The Last Days of Jesus
Follow the final days of Jesus in Mark's Gospel - the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the trial, the crucifixion and the resurrection - and explore what they tell Christians about who Jesus is.
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Free and interactive, so you are arguing with the material rather than rereading it.
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The final days
For this part of the course you study Mark's Gospel. Its account of the last days of Jesus - the Last Supper, the arrest, the trial, the cross and the empty tomb - is central to the question "who is Jesus?". This module follows those events and explores what Christians believe they show about Jesus. All quotations use the public-domain King James Version.
Passion narrative words
Four terms run through the account:
Match each person to their part in the story
- Judas
- Peter
- Pilate
- The centurion
- Betrayed Jesus to the authorities
- Denied knowing Jesus three times
- The Roman governor who sentenced Jesus
- Called Jesus the Son of God at the cross
At the Last Supper
At the Last Supper, over the bread, Jesus said (in the King James Version):
- This is my body
- Let there be light
- I am the way
- Blessed are the meek
The crucifixion
Jesus was crucified at Golgotha. Mark records his cry from the cross (King James Version): "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" When he saw how Jesus died, the Roman centurion said, "Truly this man was the Son of God" (Mark 15:39). For Christians this moment answers the gospel's central question about who Jesus is.
Part of the last days?
Select the TWO events that belong to the last days of Jesus in Mark's Gospel.
- The Last Supper with his disciples
- Praying in the garden of Gethsemane
- Turning water into wine at a wedding
- Walking on the water in Galilee
Two disciples who failed
Mark contrasts two disciples in Jesus's final hours.
Who is this man?
Seeing how Jesus died, the Roman centurion declared him to be:
- The Son of God
- A great teacher and nothing more
- A dangerous political rebel
- A loyal Roman citizen
Put it together
In his last days Jesus shared the _____ Supper, prayed in _____, and was betrayed by _____. He was crucified at Golgotha, where a _____ called him the Son of God. Christians believe he rose again in the _____.
The order of events
Put the events of the last days into the order Mark's Gospel gives them.
- Jesus enters Jerusalem to crowds waving palms
- He shares the Last Supper with his disciples
- He prays in Gethsemane and is arrested
- He is tried before the high priest and Pilate
- He is crucified, and Christians believe he rises again
Match each event to its meaning for Christians
- The Last Supper
- The crucifixion
- The resurrection
- The empty tomb
- Remembered by Christians in Holy Communion
- Seen as Jesus dying for the sins of the world
- The belief that death is not the end
- The first sign that Jesus had risen
What does it show?
Three questions about the meaning of these events for Christians. Pick the best answer each time.
- Mark's Gospel asks "who is Jesus?". Which title does it emphasise at the cross?
- Why is the Last Supper important to Christians today?
- For Christians, what does the resurrection suggest about Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
Using events from the last days of Jesus in Mark's Gospel, explain what Christians believe about who Jesus is.
- Name one event from the last days of Jesus
- Explain what it suggests about who Jesus is, such as Son of God or Messiah
- Refer to another event or a saying as further evidence
- Reach a clear conclusion about Christian belief
Evidence, not retelling
The question "who is Jesus?" wants evidence, not just retelling. Use the events as proof: the centurion calling Jesus "the Son of God", the words over the bread, the belief in the resurrection. Show why each event matters to Christians - the Last Supper and Holy Communion, the cross as sacrifice, the resurrection as power over death - and link them back to Christian belief about his identity. Event, meaning, conclusion - top band.