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ODDS     5'?m3f What are the odds that Jesus is the messiah?

(thanks to http://www.reasons.org for probabilities listed)

(both characters wear plain tunics and mideast headdresses)

LIZ -- (enters with stuffed pillow case over shoulder, looks
back)

AMY -- (enters opposite) Well! Fancy meeting you here! I was
just looking for you.

LIZ -- (gasps) I'm a little busy now. Maybe later. (tries to
cross)

AMY -- (resists) Where are you going?

LIZ -- I was about to do my laundry. Yeah, that's it. I was
about to do my laundry.

AMY -- The public fountain is (points to exit) that way.

LIZ -- Oh, yes, so it is. I guess I was lost in thought.

AMY -- I guess it's good I ran into you, then. You were on your
way out of town. (points over shoulder)

LIZ -- So I was.

AMY -- So, have you heard about the resurrection?

LIZ -- Resurrection?

AMY -- Jesus raised from the dead.

LIZ -- Oh, yes. (crosses by Amy) Well, nice seeing you.

AMY -- (turns) I thought you were going to do your laundry.
(points over shoulder)

LIZ -- Maybe later.

AMY -- You're going to leave town with dirty laundry?!

LIZ -- Alright! I'll admit it! I'm leaving town because I don't
have the money.

AMY -- What money? (pauses) Oh! You're talking about that wager
we made!

LIZ -- You bet me one hundred drachmas at one hundred to one
odds that Jesus is the messiah.

AMY -- Yes. I guess the resurrection is proof that Jesus IS the
messiah, huh?

LIZ -- Listen, I'm sorry to Welch on a bet, but I don't have ten
thousand drachmas!

AMY -- Then, why did you wager with me?

LIZ -- I thought it was a sucker bet. I thought you were one of
those simpleton religious fanatics. I thought you were just
another easy mark and that Jesus was just another one of those
head cases who claimed to be the messiah. Say, how did you do
that, anyway?

AMY -- Do what?

LIZ -- How could you be so sure that your friend Jesus was the
messiah?

AMY -- I played the odds.

LIZ -- Naw! That's my game, playing the odds. How did you do it,
really?

AMY -- Really. I played the odds.

LIZ -- What odds?

AMY -- Actually, I had some inside information.

LIZ -- What inside information?

AMY -- The Bible.

LIZ -- Don't tell me the Bible has handicapping information!

AMY -- In a manner of speaking.

LIZ -- You mean the bet was fixed?

AMY -- I never intended to collect on the wager.

LIZ -- You didn't?

AMY -- No. I was just making a point.

LIZ -- What a relief. I thought you were going to break my knees
or something.

AMY -- I believe in Jesus. I would never do that!

LIZ -- Alright, let's hear it. How did you know that Jesus was
a sure thing?

AMY -- Well, about seven hundred years before Jesus' birth, the
prophet Micah predicted that the village of Bethlehem would be
the birthplace of Israel's Messiah. Since there's about a
thousand villages in Israel, the rough estimate of the chances
of being born in Bethlehem would be a thousand to one.

LIZ -- I thought Jesus was born in Nazareth!

AMY -- He was RAISED in Nazareth. He was BORN in Bethlehem.

LIZ -- How come nobody knows that?

AMY -- They were so quick to condemn Jesus, that they didn't
want to hear anything good about him.

LIZ -- I bet you a hundred to one. But you had inside
information at a thousand to one.

AMY -- Actually, it was worse than that. About six hundred years
before Jesus was born, the prophet Zechariah predicted that the
Messiah would be betrayed for the price of a slave and that the
money would be used to buy a burial ground for poor foreigners.

LIZ -- That actually happened!

AMY -- Exactly as predicted.

LIZ -- That's got to be a million to one shot!

AMY -- Now you can see how I was willing to wager on it.

LIZ -- Yes, but Jesus was executed! Didn't that disqualify him
as the messiah?

AMY -- Just the opposite. That's when the odds REALLY turned in
favor of Jesus.

LIZ -- I don't understand.

AMY -- About four hundred years before crucifixion was invented
as a form of execution, King David described exactly the way the
messiah would die.

LIZ -- It says that in the Bible?!

AMY -- Not only that, but the prophet Zechariah predicted that
the messiah's legs would not be broken during the crucifixion.

LIZ -- But they ALWAYS break the legs during crucifixions!
That's got to be another million to one shot!

AMY -- And, then, of course, David predicted that the soldiers
would divide up the messiah's clothes by casting lots. What are
the odds against that?

LIZ -- That's a trillion-to-one shot and I gave hundred-to-one
odds! I have never been so embarrassed in my life! Maybe I
should find another line of work.

AMY -- (exiting) Whatever you do, just don't bet against the
messiah coming back a second time.

LIZ -- (follows) He's coming back?! When?! Where?! You got some
inside information on that?

AMY -- Of course. The Lord always gives his people plenty of
warning for a coming event.

LIZ -- It's in the Bible, right? How much time do I have to
place my bets?

AMY -- I thought you said you were getting out of the business.

©2013 Bob Snook. Conditions for use:
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