요한복음 - Assessment

요한복음 수업을 마무리하면서 보통은 시험을 봐야 하는데, 온라인 수업으로 지친 아이들에게 또 다른 테스트로 스트레스를 안기기는 싫었고, 또 성경 수업 시간에 시험이 무슨 큰 의미가 있을까 싶어서, 다른 종류의 마무리를 디자인해봤다.  이틀에 걸쳐 두 종류의 assessment를 하기로 했는데, 그 첫날은 요한복음 13-21장의 내용 중에서 본인이 생각하기에 가장 중요하다고 생각한 레슨 포인트를 3가지를 정리하는 것이었다. 

이 assessment는 지난 쿼터에도 한 적이 있기 때문에, 이번에는 비교적 쉽게(?) 아이들이 글을 적어 내려갔는데, 간혹 아이들 중에 요한복음과 전혀 상관없는, 본인이 이미 알고 있는 성경의 내용과 예수님에 관한 것을 그냥 막 적은 아이들이 있었다. 우리가 성경 읽기를 할 때 얼마나 주어진 본문에 충실하지 않고 그냥 이미 듣고 안다고 생각하는 내용만 반복적으로 되뇌는지... 아이들도 과히 다르지 않더라. 예를 들어, 예수님의 겸손에 대해서 이야기하면서, 예수님이 human baby로 허름한 마구간에서 태어난 이야기를 하는 것이다. 야, 이 녀석아, 요한복음에는 nativity story가 없다고 했잖냐. 그리고 주어진 본문은 13-21장이라고! DM을 보내서 그 이야기를 해주고 (물론 친절하게 설명함) 과제를 수정할 기회를 주었더니, 13장의 washing of disciples' feet 스토리를 예수님의 겸손을 support 하는 background information으로 수정해서 다시 submit 했다. 그냥 점수 깎고 말지, 다시 하라고 하는 선생님이 얼마나 귀찮을까. 학생아, 미안하다. ㅠㅠ

• One thing I understood more from John's Gospel is how the presence of the Holy Spirit works. When Jesus told His disciples that He would leave, they felt confused and also very sad. The disciples knew they would feel lost without Jesus and wouldn't know what to do without Him. We humans are like sheep, and we need a shepherd to guide us. Thus, Jesus explained that when He would go back to heaven, He would send a Helper to help us. I think that our Helper, The Holy Spirit, is like our shepherd. 
• Before Jesus met His final fight, Jesus gathered his Disciples and told them instructions on what to do and how to live. Jesus didn’t leave His Disciples without any teaching or advice and with only sadness and sorrow. He showed a bright new hope of the Spirit. This tells me that Jesus really does care for others. If I knew who would betray me, I would be furious with that person and might even stop him before he went to tell the Pharisees. But Jesus was calm and patient, and He did not erupt in anger. In the scene with His Disciples before the capture, Jesus showed many of His wondrous traits: Humble (He lowered himself as a servant and cleansed the Disciples’ feet), love (He instructed and calmed the worried Disciples), and strength (Even with Death at its peak, Jesus wasn’t shaken or was hesitant of his choice).
• One main lesson that I will always remember is that God will always love and forgive us. No matter how badly we sin against Him, He will always forgive us and consider us His children. God will always give us another chance, because that's just how patient and merciful He is. Peter's betrayal really helped me understand that. Peter denied Jesus three times, yet Jesus still loved him just as much as before. Jesus gave Peter a second chance and still had a plan for him. 
• In every book, there’s always a key idea. And I feel that in this gospel, it’s about trust and more trust in the Lord. Trust that he will be there, trust him as a sheep trusts it’s shephard, trust him to send a Helper, trust him to raise you up from the dead. Trust him to help you in petty and small matters, and trust him to help you in things that seem nearly impossible. Because from this book, we know He will get it done.
• In chapter 13, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. I learned that this was something that in their culture, a superior rabbi would never do. I think by this, we can know that Jesus is different from other rabbis. This shows that even though at those days people were differently treated by their ranks, Jesus still was equal to everyone. Even though he knew that he was going to die, he still did everything he had to do. This was a symbol of Jesus’ life purpose. 

성경에 대해서 많이 들어왔고 (어떤 경우는 지겨울 정도로... 그래서) 어느 정도는 안다고 생각하는 아이들에게 성경을 가르치는 일은 생각보다 쉽지 않다. 아이들에게 흥미를 유발하는 일은 언제나 challenging 하다. 내가 영어를 막 잘하는 것도 아니고, 엄청 재미있는 선생님도 아니고. 그럼에도 불구하고 무언가가 새롭게 받아들여지고 깨달아졌다면, 그건 내가 한 일은 아니다. 그러니, 그냥 묵묵히 주어진 일을 하자.