WE, THE WITNESSES by Wayne Fowler
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We, the Witnesses A sunrise service by those who were there by Wayne Fowler
CAST OF CHARACTERS Matthew Disciple (Age 0) Malchus High priest s slave (Age 0) Servant Mary Girl at the temple on the night of Jesus arrest (Teenager) Mary Mother of Jesus (A middle-aged woman about fifty years old) Mary Magdalene A younger woman, follower of Jesus (Age thirty-five or so) Peter Disciple (Age 0) Young girl Nonspeaking role (Any age between four and twelve) Questioners Seven audience attendees (Any age)
PRODUCTION NOTES This play is a deliberately broken play. It is produced as if the reenactment is in a church of the first century. The cast supposedly consists of some of the original, actual characters. Bulletin Notice You may wish to prepare a newsletter or bulletin invitation like the following: You are invited to We, the Witnesses When: (Time) on (Date) in the first year of our Lord. Where: Narrow Street Temple (More commonly now called ) (Insert your church s name) Who: Everyone is invited! Special Guest Appearances: The apostle Peter and Mary, the mother of our Lord, appearing as themselves. Come hear firsthand witnesses speak of their observations and feelings of Passion Week. Hear from some disciples, as well as people directly involved with our Savior s arrest and crucifixion. See and bear witnesses to his resurrection. As a special treat, hear the mother of Jesus, the Christ, tell her story! Costumes All wear biblical robes and headpieces. Malchus may wear a helmet to denote his military status. All wear sandals. Set A bare stage is fine. When the cross is referred to in the script, the cast may look over the heads of the audience, as if the crucifixion were happening in back of the sanctuary.
Suggested Songs The choir may sing as many or as few of these suggested songs as you wish, or you may substitute songs of your choosing, based on your available music library. Were You There? The well-known hymn, included in most hymnals. The Magnificat Any version (there are several). He Lives! A hymn by Alfred H. Ackley, copyright 1 by Homer H. Rodeheaver. renewed 11 by The Rodeheaver Co., owner. Go, Tell It on the Mountain The well-known hymn, included in most hymnals. Mary, Did You Know? By Mark Lowry and Buddy Greene, 11 Word Music, a division of Word, Inc./Rufus Music ASCAP. Christ the Lord Is Risen Today The well-known hymn, included in most hymnals. Unless otherwise marked, all Scripture is based on or taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, copyright The Lockman Foundation 10, 1, 1, 1, 11, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1. Used by permission.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 (Curtain opens to CAST On-Stage, scattered across the stage. MARY MAGDALENE is bowed, never looking up. MARY stands close to her. A lone man, PETER, watches the cross from one side of the stage. MALCHUS stands at the other side of the stage, looking toward the audience. The CHOIR stands on risers. MATTHEW and SERVANT MARY are also On-Stage. Speakers step away from their places to a microphone to address the audience.) SONG: Were You There? (CHOIR sings the first verse and chorus.) MATTHEW: (Approaches Center Stage to address the audience.) Hello. I I m one of the, uh, the Twelve you know, the Twelve? Matthew s the name. I was a tax collector. It s hard to say that out loud. I was convinced that I worked for myself, but everybody saw through that. The truth was, I worked for the Romans. Jesus walked into my office one day, looked me in the eye, and said, Follow me. So I did. I didn t even know who he was or what he wanted. I just knew in my spirit that he had what I needed. I didn t have a friend in the world. My own family cut me off when I took this job. I knew he had something for me and boy, did he ever! I guess you can tell I m, uh, I m not at the, uh, you know. (Pointing straight ahead to unseen Crucifixion) You all heard about the arrest, I guess. It was bizarre. Nothing like we expected. We knew something was up. I mean, Jesus wouldn t go to Jerusalem until he was ready. And he was ready, believe me! People would follow him anywhere and do anything he asked of them. And with his powers ha! Satan s Romans wouldn t stand a chance. I mean, look at Lazarus. What if Jesus raised up every slain soldier? Why, none of us would die! Who could stand against us? Then came that night. It even started out differently. We were late getting to the place we d spend the night. Then Jesus asked us to pray. He, Peter, James, and John went off to pray on their own. We didn t mind. Everybody knew those men were special to Jesus. It s
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 embarrassing, kinda, but I think they had better hearts for believing than the rest of us did. I know he didn t like them more, but it was just different. It wasn t long until the clamor of the priests and their troops woke us up. I awakened to a foot on my chest! Yeah, sorry to say, I fell asleep. Anyway, first thing I know, they re arresting Jesus and he didn t fight back! He even told Peter to put his sword away. Soon s they snatched Jesus, well well, we all kinda No, not kinda. We ran like the scared jackals that we were. I ran right outta my clothes, leaving them in a soldier s fists. I ran and hid. I m still hiding. You might ve seen me behind that rock over there. I d go back to Galilee, but I m afraid the road s being watched. Ha! Afraid. That s the word, all right. We were all afraid. First the Baptist lost his head, and now Jesus life was slipping away. The rest of us didn t stand a chance. (Emotionally) Oh God, I don t understand. We prayed the power of God almighty against Satan s demons, and then? The things I ve seen and done in his name. I mean, demons fleeing, lepers made clean, blind eyes opened, cripples walking! OK, I could understand why he didn t strike em all down, but I didn t know why he suffered those stripes. Why didn t he do something? Look at him! Dying! (Gesturing wildly) What about the kingdom is at hand?! He was up there dying, and my heart was dying with him. It was over our Messiah, dead. And I didn t know what we d do. (MATTHEW exits.) SONG: Were You There? (CHOIR sings the first few measures, trailing off as MALCHUS reaches Center Stage.) MALCHUS: (Begins with air of arrogance. Changes to contrite confusion.) I was there. I m Malchus. I am a slave of the High Priest, Caiaphas. He goes nowhere but I go, too. No one touches the High Priest. Someone needs beat, I do the beatin. Other slaves call me Boss, even other Priest s slaves. One called me Gen ral. He lost both front teeth. (Brandishing fist) Made me sound like a Roman.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 I have a Roman name, but I m Jewish. In my youth, I ran the streets. Priests took me in when I was fifteen. Did you hear what happened? (Points to ear.) Look here at this ear. See a scar? I don t feel one. It doesn t feel any different from the other. I went to arrest that Jesus character the one on the cross. (Pointing Off-Stage) We d been on standby for days, trying to find out where he spent his nights. One guy came in and sold him out. I saw the whole thing. He acted too cocky, if you ask me like he had something up his sleeve. A ringer, you know? I ll tell you, that guy Judas acted pretty shady. Caiaphas noticed it too, but it didn t matter none at all. Jesus was going to hang for what he d been sayin. But look at this ear! It flew off my head! Who knew that this peace and love bunch would put up a fight, let alone whack off my ear? (Pointing to PETER) It was that guy over there. If I hadn ta ducked at the last second, I would ve been split like a gourd. Then that Jesus guy the one up there on the cross he just picked my ear up and put it back on my head! Healed it. If you could have seen his eyes! I tell you, I didn t know what to think. The things the priests had said and what was heard around town did not match. And then I saw his eyes. That last week, when he came to Jerusalem well, you would have thought I don t know that David or Elisha or somebody that important was here. People talked about things he said and did healings and all. But Caiaphas said Satan could do that stuff, and other things could be faked or maybe people weren t really afflicted as they claimed to be. (Puzzled) He never said anything about those lepers, though. (More assertively) Anyway, we hung several others claimin to be the Messiah and they re all still dead. Well, I arrested him. It was my job. If he was like the people said if he was what Judas attitude implied then why was he still up there?
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 All I knew was that my ear was on the ground, and now it s back where it belongs. I was gonna watch how it all played out. That s all I knew. (MALCHUS returns to his spot.) SERVANT MARY: (Moves to Center Stage to speak. She is deliberate at first, changing to confused) Uh, hi. My name s Mary. I know. It seems like every other girl in the land is called Mary these days. Names run like that around here. I m fourteen years old. My mother cleans the temple and launders the priest s things. They have wives, but I don t think those ladies ever get their hands wet. I m the one that busted Peter. He was tryin ta blend in, but I recognized him. What was I doing out there that time of night, you ask? Well my mother thought I was asleep. I d heard all the city talk, as well as the priest s official line. I was right there with em, the priests. I mean, who was this guy that broke Moses law all day? But then I heard him speak I guess I kinda leaned toward Jesus after that, but when I saw him abused spit on an beat up well, how come he didn t use his powers? I liked what I saw of him, but except for Joseph and Nicodemus, the old priests all acted awful snooty about him. I didn t realize that til after seeing Jesus personally. See, I m like a mouse. I could go anywhere to hide an listen. I just wish I coulda gone to get Nicodemus last night. I bet he woulda stood up for Jesus like I heard him before. When I saw Peter, I recognized him right off as one I d seen when I stopped to hear Jesus talk for a few minutes last Tuesday. I hoped Peter would rescue Jesus. I guess I messed up. I don t know, I guess I thought people would call him up to fight for Jesus. I didn t know that all the believers were home in bed. The no-goods were the only ones up. The next day I heard the people in a frenzy, shouting to crucify Jesus. It s embarrassing, but I almost felt like I coulda got caught up in it. I had to remind myself how
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 sincere Jesus sounded. (Looking at the cross) Well there he is. I feel bad, but if he s real, why would he let that happen? (SERVANT MARY returns to her spot.) MARY MAGDALENE: (Walks from the set to address the audience.) Why indeed? (Looks from one cast member to another and back, hugging herself in obvious despair.) I m Mary, from Magdala. I still can t look at, at, at that. (Pointing at the cross) I (Chokes up.) I Oh, boy. (Sighs.) I want to tell you how I felt as I watched him die. (Looks at cross, then turns back instantly, breaking down.) I m sorry, I can t. I guess you ve heard the latest they re saying about me me and Jesus. Ah, they would do anything to destroy my testimony. And to have borne a child! Me?! (Looks into the audience.) Where is there a little girl? (YOUNG GIRL enters from audience.) Come here, child. Please come to me. (Asks the YOUNG GIRL to turn and face the audience.) When Jesus prayed for me I don t know what happened, but when I came to myself, I felt as pure and clean and light as this little girl. Ha! Children. What was done to me I cannot ever have children the little urchins. (Wrinkling her nose at children at the front of the audience). But Jesus, he loved them. He cherished them all. (YOUNG GIRL returns to seat.) (Pointing to MARY) There is Mary, the Christ s mother. She is so beautiful, inside beautiful. Wait til you hear her song. She put part of her testimony to verse. SONG: The Magnificat (CHOIR softly sings as MARY MAGDALENE hums to herself. The choir continues. As they reach the second stanza, MARY, Jesus mother, raises her head and arms in praise. Her voice leads the choir through that portion.) MARY MAGDALENE: People, just as sure as Mary received Jesus into herself by the power of the Holy Spirit, so can you! So can you too. Oh, Jesus (MARY MAGDALENE chances a glance at the cross, but snaps back,
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 holding back sobs.) Oh, church! Your songs, sermons, and banners say it plainly. He was no, is my counselor, my healer, my baptizer, my deliverer my deliverer. (MARY MAGDALENE raises her head and hands.) Oh, Jesus! I love you. People, when you get to know him well, you ll know what I mean. They say he didn t die. Oh, he (Choking up) he died, all right. Sabbath was coming, so we had to hurry. But we wrapped him. (Weeping) We we wrapped his body, then his head. (Vehemently) He didn t die, ha! People, his breath of life stopped! I placed my ear to his heart. That great heart was stilled. And the light in his eyes went out. (Louder) Do you believe for one second his mother and I would let him be put in the ground alive?! (Looking toward MALCHUS) Forgive me, Malchus, but there aren t enough strong men in the land that could seal my Savior in a hole alive not with Mary and I there. (Forcefully) He was dead. The Romans were satisfied of it. The Sanhedrin was satisfied. His disciples had no choice but to accept it. And I (Choking up, sobbing. YOUNG GIRL from the audience runs up to offer MARY MAGDALENE a tissue.) Thank you, dear child. I ll tell you, that was a long night. None of us slept. Then the Sabbath day. Dark Sabbath. The worst Sabbath ever. My Savior was dead. Can you realize that? How we all felt? (Chokes up.) (Excitedly) But then came Sunday morning! (Raises arms and head in praise.) Then came Sunday morning! Some say he never died. Oh, he died, all right. Some say he never rose. Oh, he arose! I not only saw him, I clung to him. I felt as if I might kind of, you know, absorb into him but he said, Not yet. He hadn t gone to the Father yet. Oh, people he lives! SONG: He Lives (The CHOIR joyfully sings the first words of the refrain.)
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 MARY MAGDALENE: Thursday night arrested. Friday beaten, interrogated, tortured, crucified, and buried. We didn t sleep that night, or all day the Sabbath. Some might have passed out Saturday night, but I don t think I did. How could I? My counselor, my healer, my deliverer, my redeemer the king of all the earth, God s own Son, was somehow gone. Well, I stumbled through the darkness to the tomb. I was there at first light Sunday morning. (Head and arms raised in praise) Dear people, all I can say is that he is alive, and he loves you! SONG: (The CHOIR begins the song He Lives more reservedly. MARY MAGDALENE speaks the lines a measure behind as the CHOIR sings, overlapping) MARY MAGDALENE: I just have to do this. (Motioning to CAST) Come help me! We must tell these people every one of them. (MARY MAGDALENE and the entire cast move into the congregation to tell everyone that Jesus is alive, and that he loves them.) SONG: Go, Tell It On The Mountain (The lights dim as the cast and CHOIR take their places. The CHOIR sings to indicate resumption of the play. The lights dim again to spotlight MARY, Jesus mother, addressing the audience.) MARY: Hello, friends. I m Mary. Jesus is my son. SONG: Mary, Did You Know? (Lights dim as the CHOIR sings.) MARY: (Turns to address MARY MAGDALENE) Bless you, Mary of Magdala, my daughter. And bless you, my friends. Yes, what you have heard is true. He was the son of the Holy Spirit. The angel spoke to me, and I knew I was with child. It was a difficult time, but so wonderful too! You can imagine my relief when Joseph told me he d heard from the angel as well. In Bethlehem, I bore him. It wasn t so bad. Actually, the stable probably smelled better than the inn, with all those people crowded together! Joseph and I agreed that very night never to utter a word about Jesus being the Messiah when he was within earshot. No good could come of it. We would
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 let God tell him in his own time and in his own way. Jesus was a good boy a wonderful child, really and a fine young man. Oh, he needed diapering, and he fussed when he was hungry, and he fell aplenty while learning to walk. But he grew into a man who d never lied, cheated, or stole, like every other boy in town had. He honored me in life, even to his last breath. We took him to the great temple in Jerusalem when he came of age. When we learned he was missing, I thought I would die. I thought he was with his cousins! I was so scared not so much that harm would come to him, but that God had taken him into his service at such a young age. Hannah s giving Samuel to the prophet Eli for God s service at the very same temple had always been on my mind heavily, you know? I dreaded that trip back every step of the way. Well, I knew we d find him in the temple. And to hear from his own mouth, Didn t you know I must be about my Father s business? I ll tell you! Heaven strike me dead if I didn t think he was lost to me forever! I thought I would faint. My joy at his coming home was as great as his first arrival twelve years past! But what did he know? What had God told him? I knew he d been studying the prophets, and Rabbi Simon had told us of Jesus preoccupation with messianic details, but it was clear Jesus did not know who he was just yet. I was glad we d not even told him where he was born. In time I m sure he grew to suspect, but not until God spoke to him from the sky at John s baptism did he know with certainty. And then, as he told it, he even had his doubts during his forty days in the wilderness. I remember him telling me, If I really am the Son of God, then he ll save me. And if not, then I d rather die in a heap at the bottom of the peak. He told me he d heard from God. And then I told him the story of his birth. Yes, people. Mary Magdalene was right. My son lived and died, but God s son lives today! (MARY retreats as PETER approaches.)
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