BACK PILATE2 8'4m0f The Jewish elite convince Pilate to kill Jesus (an indefinite number of men and women cast members are scattered throughout the audience, costumes optional for audience cast) (sound cue: leather strap slapping, man groaning off stage) BEN -- (enters with Joe from opposite exit) What's taking the governor so long? JOE -- He probably can't find anything to charge him with. PILATE -- (enters opposite dragging Jesus) I find no fault with this man. JOE -- (crossing to Pilate) You mean you found no violations of ROMAN law. PILATE -- (turns) I am bound by Roman law. I have no jurisdiction over other laws. JOE -- Have you forgotten the law of the Jews, who are under your jurisdiction? PILATE -- If you have an internal religious dispute, you can handle it yourselves. BEN -- But Roman law prohibits us from carrying out our own death penalty. PILATE -- Death Penalty?! For what?! I just tortured this man with forty lashes with the cat-of-nine tails. All he would confess to is being king of the Jews. You think THAT'S a capital offense?! BEN & JOE -- Yes. PILATE -- Why? BEN -- (pause) Because (pause) we already have a king. JOE -- Yes. King Herod. PILATE -- Why all this allegiance to King Herod all of a sudden? You Jews hate King Herod. He isn't even a descendant of your ancestor Jacob. He is an Edomite, the descendant of Esua. You have never accepted the Herod family as your kings since we imposed them upon you decades ago. Now, this Jewish man, who claims to be the rightful heir to King David's throne comes along and you suddenly claim allegiance to Herod?! BEN -- Yes, we do. PILATE -- If anyone should be upset about a man claiming to be the rightful heir to the throne, it should be King Herod. How is it, then, that Herod examined this man and finds him to be no threat to his throne? BEN -- (pauses, mumbles in Joe's ear briefly) Herod was probably fearful of an uprising. JOE -- Yes, that's it. Herod already upset the people when he killed John the Baptist. BEN -- Yes, that's it. Everybody knows that John the Baptist was a co-conspirator with Jesus to take over Herod's throne. PILATE -- And yet, Herod sees Jesus as no threat. BEN -- (pauses, mumbles in Joe's ear briefly) There are other implications of this conspiracy. JOE -- Yes. In addition to claiming to be king, Jesus also claimed to be equal with God. PILATE -- Well, then, it's back to being a religious matter. You take him and deal with him BEN -- No! PILATE -- Why not? BEN -- (to Joe) Why not? JOE -- (pause) Because our law says that anyone who claims to be equal with God is guilty of blasphemy. BEN -- Yes, that's it. And the penalty for blasphemy is DEATH. PILATE -- (smiles confidently) I know enough about your law to know that he can only be convicted of blasphemy if he claims to be equal with God and is NOT God. BEN -- Well of course he's not God! JOE -- How preposterous! PILATE -- But I thought he gave you several demonstrations of God's power. Didn't he heal people, drive out demons, calm the storms, and even raise people from the dead? BEN -- Well, yes. JOE -- Allegedly. PILATE -- Well, if he demonstrated God's power, wouldn't that disprove the blasphemy charge? BEN -- Yes. JOE -- No. PILATE -- Well, which is it? JOE -- No. We think Jesus got the power for his miracles from the devil himself. PILATE -- Well, then, that still makes this a religious issue. YOU deal with him! BEN -- But our law requires that we stone him to death. PILATE -- Okay. BEN -- But Roman law doesn't allow us to execute anyone. PILATE -- You hypocrits! You Jews have been stoning people to death behind our backs since we conquered this land. Why are you suddenly so interested in being law abiding citizens? BEN -- (to Joe) That's a good question. PILATE -- Would you like my permission to execute Jesus? BEN -- Yes. JOE -- No! BEN -- No?! I thought we wanted him dead. PILATE -- You take him. He's yours. Do with him as you wish. (turns) JOE -- A moment, Your Eminence? (confers silently with Ben) PILATE -- (turns, irritated) What do you want from me?! You want him dead. Execute him yourselves! JOE -- If Jesus dies by stoning, it will be too good for him. PILATE -- He will be just as dead if you kill him as if I kill him. JOE -- Yes, but if we stone him there won't be enough witnesses. PILATE -- I don't understand. BEN -- Me either. When we stone someone to death, the law requires a MINION. A minion is ten witnesses. Isn't that enough? JOE -- No. When we stone someone to death, we usually throw him into a pit and drop large stones on his head from the rim of the pit. BEN -- Well, it works. He usually ends up dead. JOE -- But the problem is the only people who can see him die are the ten people standing around the pit. (signals with hand for Ben to continue) BEN -- Oh, yes, that's right. But in a Roman execution, Jesus will be lifted high on a cross, like the brass serpent that Moses lifted up on a wooden pole in the desert, so all two million people in the camp could see it at once. PILATE -- (irritated) And why should I care if ten people or ten million people see Jesus dying? JOE -- We want to make an example of him. PILATE -- You talk as if we had an epidemic of people claiming to be the king of the Jews. The last guy who claimed to be the king of the Jews led his disciples out to the desert where they all died of thirst. JOE -- If we stone him, he'll die right away. But if he's hung on a cross,... PILATE -- You WANT him to suffer?! JOE -- Yes. He insulted us. We want him to suffer. And we want everyone to see the punishment for people who insult us. PILATE -- So, it's personal. JOE -- There's something at stake here for YOU too. As I said, Jesus not only claims to be King of the Jews. He also claims to be equal with God. PILATE -- I thought we covered that. JOE -- If Jesus claims to be God, he not only competes with OUR God, Jehovah, he also competes with YOUR god. PILATE -- MY god? JOE -- I will remind you that the Roman Emperor claims to be a god. PILATE -- As if some Jew a thousand miles from Rome is a big threat to Caesar. JOE -- (to Ben) I wonder how Caesar would react if he found out his governor had the ability to stop an uprising but failed to act. PILATE -- An uprising?! JOE -- (to Ben) A man who claims to be on a par with the Lord of Lords and King of Kings sounds like a serious threat to the security of Rome to me. PILATE -- I've never heard a single word about an uprising from Jesus or any of his disciples. They call him the prince of peace! JOE -- (steps toward audience, tugs on own ear lobe obviously) AUDIENCE -- Crucify him! Crucify him! JOE -- (to Ben) I think we should write a letter to Rome, don't you? BEN -- It would be a real shame if Caesar found out that one of his governors had a seditionist in his grasp and let him escape. JOE -- (steps toward audience, tugs on own ear lobe obviously) AUDIENCE -- Crucify him! Crucify him! PILATE -- Why are you doing this?! This man is your savior! JOE -- We keep the law. We don't need a savior. (steps toward audience, tugs on own ear lobe obviously) AUDIENCE -- Crucify him! Crucify him! PILATE -- (holds up hands) Alright, have it your way. I'll do your dirty work for you. (shouts) Guards! Take the prisoner to jail. We'll crucify him in two days. JOE -- It would be better if he died TODAY. PILATE -- Roman law requires a two day waiting period for the death penalty. JOE -- (steps toward audience, tugs on own ear lobe obviously) AUDIENCE -- Crucify him! Crucify him! JOE -- It would be better if he died TODAY. (steps toward audience, tugs on own ear lobe obviously) AUDIENCE -- Crucify him! Crucify him! PILATE -- Alright! Alright!. Guards! (pushes Jesus to exit) Take the prisoner out of the city and crucify him! JOE -- You've been very cooperative, Your Eminence. (bows and backs away) We shall take our leave. BEN -- (bows and backs away) Your Eminence. PILATE -- (optional handwashing while backing away toward opposite exit) I am innocent of this man's blood! The blood of Jesus will be upon YOUR hands! ©2013 Bob Snook. Conditions for use: Do not sell any part of this script, even if you rewrite it. Pay no royalties, even if you make money from performances. You may reproduce and distribute this script freely, but all copies must contain this copyright statement. http://www.bobsnook.org email: [email protected] BACK |