The Gathering: A Post-Easter Chancel Drama
This is a play in the form of a Chancel Drama, written for youth, and requiring no staging or special clothing. It can be, and often is, simply read by the cast members. It was written by me many years ago as a way for church youth groups to participate in the primary worship service on a Sunday after Easter. It has been performed by youth in many churches and other Christian venues. Since the season of Easter lasts 50 days there is plenty of time for this to be used by youth groups this year. Permission to copy, use and distribute this Chancel Drama is granted.
The Evangelist stands well apart from the rest of the players. His/her role is to describle the situation in the beginning and to provide closure at the end. Except when speaking the Evangelist should not be evident to the congregation.
The other players sit and stand together in the center of the Chancel or stage at the front of the sanctuary. They should not sit in a circle or any contrived arrangement. Some sit, some stand, some do both if they wish to emphasise a point in the drama.
Evangelist: Peter, Thomas, Mary Magdalene, Maria and Salome are gathered in a safe room somewhere on the outskirts of Jerusalem. They are afraid to go home to Galilee after Jesus has been crucified. These five, like the other scattered disciples and followers of Jesus, are dejected and lost.
Peter: Salome, did you lock the door? Even though its probably all over, I'm not sure we are safe here.
Salome: Yes, Peter, I locked it. Nobody's after us. They killed Jesus. They never said anything about killing his followers. Don't be so paranoid. Try to relax.
Peter: Relax! You've really got to be kidding! How do you know they won't come after us next? What a weekend this turned out to be. I never want to go through something like this again. (turning sad) And I'm not exactly proud of myself either.
Maria: What do you mean?
Peter: (quietly) Thomas, do you remember when, after the Passover meal, we went to the Mount of Olives with him and he said that we would all desert him? And I told him that I never would?
Thomas: Yes, Peter, I remember. But you weren't just speaking for yourself, you know. We all felt that way.
Peter: I know; but I'm the one who said it. And then he said I'd deny him, not once, but three times! (sadly, angry with himself) Well, I did. I did deny him; denied I even knew him! I am so ashamed. And now it's too late to tell him so.
Mary: Peter, don't take all the blame. None of us stayed with him to the end. I don't know where all you men went; but we women were afraid to come close when they crucified him; and we watched from a distance, along with a lot of other women who had followed him since Galilee. We were there. But we did nothing to comfort him as he hung there on that cross for six hours. Does that make us better or worse than you? None of us stood by him at his darkest hour, Peter. None.
Salome: I guess you're right, Mary. But what could we do? What if we had gone down there to the cross and they had recognized us as his followers? We might have been strung up there with him. I guess the truth is that none of us were willing to stick our necks out that far.
Maria: But we did watch to see where Joseph buried him. And we did go home and prepare spices and ointments for his body. Of course, by then it was the Sabbath and we could not go to prepare his body until Sunday. But we did want to do something. We are not heroes, you know. What good would it have done for us to be hanged with him?
Thomas: So you went to the tomb then, on Sunday morning?
Maria: Yes. Well, Mary and I did. Salome had to take care of one of the brothers who had fallen ill, so she couldn't come. But we did go there intending to give him a decent burial. After all he had done for us, it seemed the least we could do. But.....(she becomes quiet, looking down into her hands on her lap)
Thomas: But what? Did they try to arrest you? What?
Mary: No, Thomas. There was no one there in the cemetery, and we had seen Joseph roll a huge stone over the entrance to the tomb. We knew we could never roll that stone away without help. And we were hoping there would be others in the graveyard who would help us move the stone. But the strangest thing happened. When we got there the stone was already rolled away!
Peter: Rolled away? You mean someone came and robbed his grave? What could they steal? He didn't have anything. He never put any stock in possessions.
Thomas: I bet they came to steal his body! Remember how he told us that he would be killed but would rise again on the third day? Man, that whole idea spooked those Temple priests. In fact, I heard that they thought that they ought to take the body away for safekeeping so that we couldn't steal it and claim that he did rise! To tell the truth, that whole idea of him rising from the dead is creepy anyway.
Salome: Well, I think that it is possible. God told three of you guys, when you went up on that mountain that time, that Jesus is his Son. Well then, why couldn't God raise him? God can do anything he wants to!
Thomas: I'm not saying that God couldn't do it. I'm just saying that I'll believe it when I see it with my own eyes. Anyway, we're getting off track here. What happened, Mary, after you saw that the stone was rolled away?
Maria: Let me tell him, Mary. I was there too, you know! Anyway, we were carrying these spices and ointments, and they were pretty heavy. We had walked a long way. And I had been up half the night before with a headache. We had to bend way down to get into the tomb, and my back was killing me, and .....
Mary: For heaven's sake, Maria, if you are going to tell it, tell it!
Maria: Well! Don't be in such a uproar. We're not going anywhere for a while. Or do you want to go out on the street and see if they're out there to arrest us? I, for one, don't intend to go anywhere until its darker out.
Salome: Maria, please. Just tell us what happened at the tomb.
Maria: Well, that's what I'm trying to do! Anyway, we got into the tomb. And we stood up, well, mostly up...it wasn't very high in there, and it was pretty dark. My back was hurting so bad you wouldn't believe it, and....
Mary: Maria!
Peter: Yes, get on with it Maria!
Maria: Yes, well. When our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we saw a young man sitting on a bench in the tomb. But Jesus' body wasn't there! I tell you, it scared me to death!
Thomas: What? I told you! They took his body! That means that they are serious about this. We may be next if they have decided to round up his followers! O My God, what a mess!
Mary: Hold on now Thomas. The young man told us what had happened; and nobody stole the body.
Salome: How do you know that, Mary?
Mary: Well, the young man was dressed in a pure white robe, and he said, "Do not be afraid...."
Salome: (interrupting) An angel! The young man was an angel, wasn't he? That's how they are, you know: always dressed in white; always telling you not to be afraid after they scare you half out of your wits! Was he an angel, Mary? Was he?
Mary: I think so, Salome. But not because of what he was wearing, or because he said we shouldn't be afraid, but because of the other things he told us.
Peter: What did he say, Mary?
Mary: I remember it word for word. He said, "Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised. He is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. "
Peter: "He has been raised." He said that? Can it possibly be true? Oh, God, let it be true!
Thomas: Well, I for one will believe it when I see it.
Mary: I believe it. We would have told you sooner. But we were, quite honestly, scared to death and didn't tell a soul. And, to tell you the truth, I just couldn't find you afterwards. Besides, once I was not so frightened, I wasn't so sure I really wanted to tell you. Truthfully, Peter, I figured you'd all react the way Thomas is.
Thomas: Now don't jump on me, Mary. I'm not saying that it didn't happen the way that young man said, but, well, I'm just skeptical. And if the rest of you had a lick of common sense, you would be skeptical too! Can you imagine what the priests and elders, and those meddlesome Pharisees are going to do to you if you start spreading the rumor that he is risen!?
Salome: It isn't a rumor! If an angel said it, it's good enough for me!
Thomas: We don't know it was an angel! How do you know it was an angel? Did he say he was an angel?
Mary: Quit squabbling, you two. The young man said one more thing. Peter, this might be the most important part, especially for you, knowing how badly you feel that you denied him, and feeling that there is no way you can tell him how sorry you are.
Peter: What did he say, Mary?
Mary: The last thing he said to us was, "Go! Tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
Peter: (praying) "O God, let it be true. Give me, give us all, the courage to go to Galilee and to meet him. Let it be true, God, let it be true! Amen." Come on, everybody. Let's slip out and hurry back home. Let's go!
Mary: Well, its pretty dark now so it should be safe. Let's go. But let's be careful and quiet.
Thomas: OK. I'll go with you, but you better understand that I have to see if this is true for myself!
Thomas: (turning to the congregation, speaking to them) And you, are you coming? Come along with us. (motions to them to come) Let's go see for ourselves!
(The players exit the chancel together, leaving only the Evangelist. The Evangelist steps forward a bit and speaks directly to the congregation.)
Evangelist: The gospels tell us that Thomas got to see for himself, and that Jesus appeared to Mary, Peter and the other disciples as well. St. Paul tells us that he appeared to as many as 500, no doubt including all of the dejected and defeated followers gathered together in our story. And, if you truly invite him into your heart, he will appear to you as well, for he is the Risen Living Savior of us all!
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