A dramatic reading based on the gospel of John by Don Heller
Summary
Use this as a dramatic reading for the very beginning of worship on Easter morning. If there has been a good Holy Week schedule with a somber Good Friday service with folks meditating on the cross, the grave and the events of Friday then this leads into Easter where they are at…. We have used this effectively at Bethel Lutheran Church in Ericksdahl, Texas.
Characters
Mary
John
Peter
Narrator
Angels
Jesus
Script
Mary: (pounding on the door) Peter, John…(breathing heavily from running hard, scared confused voice)…Peter, John, It's me Mary! Open up, Open the door! Hurry!!! Hurry, Help!
John: (frightened, emotion on edge, speaks in quick short bursts) What's going on? Get in here quick. Are there others following you? I thought you had gone to the tomb…
Mary: (tears and sobbing and still out of breath from running)I did John but when I got there the stone had been rolled away
Peter: What! (confusion and bewilderment are all over his face and in his voice)
Mary: Yes! Oh Peter, they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him! (sobbing turned into wails of lament)
Narrator: At once Peter and John ran to the tomb. John out ran Peter. Peter was still in deep pain for deserting and denying his beloved Jesus. He ran with a huge lump of fear, dread and guilt tying his stomach into knots. John got to the tomb first.
John (out of breath from running, looking at Peter) You go in, I'll keep watch.
Peter (confused and whispering loudly) John…John… I don't understand. What's happened here? John, get in here! The body is not here but…when they took his body they…they…the linen body wrapping is still here….the strips from his head are rolled up in the corner. It's all clean. What has happened? Get in here now John!
Narrator: John steps into the tomb, the scene of confusion for Peter and surveys what Peter has just described