Y9: KS3 CATHOLIC RED: Galilee to Jerusalem - L3: How did the disciples sometimes fail Jesus?
This fully resourced Year 9 lesson on the Gospel of Mark explores why the disciples sometimes failed Jesus and why this message would have been especially important for early Christians facing fear, doubt, and persecution. Carefully aligned with the KS3 Religious Education Directory (RED) and sequenced to support progression towards GCSE Religious Studies, the lesson focuses on discipleship, faith, failure, and perseverance as key themes in Mark’s writing.
Pupils explore how Mark presents the disciples as ordinary and human—loyal yet fearful, faithful yet slow to understand. Through clear, simplified Scripture, pupils examine key moments including Jesus calming the storm (Mark 4:35–41), the feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8:4), and Peter’s denial of Jesus (Mark 14:29–72). These examples help pupils understand how fear, lack of understanding, and human weakness led to failure, while Jesus’ continued loyalty shows forgiveness and patience.
Strong links are made to Mark’s historical context, showing how these stories would have encouraged early Christians living under Roman persecution. By seeing that even Jesus’ closest followers struggled, pupils learn why Mark’s Gospel is both realistic and hopeful, urging believers to remain loyal to Jesus despite setbacks.
Designed for reading ages 8–12, the lesson includes purposeful clipart summaries, one-sentence keyword definitions, common misconceptions for pupils to correct, and accessible comprehension questions to support literacy and inclusion. Clear scaffolding helps pupils secure knowledge before applying it.
The lesson culminates in structured evaluative writing, with scaffolded PEEL-style paragraphs supporting pupils to answer the key question:
“The disciples are valuable role models for Christians today, even though they made mistakes.”
Explain how a Catholic might respond to this statement and give a reason why someone might disagree.
Which argument do you think is more persuasive?
Engaging, accessible, and GCSE-ready, this lesson provides Catholic RE teachers with a ready-to-teach, doctrinally sound resource that deepens understanding of discipleship, Scripture, and early Christian faith while building confident evaluative writing skills.




















