreme pain, it comes from the Latin excrucio or of the cross. So we know that this form of punishment was really, really painful. And it also helps us remember that crucifixion is the death of Jesus. However, this particular crucifixion is incredibly important for Christians, and it draws together lots of themes that we've been talking about so far in our previous episodes. The crucifixion of Jesus is the act which repairs the relationship between humans and God. That relationship was broken down because of original sin, that sin that Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden by eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The crucifixion is also the ultimate act of love from God, which links to what we were talking about when we looked at the nature of God and particularly God's loving nature or omnibenevolence. Also, we have just looked at the incarnation, and the crucifixion as an event explained why the incarnation was necessary. Why did God have to come to earth in the form of Jesus in the first place? Because the relationship between God and humans needed to be repaired, because sin separates God and humans. Jesus was sent as a Messiah as a savior. So the crucifixion is this necessary act to repair the relationship between humans and God so that humanity can be saved. Another key belief relating to the crucifixion is the descriptions of the events that went alongside it. So in the Gospels we hear things like the curtain of the temple tearing into two, darkness falling for several hours in the middle of the day, and the earth shaking. All of these symbols show that this was no ordinary crucifixion, and that the act itself was accepted by God as an act of sacrifice to repair their relationship between God and humans. So how do these beliefs influence Christians today? Well, whilst on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive those who put him on the cross. So for Christians today they could be influenced to forgive others and show acts of forgiveness in their own life, just as Jesus showed an act of forgiveness when he was on the cross. Secondly, Christians could be influenced to celebrate Easter, a Christian celebration that reminds them of the sacrifice of the crucifixion, and then the resurrection of Jesus. And through this celebration, part of the theme of that festival is to give thanks to God for that ultimate sacrifice, to thank God for being loving, for being omnibenevolent, for the chance to repair that relationship, for allowing humans to go to heaven for eternity and be with God. We can actually use the same quote here that we used when we looked at the nature of God. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son. So this is a great way that you can condense the number of some of those quotes and think carefully about how you might be able to use them in more than one place in your exam. Our next event in the life of Jesus we're going to look at is the resurrection. This is the belief of being raised from the dead, and the event that took place three days after the crucifixion, where Christians believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. A huge misconception here is that they look at the word resurrection, and students have already learned the word incarnation, and they quite often put those things together and make reincarnation, which is obviously a belief from a completely different religion, as from Buddhism, Sikhi, and Hindu Dharma. So it's really important if you are a teacher that you explicitly teach your students the difference between incarnation, resurrection, and reincarnation, so they don't get confused. If you are a student, make sure that you feel really confident between the difference between these words. So resurrection is the belief of being raised from the dead. And it is the specific event that took place three days after the crucifixion where Christians believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. Now, there are lots of key beliefs surrounding this as well, but we're just going to focus on a couple here. The resurrection is proof for many Christians that Jesus truly was fully human and fully God. Had Jesus not come back to life after the crucifixion, many would have thought that he was just an ordinary human dying on the cross. However, being able to do something that humans can't do by resurrecting on the third day, it was proof for many people at the time that Jesus was both fully God and fully human at the same time. So when we think about going back to that concept of the Trinity, what it means for Jesus to be the Son of God, again we are emphasizing the idea that Jesus was not part human and part God. He was fully God and fully human at the same time. So the resurrection is a sign of this divinity, which is a word of being divine, being God. Secondly, it shows that God the Father accepted the sacrifice of the crucifixion and that it had worked, that death had overcome life. Good overcame evil, and salvation becomes possible. So being saved, and I'll talk about that in a future episode. It shows Christians that death is not the end, because Jesus overcomes death, and they too will be able to overcome death when they are reunited with God in heaven after their physical life on earth has ended. So how does this belief influence Christians today? Well, one, it emphasizes that belief that Jesus truly was the Son of God, and it influences them to accept that he was the Son of God, and then to worship Him as such. Secondly, it gives hope of an afterlife. Jesus coming back from the dead shows Christians that there is more to life than just this physical life on earth, and they too can have life with God in heaven after they die. A really nice quote to emphasize this is the one where Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. What he goes on to say here is that people who believe in him will never die. And by that he means that if you accept that Jesus is the Son of God by believing in this resurrection, that you too will get to continue life in heaven with God. There are other really great verses too. You can simply say he is risen, which was a quote by the angels or the men in white that were in the empty tomb when the women went to visit the tomb on the Sunday morning. The other quote that's really good, there's a quote later in the Bible that says, If Christ was not raised, your faith is pointless. And so it shows the importance of the resurrection for proving Christianity. The final event that we need to look at in this Christian belief section of Jesus' life is the ascension. To ascend means to go up. Conversely, to descend means to go down. So we're talking about Jesus going up. And we're talking specifically about this in a Christian context. So we're talking about the event that happens 40 days after the resurrection, when Jesus returns to heaven to be reunited with God. So in other words, he goes up to heaven with God or back to heaven with God. Again, there are lots of beliefs and lots of stories surrounding this very significant event in Christianity, but we're just going to focus on two. First of all, Jesus was taken back to heaven 40 days after his resurrection. So this doesn't happen straight away. He spends time on earth before going back to heaven to be reunited with God. Secondly, he blesses his disciples right before he ascends and he tells them to keep spreading the gospel. So how do these beliefs influence Christians? Well, first of all, when Jesus is taken back into heaven, notice those words that he's taken back into heaven. He doesn't die again. So for Christians, this is really important. Jesus doesn't resurrect and then die and then go to heaven. He is taken back to heaven. He hasn't died and he's still alive in heaven with God. And it gives Christians hope that Jesus is going to return. So there are lots of teachings in Christianity about the return of Jesus and Jesus returning to judge people when they die. So this gives Christians hope that Jesus is going to come back. Secondly, with these instructions that he gives the disciples, blessing them and telling them to keep spreading the gospel, that can encourage Christians today to keep spreading the teachings of Jesus, to evangelize and talk to people about God and share the teachings and life of Jesus to those around them. And we'll do a little bit more on this in the Christian practices series when we talk about evangelism. A quote to emphasize this is when in the Bible it says, while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up to heaven. So you've got two parts to this. One, the blessing of the disciples, and two, being taken up to heaven. So if he's taken up to heaven, he's going to be able to return to earth again one day. So in terms of your four mark influence questions, you could get an influence question on any of those four events: the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, or the ascension. So that is why we've gone through each one in turn and broken down how each of these individual events in their own right might influence Christians in different ways. But let's have a look at one. So let's think about the question, explain two ways in which a belief in the incarnation influences Christians today. So, belief in the incarnation influences Christians to celebrate Christmas. This event marks the birth of Jesus and is a chance for Christians to give thanks to God for sending Jesus to save them from their sins. Christians will also be encouraged to show forgiveness to others, and this is because whilst on the cross, Jesus asked God to forgive those who put him there. So Christians may wish to demonstrate forgiveness in their own lives. So here we have two key influences. Remember, we're always looking for the impact that the belief has on the life of Christians today. So one is to celebrate Christmas, and the other is to show forgiveness. And each of these points have been expanded with some explanation to show why or how they might do that. What you could do now is have a go at the other questions, setting a full mark timer for each one. Remember to read the question carefully so that your point only refers to the event which it is asking you about. So if the question is about incarnation, don't accidentally start writing about crucifixion. Or if the question is about resurrection, don't accidentally start writing about the ascension. So just take your time in the exam to read that question carefully and make sure that you are writing about the event in which the question is asking you about. So the question will be: explain two ways in which a belief in the whatever of Jesus influences Christians today. So you can put in crucifixion, resurrection, or ascension. Similarly, with your six mark questions, you could be asked about any of those four events. You'd need to give two Christian beliefs or teachings about each of those events and also add in a quote with the source of that quote to get that fifth mark and apply the quote to the question for your sixth mark. So let's have a look at what one of those might look like. So here we're going to have a look at crucifixion so that we can look at a different event. So explain two Christian teachings about the crucifixion of Jesus, refer to sacred writings or another source of Christian belief and teaching in your answer. And here's the response. Many Christians believe that Jesus' crucifixion was an act of sacrifice which saved them from their sins. Through Jesus' death, Christians can achieve salvation and go to heaven to be reunited with God. Secondly, Christians believe that the crucifixion is the ultimate act of love from God, and this is because God loves his creation unconditionally and wanted to give them the chance to be saved. This can be seen in the Bible when it says, For God so loved the world, he gave his only son. And this shows that God gave his son because of his love for the world. So here we have our two key beliefs about crucifixion. So one is that it enables Christians to be saved, and two, that the crucifixion was an act of love from God. And then we have an explanation to develop each of these points, followed by the quote for the second point, which is clearly sourced as coming from the Bible. And then we have applied that quote to the question. To ensure that you are able to get those six marks, set yourself a five-minute timer. So usually it's about one minute per mark, but I think actually if you spend five minutes on your six markers, it gives you a bit of extra time for your 12 mark, doesn't it? And you can have a go at some of those other questions. So explain two Christian beliefs about, and then you can choose the incarnation, resurrection, or ascension. And just with the four markers, make sure you read the question carefully so that you are talking about the correct event that the question is asking you about, and that you don't stray into talking about one of the other three events. It's a really common mistake that students make in the exam. So it's really good to have a go, practice some of these in time conditions, take your answers into school to your teachers, and they'll be able to mark them for you and give you some feedback. Again, I hope this episode has been helpful for you, that you've got a really strong sense of the four key events in Jesus' life you need for the exam: the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension, that you are clear of the difference between them and the importance of each of them, that you have a quote for each of them, that you understand how each of them influences Christians today. In our next episode, we're going to be looking at sin and original sin that I've mentioned in this episode. We're going to have a look at the role of Jesus in salvation and atonement, and we're going to look at salvation through law, grace, and spirit. So hopefully you'll join me for that. My name is Louisa Jane Smith, and this has been the R.E. Podcast, the podcast for those of you who think RE is boring, which it might be, but it's a really good GCSE to get. Really help you in your future. So I hope this helps you to get the grade that you are hoping for. And thank you so much for letting me all the life out of you.