RESURRECTION: Study Guide
for the Video Translation of John 20:1-31
Resurrection is a Scripture video that uses words, images, and music to translate from the ancient Greek text the story of Jesus’ resurrection as found in John 20:1-31.
The contemporary setting for the video translation reflects the first century community setting of the gospel account itself. The video depicts a group of mourners who are wrestling with the loss of a loved one when they are confronted with the story of Jesus’ resurrection as recorded in John’s Gospel.
The setting is a simple church where a congregation memorializes, through the use of photographs and music, a beloved person who has died. The congregation, like the community of disciples in John’s Gospel, is bonded by its memories and its sense of loss and reminds viewers that the Christian life is not a life lived in isolation, but a life lived in community with and for others.
About John 20
John 20 recounts the days after Jesus’ death when his grieving friends went to his tomb and found that the body of Jesus was not there. Jesus’ friends were bewildered. What could have happened to his body? At first they assumed it had been stolen, and they responded with anger, confusion, and fear. They gathered in locked rooms, afraid that the same religious authorities who called for Jesus’ execution might now turn on them.
The disciples, who were among Jesus’ closest friends, were unable to comprehend at first the reality of the resurrection. Gradually, as a result of their relationship to Jesus, the disciples began to understand that Jesus was not gone from them in death but was with them in a new, more powerful way. Their grief changed to understanding and awareness that Jesus was now alive. The resurrection became the lens through which the disciples viewed the previous events in Jesus’ life, grasping, as they never quite did before, his identification with God.
Thomas, who doubted the words of the other disciples that Jesus had risen, said he would not believe unless he could touch Jesus’ wounds. Finally, standing before the resurrected Christ, Thomas was moved to exclaim, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus breathed his spirit into the disciples and sent them forth to share in this new life.
Things to Think About
1. What images from the video stick out in your mind? Why were they memorable?
2. What did you think the interplay of light, dark, and shadow in the video symbolized? How did you feel when you saw the leaves in the final scene rising toward the light?
3. How does the video address the issues of loss and doubt?
4. What message does the story offer to contemporary followers of Jesus who believe even though they have not seen what Thomas saw?
5. Why is the resurrection a key principle of the Christian faith? Is it important to know that Jesus is alive rather than some historic figure who lived in the past?
6. How does faith in the resurrection make it possible for people to live for others in ways that might not otherwise make sense, such as giving up economic or social success to serve the poor, or risking one’s comfort or safety for the cause of justice?
7. Can you think of any Christian heroes or heroines of the past or present who took risks for a cause they believed in? How does the promise of resurrection sustain people of faith who undertake such risks?
8. At the end of the video, what reason is given for telling viewers that some of Jesus’ miracles are recorded in John’s Gospel?
9. In a single sentence, how would you summarize the message of the resurrection?
10. What does this statement mean to you? “Being a Christian means living out an ‘Easter faith,’ that is, a faith rooted in the reality of Jesus’ resurrection.”
11. How does faith in the resurrection transform and sustain believers today? How does such faith give new hope and meaning to everyday life?
12. In what ways is the resurrection a sign of God’s promise that evil will not have the last word?
