THOSE
EYES
Author: Tony R.
Stuckless, Spaniards Bay, Newfoundland, Canada.
Drama written about February
16th, 2001.
Author's Note: This
dramatisation is written solely for the glorification of God. It is not
copyright protected and is freely available for all those who will use this
drama in God's name. At the end of the drama you could finish with an altar
call if appropriate. You have the author's permission to use the drama as often
as you like, but please keep the focus of the message intact. God bless you.
Setting: Israel during
the last few weeks of Christ's life on Earth and following through into the
birth of the Christian Church. The story is being told to the members of a
synagogue after the day of Pentecost.
Characters: Simon - a young
Zealot of unknown origin. His dress should be of the Jews of the day. There is no reason why Simon can not become
Simone, a young Jewess, who has just lost her family in similar circumstances,
if a lady wishes to present the drama.
(Introduction to be read by a
layperson or clergy as required: This
is the story of what may of happened to a young Zealot of Jesus day in the
weeks leading up to the Crucifixion of Christ and the Day of Pentecost. A
Zealot in Jesus' day was a Jewish rebel or freedom fighter bent on getting the
Romans out of Israel by force. As Simon
(or Simone) begins to tell his story, we realise he is speaking of events he
witnessed during the previous weeks. He is speaking to you as if you were
members of a synagogue in Simon's day. He has both seen much and been changed
by what he has seen. Let your minds and hearts feel what Simon has to say. Keep
in mind what it might have been like to experience first hand these events as
they unfolded.)
The Script:
Hello. Where do I begin?
My name is Simon and I have a lot to tell you. I want to thank the Rabbi for
a chance to speak to you today. As your are aware, much has happened in
Jerusalem in the last few weeks. I was there for some of it and perhaps some of
you were there as well. This is my story.
First, I am or was a Zealot until all this
happened. I was only just becoming a Zealot. You see Roman soldiers burned my
village four months ago as retaliation for a Zealot attack on a small Roman
border garrison. It didn't matter that my people had nothing to do with the
attack on the Romans, we were just an easy target to teach the Zealots a
lesson.
. (Looks at the congregation
with obvious pain in his eyes and in his speech) I wasn't home at the time of the attack, but I was the first on
the scene a couple of hours later.
I would have given anything to have been
there and to have had a chance to kill a Roman, or die trying.
. The Romans
killed everyone except for my Grandfather. They let him live so he could tell
what had happened and why. They made him watch as they killed everyone in the
village. My mother, father, brothers, and even my baby sister were killed.
..
(Pauses and appears visibly overcome for
a moment but then gathers himself and goes on). (Looks directly at the audience for effect) Can you begin to imagine
how I felt? I wanted to kill Romans! I wanted them dead! The hate was eating me
alive
..I wanted to die.
. (Pause and
quieter now). How I cried.
If you
could have seen my grandfather's eyes
When they wiped out his family they destroyed
his soul. I stayed with him a few days in the ruins of my home, but he just
gave up and died.
. I buried him next to the rest of my family and left home
for Jericho.
.I had nothing to stay for.
. (pause for effect).
You are probably wondering why Jericho?
I
had heard that Zealots were active in the area and I wanted to become a Zealot.
I wanted to kill Romans.
.Then, as I wandered the streets of Jericho, I heard
that Jesus was in town. (pause)
You need to understand, I knew of Jesus but I
was not looking for Him
. I had heard of the miracles and His words but it all
seemed too good to be true. Besides, I was not looking to forgive the Romans. I
wanted them dead.
What I had heard of
Jesus was that he preached love and compassion. Some even said He was the
Messiah. Like many, I did not believe this, as my Messiah was a conqueror who
would free Israel from the Romans
.
As I walked down the road, I saw a procession
coming towards me. I did not have to ask what was going on as all around me I could
hear people saying, "Jesus is coming". I quickly picked out who Jesus
was. He had a way of standing out in a crowd. I kept walking towards Him. He
was talking and walking with his followers and more and more people on the
roadside started following Him. Finally, only a few feet separated us and I
moved to let Him and his procession pass by, or so I thought.
..
He was right in front of me when He just
stopped.
.. He motioned for His followers to be still and then He looked at me
with those eyes!
(pause for effect
before going on and more emotional now) I just stood there while He looked
into my eyes.
Time just seemed to stop! No one said a word
. I could feel the
love and compassion in those eyes. It was as if He knew my pain.
I can't
explain it, but He knew what I was going through!
I just lost myself in His
eyes. It seemed like He was comforting me with just a look.
. He glanced
forward and then back at me and then He started moving again.
(Excited)
I just kept standing there as Jesus and the procession passed me by. I know
that He only looked into my eyes for a moment, but that moment seemed forever!
. With one look into my soul, He managed to tell me He knew me! I could not
get over it and I was shaking. My rage against the Romans was gone as I watched
Him go on down the road. My feet started moving and I realised I was following
Him!
(Quieter
now and steady) I just had to follow Him. No one had ever seen so much of
me with just a simple look. I felt He knew more about me than I knew myself. I
began to move up through the crowd and noticed we were leaving town. As I
neared Jesus, I heard a voice crying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on
me!" It looked like some blind man on the side of the road begging. He
kept calling out and some of the people called out to the blind man to be
still, but he kept calling out to Jesus.
. Jesus stopped and asked someone to
bring the blind man to Him.
(More
excited now) I wondered what would happen. Was Jesus going to heal this
man?! What would He do?
. The blind man came to Jesus and Jesus asked him,
"What do you want me to do for you?" The blind man replied,
"Rabbi, that I may receive my sight.".
.. You could hear the hush
come over the crowd.
. We all expected Him to do some fancy thing with a flash
of lighting but Jesus just looked at the blind man and said, "Go your way;
your faith has made you well."
. (Looks
around at the audience) By this time I had moved up to where Jesus and the
blind man were. I could see the blind man's face as Jesus spoke to him. (Very emotional) Suddenly the blind man
could see! He could see! This was the very same blind man I had passed by
earlier that day with hardly a glance. Jesus not only saw him but Jesus saw His
need and healed Him. Jesus turned before going on and for another second He
looked into my eyes as well.
.He seemed to know that what I needed healed was
not my eyes but my heart.
. Again, He said nothing to me and we moved on. The
blind man came with us rejoicing that he could see and praising God! The crowd
was alive with what they had seen. No one but Jesus and I knew what effect He
was having on me.
(Voice
is steadier now) Needless to say, I followed Jesus being more careful to
keep at a distance now. Those eyes knew me and I wasn't sure what I would do if
I looked into them again. I followed Jesus and listened as He talked about the 'Good Shepherd'. I did not understand
it all at the time but every word captivated me.
Some of the Jews took up
stones to kill Him because He had said; "I and my Father are one".
They felt He was making Himself equal to God.
I had no love for the Scribes
and Pharisees either and I was afraid for a moment that they would kill Him,
but He escaped them.
Messengers came to Jesus telling him that
some man named Lazarus was sick. I understood from the crowd that Lazarus lived
in Bethany and was some one Jesus already knew. The funny thing is Jesus, did
not go right away to heal his friend but stayed where we were for two days
before going to Bethany. By the time we arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had been
dead four days. One of the crowd told me the women speaking with Jesus were
Lazarus' sisters. Jesus asked where
Lazarus was so they took Him to the tomb. (Quietly
but with emotion) Jesus was crying! He was crying for Lazarus! You could
feel His pain. I even began to cry to for someone I did not even know!
.
What happened next was beyond belief. (Louder and more intense) Jesus asked
them to roll the stone away from the tomb. After the stone was moved, Jesus
looked up to Heaven and then called out to Lazarus telling him to come out of
the tomb! Can you imagine telling a dead man to come out of the grave!
. (Pause and more calmly). But that is just what Lazarus did. He came
out of the tomb.
(Louder) What
kind of man was this Jesus that He could even raise the dead!! I had never
heard of such a thing. But now I was seeing this with my own eyes.
(Quieter)
For awhile after this, I left Jesus and went my own way. I just couldn't get my
head straight as to what I had seen. I wandered around eating and sleeping
wherever I could.
.
I woke up one morning to the sound of
shouting. I went to see what was going on and I saw Jesus riding on a donkey. (Louder) The crowd were following Him
shouting, "Hosanna, hosanna!" They thought He was a king! I followed
Him around for the next few days after this and the things I saw and heard are
too many to tell you here. He even threw the moneychangers out of the Temple.
.That was the only time I saw anger in His eyes.
(Quieter
now) Early one morning word went around that Jesus had been arrested. I
could not believe my ears! I ran to the courtyard and saw Jesus standing with
Pilate. (Louder now) The crowd was
calling for His blood! They wanted Pilate to crucify Jesus!
.. (Quieter
now) Pilate gave his consent. I believe he agreed because he was afraid of
a riot.
. The next thing I knew was that the soldiers were beating Him. They
placed a crown of thorns on His head and dragged Him away. He was forced to
pick up a cross and carry it. He looked barely alive. He fell a couple of times
and once I was very near Him as He picked Himself up. (Louder) He looked in my eyes again. I thought I would see defeat,
but I did not.
.For another second, time seemed to stop.
. I could see the
determination mixed in with the pain in His eyes and again I had that feeling
that this man knew me better than I would ever know myself.
. Then the
soldiers jerked Him away.
(Quieter)
Later, at Golgotha, they nailed Him to the cross. I wanted to leave but I
couldn't
.I had to stay. He was in such pain.
I got as close as I could and
again His eyes locked into mine. (Louder)
I could feel His love for me. He had never spoken to me, but I knew this man
loved me.
.. Then the sky got dark in the middle of the day. It was like
night!
. (Quieter) Then
. Then he
died.
..
I ran and I ran. I hid in the caves until
Sunday morning. Sunday morning was so bright and alive that I had to get up. I
went back into the city
. (Voice slowly
rising with excitement). One of the women who had been at Golgotha ran past
me muttering something like, "He's risen, He's risen.". I thought she
was crazy but I followed her and she disappeared inside a house for a few
minutes. I hid in the shadows to see what would happen next. (Excited) A couple of Jesus disciples
came running out, heading in the direction of the tombs.
.. I let them get a
head start and then I followed them so they would not see me.
. They arrived
at the tomb. One hesitated and then they both went in. (emotional) I held my breath. This must be Jesus' tomb.
.. After a
couple of minutes, they came out of the tomb and ran away. I hid nearby but I
could hear them muttering as they went past that the tomb was empty!
. (Pause and state for effect) The tomb was empty!
What was this?! I
stayed hidden as I watched a woman crying near the tomb. She looked in for a
minute and then stood up quickly, as a man seemed to come from nowhere! I could
not here much of what they were saying but she seemed to recognise Him and she
called Him, "Rabbi".
He disappeared again as quick as He had
appeared. She ran off in the direction the disciples had gone.
(Long pause and quieter) Now what?
I was alone at the tomb.
I had
to look inside. I had seen Him die myself and now the tomb was supposed to be
empty?
.. I made my way quickly to the tomb and stooped to look inside.
.. I
was not prepared for what I saw next.
(Excited)
The tomb was indeed empty! Jesus was not there! Where was He? What did this
mean?
..
(Quieter)
Just as I had run from Golgotha, I now ran from the Tomb. I moved around in the
city over the next few weeks or so like a lost lamb. My mind was alive with
what had happened to me since I had left home. I could not understand what it
all meant but I could not get the events out of my mind. I needed something but
I did not know what.
. One morning, I heard a strange sound. I
was not alone as many others in Jerusalem heard that sound. We came together
and there were the disciples of Jesus speaking to the crowd!
(Louder) I could not speak to half the
people around me as they were from everywhere but it was obvious we all heard
the disciples in our own languages as they spoke.
. The disciple named Peter
shouted for attention as some people were making fun.
(Pause
and quieter) What he had to say changed my life forever. As Peter spoke his
eyes looked into mine and I felt a chill go down my spine.
. I had seen this
look before in Jesus' eyes. Those eyes belonged to Peter, but I had the feeling
that Jesus was looking at me again.
. (Louder)
I hung on every word. Peter talked about Jesus and how He had risen from the
grave to give us all eternal life. Peter said Jesus would take away our pain
and our sins if we would only let Him.
By the time Peter was finished, I was
down on my knees crying out to Jesus for mercy. The sobs just came out of me. A
hand touched me and I looked up into the eyes of one of the disciples. He asked
me if I believed and I said, "Yes with all my heart".
.. (pause) Again, time stopped for me.
.
The pain and confusion in my soul were gone! (Very excited) I was free! My heart was ready to burst! I stood and
took a place near the disciples to find myself surrounded by hundreds of others
with more coming to stand with us by the minute! (Pause and quieter) What peace I felt and still feel. Three thousand
of us were saved that day alone and many more in the days that followed.
. (Pause).
(Firm
and confident) I had to come here today to share this with you
.. Jesus is
real and He is alive and lives in my heart today. His spirit fills my soul to
overflowing, so that I must share Jesus with you. Won't you accept Jesus today?
He wants to forgive all of us. We have to tell the world about Jesus!
