0186/ REPORT. a) Describe what happened when Jesus visited the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve.

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1 0186/ REPORT GENERAL OVERVIEW The candidate s general performance was below average in 2017, compared to Evidently most candidates scored marks ranging between out of 90 and very few higher scores were observed. This is evidenced by their responses in both A part B part of the questions. In A part questions, most candidates failed to recall stories rather created their own stories and confusion of stories were noted. Similarly, B part questions were not well performed by the candidates because of their irrelevant responses and failure to apply religious issues on real life situation. QUESTION 1 a) Describe what happened when Jesus visited the temple in Jerusalem at the age of twelve. It was a popular question which was attempted by the majority of candidates. The question was fairly performed, however some candidates failed to score marks due to the following problems; Confusion of stories for example, they wrote the story of the presentation of Jesus in the temple. Incomplete stories, for example, they failed to write the reaction of the people. Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve (Luke 2: 41 52) Jesus went to Jerusalem with his parents/ was required by law/ Jesus stayed in Jerusalem/ after days of the feast/ parents were not aware of this / thought was with other travelers/ looked for him/ among kinsfolk and acquaintances/ did not find him / went back to Jerusalem/ found him after 3 days/ in the temple/ listening and asking questions/ people amazed at his understanding/ mother/ have been looking for him/ worried/ must be in my father s house/ did not understand/ went to Nazareth/ obedient/ Mary kept everything/ grew wise/ Favour with God. 1

2 (b) Explain religious virtues found in the story of the boy Jesus in the temple. This part of the question was well performed. Candidates were able to give out the virtues and the evidence from the text. The discussion includes some of the following virtues: Independence remained behind in the temple Wisdom/intelligence surprised teachers of the law with his intelligent questions and answers Obedience/passionate for his mission In the house of the father Acceptance of law and tradition in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover Eager to search for knowledge/ avid student question and answers Cooperation went back with the parents Respect went back with the parents Responsibility explained why they remained behind QUESTION 2 a) Relate the parable of the good Samaritan This question was attempted by the majority of candidates. It was fairly performed, however some candidates failed to give correct responses for example: Confusion of the stories e.g the grateful Samaritan, Jesus and Samaritan woman, sinful woman. Incomplete stories e.g omission of Jesus last question. The good Samaritan (Luke 10: 25-37) 2

3 Jerusalem to Jericho/ fell among robbers/ stripped, beaten, departed, left half dead/ priest came down that road/ passed by on the other side/ Levite came saw him/ passed by on the other side/ Samaritan came/ saw him, had compassion/ bound wounds poured oil and wine/ set on the beast, brought him to an inn, took care of him/ gave in keeper two denarii/ take care of him/ pledged to pay more/ which proved neighbor/ one who showed mercy/ go do like wise. (b) Explain how the values in the parable of the good Samaritan can help to promote good neighborhood relations. It was fairly performed however some candidates failed to apply the values to the real life situation. The discussion to include some of the following: unconditional love e.g though a Samaritan he helped a Jew. Compassion/kindness/sympathy/empathy Persistence/perseverance e.g a Samaritan was willing to offer help the following day. Selflessness e.g Samaritan saw right to live Justice showed no discrimination but considered the man to live Charity paid for the man Tolerance helped the Jew despite their differences Respect treats others the way he wants to be treated Courage touched the badly beaten man, helped a half dead man 3

4 QUESTION 3 a) Relate the story of the healing of a blind man of Jericho The question was attempted by the majority of candidates. The performance was fair, though some candidates confused the incidents which let to low marks. For example, they wrote about the healing of lame man, woman with the flow of blood. Some candidates included wrong concepts like mixing mud with silver, report to the priest and Jesus touching the man. The blind man of Jericho (Luke 18: 35 43) Sat by the road side begging/ hearing multitude going by/ inquired what this meant/ told him Jesus of Nazareth was passing by/ cried/jesus son of David have mercy on me/ they rebuked him/ telling him to be silent/cried out all the more. Son of David have mercy on me/ Jesus asked what do you want me to do for you/ Said lord let me receive my sight/ Jesus said, receive your sight your faith has made you well/ immediately received sight /followed Jesus glorifying God/ all people gave praise to God. (b) Discuss lessons that could be learnt by people with disability from the healing of the blind man of Jericho. This part of the question was poorly performed. The reason being the misconception of the question by the candidates. They wrote the attitude of people toward the disabled and failed to give the values from the blind man. Some candidates wrote few values which resulted in low marks. The discussion included some of the following: Hope sat by the road begging 4

5 Faith Jesus said his faith made him well Initiative/request asked Jesus to restore his sight Interest in what is going on around- heard crowd asked what was happening. Persistence silenced but shouted all the more Determination shouted all the more Ambition wanted to see QUESTION 4 a) Describe the final trial of Jesus before Pontius pilate It was not a popular question. The performance was poor due to the following: The confusion of the stories. Candidates wrote all the incidents which appear from the passion narrative. They failed to distinguish the final judgment from the first trial. Pilate s judgment (Luke 23: 13 25) Pilate called chief priests, rulers and people/ brought man perverting people/after examination did not find him guilty/ neither did Herod, he sent him back / done nothing deserving death/ chastise him and release him/ multitude cried out, away with this man/ release Barabbas/ Pilate addressed them again, desiring to release Jesus/People insisted, crucify, crucify him/ third time, what evil has he done/ found no crime deserving death/ will chastise him/ release him/they were urgent with loud voices/ that Jesus should be crucified/ voices prevailed/ granted their demand/ released Barabbas. (b) Discuss the character of Pontius Pilate as shown in the final trial of Jesus. 5

6 It was poorly performed, candidates failed to give the character of Pilate; instead they explained what Pilate did and say to Jesus. Some candidates gave only one side of the characteristics of Pilate be it positive and negative side. EXPECTED RESPONSE The discussion included some of the following: Was a coward feared the mob, send Jesus to Herod Did not want the moral responsibility of condemning the innocent man- send Jesus to Herod. His fear of insurrection prevented him from making the moral choice send Jesus to herod He was compassionate tried to save Jesus, asked what crime did he commit He wanted to know the truth about Jesus He tried to exercise his authority over Jesus seeing that he has power to release and kill Jesus He was tolerant spoke at length with the Jews trying to protect Jesus He proved to be fair I did not find this man guilty neither did herod. He had a weathering character wanted to save Jesus but ended up killing him He was a man of justice gave Jesus chance to defend himself QUESTION 5 a) Give an account of the conversion of Saul The question was attempted by the majority of candidates. It was fairly performed, though some candidates scored low marks since they did not give what happened to Saul on the way, but focused on what Ananias did Some candidates created their own stories e.g Paul preaching in the temple with peter. 6

7 Conversion of Saul (Acts 9: 1-9) Saul breathing threats and murder against disciples/ went to high priest asked letters to synagogues in Damascus/ found any belonging to the way men or women/ bring bound to Jerusalem/ approached Damascus/ found any belonging to the way men or women/ bring bound to Jerusalem/ approached Damascus/ light from heaven flashed/ fell to the ground/ heard voice saying Saul why do you persecute / rise enter city/ told what to do / men travelling with him stood speechless/ heard voice saw no one/ Saul arose eyes opened could see nothing / let by hand brought into Damascus/ three days without sight/ neither ate nor drank He had a weathering character wanted to save Jesus but ended up killing him He was a man of justice gave Jesus a chance to defend himself. QUESTION 5 a) Give an account of the conversion of Saul The question was attempted by the majority of candidates. It was fairly performed, though some candidates scored low marks since they did not give what happened to Saul on the way, but focused on what Ananias did. Some candidates created their own stories e.g Paul preaching in the temple with peter. Conversion of Saul (Acts 9: 1-9) Saul breathing threats and murder against disciplines/ went to high priest asked letters to synagogues in Damascus/ found any belonging to the way men or women bring bound to Jerusalem/ approached Damascus/ light from heaven flashed/ fell to the ground/ heard voice saying Saul why do you persecute/ rise enter city/ told what to do/ men travelling with him stood speechless/ heard voice saw no one/ Saul arose eyes opened could see nothing/ let by hand brought into Damascus/ three days without sight/ neither ate not drank. 7

8 (b) Explain the lesson that Christians can learn from the attitude of Paul after his conversion. The performance of this part was very poor Candidates commented on the conversion of Saul instead of writing about his attitude after the conversion. Some candidates failed to apply the attitude of Paul to the real life situation of Christians. The responses included some of the following: Humility- the magistrates tore off the garments of Paul, ordered him to be beaten with rods in public Patience- arrested and imprisoned in Macedonia, waited for the ruler to come and set him free. Hope- Paul and Silas were singing hymns to God Faith/trust- Stayed in corith at the command and promises of the lord. Love/kindness- healed a cripple at Lystra Sacrifice/dedication though beaten and left half dead in Lydtra, when he woke up he continued to Derbe. Loyality stood his ground in Lystra and Macedonia Temperament found it worthwhile to look into the issue of circumcision Candidate may use a range of evidence/ examples from missionary journeys of Paul. QUESTION 6 a) Give an account of how the issue of circumcision was solved by the council of Jerusalem. 8

9 The question was popular however it was poorly performed due to the misunderstanding of the question. Instead of giving conclusion of the council, they based themselves only on Peter s experiences with the gentiles and James judgment of the issue Letter to the churches (Acts 15: 22-29) Seemed good/to apostles and elders/the whole church/to choose men away/send them to Antioch/ with Paul and Barnabas/sent Judas and Silas/ letter/ to gentiles in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia/some persons troubled you/unsettling minds/ gave no instructions/seemed good/not to lay greater burden/other than these necessary observations/ abstain from meat sacrificed for idols/ blood/ strangled/chastity. (b) Discuss some of the challenges facing the Christian church today. It was not well performed. The question was too open but candidates restricted themselves on Jewish and Basotho perspectives while they were supposed to give Christian church challenges in general Some of the challenges facing the Christian church today: Discrimination services favor certain individuals within the church Corruption payment of bribery for favoritism; case of Ananias and Sapphira Power struggle Christians, church leaders struggle for positions Abuse children abuse /pedophilia Misuse of funds greed and money being misappropriated 9

10 Nepotism preference of relatives and friends Influence of party politics favoring and influencing a certain political party Discrimination people discriminated because of their denominations Racism people discriminated because of their race Tribalism people discriminated because of their tribe QUESTION 7 a) Describe what happened when the sons of Sceva tried to heal a man who was possessed by an evil spirit The question was attempted by the minority of candidates. It was poorly performed because candidates created their own stories. Those who gave the correct incident, it was incomplete. E.g they left out the reaction of the people. The sons of Sceva (Acts 19:13 20) Some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of Jesus over those who had evil spirits/saying I adjure you by the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this / the evil spirit answered Jesus I know and Paul I know but who are you/ the man leaped on them/mastered all of them /overpowered them/ they fled out of that house naked and wounded/ this came known to all residents of Ephesus/ fear fell upon them all/ name of Jesus extolled / many who are now believers came confessing and divulging their practices/number of those who practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them/ they counted the value of them up to fifty thousand pieces of silver/ the word og God grew and prevailed. 10

11 b) Discuss the dangers of misusing sacred names as seen in the incident of the sons of Sceva. This part of the question was poorly done. Candidates failed to give the dangers of the misuse of sacred names, instead they repeated the facts of the story, while others explain how the sacred names are used. The discussion included some of the following false courage shame Opposed by demons/defeated by evil spirits The treasures of wisdom are hidden from such separation, disappointment and disillusion QUESTION 8 a) Relate the farewell speech of Paul to the elders of Ephesus at Miletus The question was attempted by the minority of candidates. Those who attempted have low performance because they confused the stories e.g the giving of the Holy Spirit at Ephesus. Those who attempted the story being Paul s life and work as a missionary, advice and warning for Ephesians future. Pauls farewell speech at Miletus (Acts 20: 17 35) Paul called elders of the church of Ephesus/made speech lived among you/serving lord with humility, fears/trials which befell me through/plots of the Jews/ did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable/teching in public and from house to house testifying to all of repentance to God/ and faith in Jesus/ going to Jerusalem bound in the spirit/ not knowing what 11

12 will befall him/ the holy spirit testify that afflictions awaits him/ not count his life of any value/ accomplish the ministry received from Jesus/ did not shrink from declaring to you the while counsel of God/ Take heed to yourselves/ and to all the flock/ the holy spirit has made you the overseers/ take care of the church of God/ fierce wolves/ among you will arise/ men speaking perverse things/ draw disciplines/ be alert/ command you to God/ conveted no one s silver or gold or apparel/these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me/ help the weak/ it is more blessed to give than to receive. b) Discuss the roles of church leaders in the society in relation to the farewell speech of Paul. It was poorly performed. Candidates explain what the leaders of the church do, complaining about the church leaders. They failed to interpret the role of the leaders in society, in relation to farewell speech of Paul. The discussion include some of the following preach/give testimony, selflessness, commitment, boldness, service, humility, trustworthy, sharing, dedication, alert for danger, be overseers, not to discriminate, work for their needs. RECOMMENDATIONS Teachers are advised to consider the following issues Encourage students to look at the key words of the question Students be advised to write six or more values in a question or any six or more points required in a question, be well developed with evidence and examples Encourage students to write in a continuous prose and avoid listing the points Urge students to answer five questions not less or more 12

13 Discourage students from providing the definition of virtues but explain the evidence of the virtue as reuired by the given question. 13