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COMMUNE  6'1m*f RT: Passover, communion, transubstantiation

(RT == Readers' Theater: requires little or no memorization,
little or no rehearsal. An indefinite number of reporters are
salted throughout the audience.)

PETER -- (enters wearing tunic, headdress and sandals, crosses)

REPORTER -- Excuse me, sir.

PETER -- (stops, turns, scans audience) What's going on? Who are
you people? What are you doing here? Don't you know it's
passover?!

REPORTER -- We're newspaper reporters. We were hoping to get an
interview with Jesus of Nazareth.

PETER -- He's... (points, drops hand nervously) He's not here.
He's no longer in Jerusalem.

REPORTER -- We were hoping to talk to him about Passover.

PETER -- Too late. He's gone. (turns to exit)

REPORTER -- Perhaps YOU could answer some of our questions.

PETER -- (stops, turns) Me?

REPORTER -- Yes. You ARE one of his disciples, aren't you?

PETER -- Well, yes. Can't this wait until after Passover?!

REPORTER -- Please. (points to podium) This will only take a
moment.

PETER -- (steps to podium) Oh, very well. I'll answer a FEW
questions.

REPORTER -- First, can we have your name, sir?

PETER -- My name is Simon son of Jonah.

REPORTER -- So, you're the one they call Peter?

PETER -- Yes.

REPORTER -- So, you're the appointed spokesman for the
disciples?

PETER -- I suppose you could say that.

REPORTER -- Is it true that Jesus decided to skip the Passover
celebration tonight?

PETER -- Where on earth did you get that idea?!

REPORTER -- Well, it's true, isn't it?

PETER -- No! We just celebrated the Passover meal at dusk
tonight as prescribed by Jewish tradition.

REPORTER -- And the meal itself was the traditional meal,
complete?

PETER -- Complete, yes. Why would anyone think that Jesus would
dispense with the Passover meal?!

REPORTER -- The Pharisees and the Sadducees claim that Jesus is
defying all of the Jewish laws.

PETER -- That's not true. Jesus keeps all the laws perfectly.

REPORTER -- But the Jewish elites claim that Jesus repeatedly
defiled the sabbath.

PETER -- The problem is not Jesus. The problem is the Jewish
elites. They seem to worship the sabbath. But the sabbath was
created by God as a rest period for man. Nothing more.

REPORTER -- If Jesus keeps the whole law, why did he do all
those healings on the sabbath?

PETER -- To show the world that Jesus himself is the fulfillment
of the sabbath.

REPORTER -- What does that mean?

PETER -- I mean Jesus did things on the sabbath that only God
can do in order to show the world that Jesus is God in human
flesh. Jesus himself is now our rest.

REPORTER -- Isn't that blasphemous?!

PETER -- It's only blasphemous if it isn't true. The miracles
Jesus did on those sabbath days are clear evidence that he is
Immanuel, God with us.

REPORTER -- Getting back to the passover meal, are you saying
that Jesus celebrated the passover in its entirety?

PETER -- In its entirety.

REPORTER -- Then, why did I receive eye-witness accounts that
Jesus advocated cannibalism?

PETER -- Cannibalism?!

REPORTER -- According to the owner of the room where the
passover was celebrated, Jesus told his disciples to eat his
flesh and drink his blood.

PETER -- That's what happens when people eves-drop through the
door.

REPORTER -- Are you saying the owner was wrong?

PETER -- I'm saying the owner didn't see what we saw.

REPORTER -- And what was that?

PETER -- We were celebrating the passover. The passover is
celebrated with three pieces of flat bread and four cups of
wine, among other things. Four a thousand years, the bread and
wine were symbols of the lamb that was slain the night of the
tenth plague in Egypt to save our ancestors from the death of
the firstborn. Tonight during that celebration, Jesus CHANGED
the symbolism. That's all he changed.

REPORTER -- Are you saying that the bread and wine were used as
symbols of something else?

PETER -- That's exactly what I'm saying. Jesus specifically
said, "Whenever you do this, remember me."

REPORTER -- "Remember me" for what?

PETER -- Just as Jesus claimed to be the fulfillment of the
sabbath, tonight He claimed to be the fulfillment of the
Passover.

REPORTER -- I don't understand.

PETER -- Well, first of all, three years ago, John the Baptist
referred to Jesus as the LAMB of God who takes away the sins of
the world. Tonight, Jesus made it clear that whenever we
celebrate the passover, the bread and wine no longer symbolize
the body and blood of the lamb that was slain in Egypt. From now
on, it symbolizes the body and blood of the lamb of Jesus.

REPORTER -- But the symbolism doesn't seem to transfer.

PETER -- Why not?

REPORTER -- Because the lamb was slain and it's blood was used
to save people from death. Jesus is still alive.

PETER -- (pauses, strokes beard) So that's it!

REPORTER -- Do you know something we don't know?

PETER -- Well, I didn't really understand it until tonight. But,
for several weeks Jesus has been telling us that he would be
betrayed and put to death for the sins of the people. We all
thought he was being symbolic. After all, being a descendant of
King David, we all thought his next act was to ascend to the
throne. But, it's looking more and more like what Isaiah
predicted.

REPORTER -- The prophet Isaiah?

PETER -- Yes. Isaiah predicted "he was led like a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent".

REPORTER -- And what do you make of that prediction?

PETER -- As the Lamb of God... Jesus intends to give his life to
save humanity from our sins. That's why he told us "Whenever you
do this remember me."

REPORTER -- So, what you're saying is that Jesus intends to die.

REPORTER -- When will this happen?!

PETER -- I... I don't know. Let's see. During the original
passover celebration, the lamb was slain on the same day... It
could happen during the next twenty-four hours! (agitated) I'm
sorry. I have to go. (turns, exits hurriedly)

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