Readers’ Theater
“The Longest Day”
This lesson is based on Matthew 27:31-66; Mark 15:20-47; Luke 23:25-56; and John 19:16-42. See also The Desire of Ages, pp. 723-768.
Memory Text: Isaiah 53:5
As you read this lesson, imagine that you are one of the witnesses. How would you report the events of the day if you were Simon the Cyrenian, one of the thieves, Pilate, or the centurion in charge of the guard?
In this lesson the events of Friday are told in a story that you can prepare to read orally with your classmates. (The events of Sabbath and Sunday appear in similar stories in Lessons 42 and 43.) You may want to assign the parts of this story to various readers. Everyone in the class should prepare to sing the songs suggested (or others that are appropriate), and to take the voice choir parts in the story.
Reader Parts:
Narrator 1ChoirSoldier 3PilateCenturion
Priest 1JesusSoldier 1Priest 2CrowdPrisoner 1 James Narrator 2 Prisoner 2 Thomas Soldiers Soldier 2 Passer-by
Chief Priests (lower voices in choir)
Part One: In Pilate’s Hall Before Sunrise
Narrator 1: / Pilate entered the judgment hall, and calling Jesus said to him,Pilate: / Are You the King of the Jews?
Narrator 1: / Jesus answered him,
Jesus: / Are you saying this of yourself, or did others tell you about Me?
Pilate: / Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests delivered You up to me. What have You done?
Jesus: / My kingdom is not this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight. I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.
Pilate: / What is truth? (pause)
Narrator 1: / After this, he went out to the Jews again and told them,
Pilate: / I find no guild in Him. But you have a custom, that I should release one man for you at the Passover. Shall I release for you the King of the Jews?
Narrator 1: / They cried out,
Crowd: / Not this Man, but Barabbas!
Narrator 1: / Barabbas was a robber
Narrator 2: / Then Pilate took Jesus and beat him
Narrator 1: / The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and robed Him in a purple cloak. They came up to Him saying,
Soldiers: / Hail, King of the Jews!
Narrator 2: / And struck him in the face
Narrator 1: / Then Pilate went outside again and said to them,
Pilate: / Look, I bring Him out before you here to show that I find nothing criminal about Him at all.
Crowd: / Crucify Him! Crucify Him!
Pilate: / Take Him yourselves, and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.
Crowd: / We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.
Narrator 1: / When Pilate head this, he was more afraid, and went again into the judgment hall.
Pilate: / Where are You from?
Narrator 2: / Jesus gave no answer.
Pilate: / You don’t speak to me? Do you realize I have power to set You free, and I have power to have You crucified?
Jesus: / You have no power at all against Me, except what was given you from above.
Narrator 1: / From that moment Pilate tried hard to release Him. But the mob kept shouting,
Crowd: / If you let this Man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Any man who makes himself a king sets himself against Caesar.
Narrator 2: / When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat.
Narrator 1: / It was the day of preparation for the Passover, about noon. Pilate said to the Jews,
Pilate: / Behold your King!
Crowd: / Away with Him! Away with Him! Away with Him!
Pilate: / Shall I crucify your King?
Narrator 1: / The chief priests answered,
Chief Priests: / We have no king but Caesar.
Narrator 2: / Then at last, to satisfy them, Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified.—Based on John 18:33-19:16.
Choir: / “Jesus Walked This LonesomeValley”
Part Two: The Crucifixion
Narrator 1 / The march of the prisoners to the place of execution was uphill, the road was rough, and the sun beat down that Friday morning.Narrator 2: / The cross prepared for Barabbas was weighing down upon Jesus’ bruised and bleeding shoulders. Two criminals were also given crosses.
Narrator 1: / Since the Passover supper, Jesus had not had anything to eat or drink. Where were the friends who should have looked after these needs for Him?
Narrator 2: / Neither had Jesus slept since the day before; He had struggled all night with the powers of darkness.
Narrator 1: / Deserted by His disciples, He had been propelled from one court to another, insulted, denied, and beaten twice.
Narrator 2: / When the Son of God fell fainting to the ground three times under the load of heavy timbers, where were Peter, James, and John? What honor would be theirs today, if they had come fearlessly forward to carry the cross for their Lord!
Narrator 1: / But Peter, James and John were far back in the crowd. On Sunday at the triumphal entry they had pressed eagerly around their Master. Now, in His humiliation, they followed at a distance. Simon the Cyrenian,* who spoke words of sympathy, was seized, and the cross was placed upon his shoulders.
Narrator 2: / Finally prisoners and executioners, with a huge crowd of curious people following, arrived at the Place of a Skull. The centurion directed his soldiers.
Centurion: / Mix the gall**you brought with some of the wine. Give it to them now. Helps deaden the pain.
Soldier 1: / Yes, sir. Here, you—drink all you can. Pass it on to the others.
Prisoner 1: / (coughing) Is that what gall tastes like?
Prisoner 2: / Give it to me!
Centurion: / Lay out the spikes by each cross.
Soldier 2: / Yes sir. How many sir?
Prisoner 2: / You know what those spikes are for, I suppose?
Prisoner 1: / Quiet, I’ll drink it. But it’s a poor way to treat good wine.
Centurion: / Place the malls by the crosses.
Soldier 3: / Yes, sir. Amall by each cross.
Centurion: / Did they all drink some of the wine?
Soldier 1: / All but the King there. Says He needs to think clearly. Passed it by.
Centurion: / All ready. Fasten the prisoners to the crosses lying on the ground. Then as a team heave each cross upward, and drop it into the hole in the rock. What’s the matter, Tony? Your first crucifixion?
Soldier 2: / Yes, sir. And I hope my last!
Soldier 3: / You get used to it. (Pilate enters.)
Centurion: / Your honor!
Pilate: / I have made a sign.
Centurion: / Yes, sir. Where shall we place it? Anthony, take the sign from the governor.
Pilate: / Nail it above the head of the Man on the middle cross. You have it?
Soldier 2: / Yes, sir. What is it, sir?
Pilate: / His “crime”—it tells why He is being executed.
Soldier 1: / (quietly to Soldier 3) Can you read it?
Soldier 3: / No. Listen—the priests are reading it.
Priest 1: / (reading) “This is Jesus the King of the Jews”
Priest 2: / What? (to Soldier 2) Get that thing down from there. Stupid Romans.
Soldier 2: / Sorry, sir. You’ll have to speak to the governor.
Priest 1: / Pilate is responsible for this?
Priest 2: / He’s right here. Tell him--
Priest 1: / (sweetly) Most noble governor, the sign you have made—not quite accurate, is it?
Priest 2: / We are sure you’ll want to change the--
Priest 1: / It could read, “This man said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’”
Pilate: / What I have written, I have written. Good day, gentlemen!
Priest 2: / A fine thing--
Priest 1: / What he has written he has written, all right—in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
Priest 2: / From first to last, this is a most disagreeable affair.
Narrator 2: / From a distance, the people who knew and loved Jesus were watching—perplexed, troubled.
James: / We thought surely He was the One to redeem Israel, Thomas.
Thomas: / I’ll be slow ever to get my hopes up again James—I can tell you that.
James: / He has many qualities I would expect in the messiah. So unselfish, thoughtful . . . I have never seen anyone to compare with him—no one.
Thomas: / That’s true. Like asking John just now to care for His mother . . .
James: / That’s what I mean. In all that pain Himself, He thinks of His mother!
Thomas: / He has the qualities, as you say, of a godly person. But not, perhaps, of a king. So humble. He might have asserted Himself more . . .
Soldier 3: / I’m dividing up the prisoners’ clothes for us.
Soldier 1: / They won’t be needing them anymore.
Soldier 2: / This is a miserable business.
Soldier 3: / For you . . . for you . . . for me . . . for the centurion. For you . . . for you . . . for me . . .
Soldier 1: / Wait a minute! That robe woven all in one piece—you aren’t taking that for yourself, are you?
Soldier 3: / Wouldn’t do to tear it.
Soldier 1: / Then we’ll cast lots for it.
Priest 2: / (tauntingly) He saved others; Himself He cannot save.
Priest 1: / Let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in Him!
Priest 2: / He trusts in God—let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him.
Priest 1: / He said, “I am the son of God.”
Prisoner 2: / Son of God, indeed! God . . . on a cross? (pause) He’s phony, just like the rest of us. I’m a thief, so’s Zeb here. What’s your line, Jesus?
Prisoner 1: / Go on—get Yourself down! Us too! What a show that would be! (thoughtfully) I almost think you could.
Passer-by: / (wagging his head) So, so! You said You could destroy our Temple and build it back in three days—save Yourself, and come down from the cross!
Soldier 1: / You win the cloak. My usual luck. Maybe at the next crucifixion—
Jesus: / Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Passer-by: / What?
Soldier 2: / Father forgive them—
Soldier 1: / For they know not what they do.
Soldier 2: / He’s asking for forgiveness—for us!
Soldier 3: / Who is his Father?
Soldier 2: / God, He says. I wonder . . .
Centurion: / It just could be. I mean strange things have happended since I took this post!
Prisoner 2: / (tauntingly) If you are truly God, then save Yourself—and us!
Prisoner 1: / Look, we’re here because what we did was wrong. But He hasn’s done anything wrong. You heard the governor say “I find no fault in him.”
Prisoner 1: / (tone more gentle, straightforward) Lord, I’m sorry about what I said earlier, taunting You to come down from the cross. I still think You could though.
Why You’re staying I don’t know. I heard You say something once about giving other people life through Your death.
This much I know—under all this abuse it’s more like God than man to be thinking about other people! “Father, forgive them . . .”
Listen, I made some wrong friends, and I take the responsibility for what I did. But if I had another chance—if I could be standing on the hillside again hearing you say, “Whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do to them”—look, my mind may not hold clear much longer. I believe You are God! Remember me when You come into your kingdom!
Narrator 1: / One gleam of comfort that came to Jesus hanging on the cross was the prayer of the believing thief.
Narrator 2: / Jesus came to preach deliverance—even to criminals at their execution.
Narrator 1: / He shared their execution with them.
Narrator 2: / And now one of them will share eternal joy with Him.
Narrator 1: / See the blood on the temples of the Son of God, from wounds made by sharp thorns driven down in hate.
Narrator 2: / Blood falling drop by drop from His hands and feet onto the rock . . .
Narrator 1: / His breath labored and deep
Narrator 2: / Do you know what was troubling the Saviour, even more than the excruciating physical pain?
Narrator 1: / He was troubled because He could not tell that His Father was present.
Narrator 2: / An unnatural darkness at midday surrounded the cross. But the spiritual darkness around Christ was deeper.
Narrator 1: / Always before in times of trial He had know that His Father was with Him.
Narrator 2: / The Father was present on this occasion, too, in the darkness beside the cross.
Narrator 1: / But He could not make His presence known. Jesus was dying for us the “second death,” which means separation from God, from life, from love—everything.
Jesus: / My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Narrator 1: / Hanging there alone in the darkness, Jesus thought of the times His Father had accepted His life and ministry.
Narrator 2: / He reviewed what He knew of His Father’s character—justice blended with mercy . . . constancy . . . love.
Narrator 1: / By faith Jesus rested His future in the hands of Him whom it had ever been His joy to obey.
Narrator 2: / As He committed everything to God, He no longer felt that He had lost His Father’s favor.
Narrator 1: / By faith He had conquered. Suddenly the gloom lifted from the cross. In clear tones, Jesus cried out,
Jesus: / It is finished!
Narrator 1: / Light encircled the cross. The Saviour’s face shone like the sun. He said,
Jesus: / Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit.
Narrator 1: / Then His head fell to His breast, and He died.
Centurion: / (with awe) Truly this Man was the Son of God!
Choir: / “Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?”