The Week Before



Staging: The stage is dimly lit. Each character takes their position on stage and remains perfectly still while other characters are speaking. Speakers are dressed in black.
The pace of the drama is tight, but not rushed, with snappy transitions between the multimedia snippets and the speakers. The dialogues are as if the crucifixion has not yet happened or even expected at this point. The clips (from Jesus video or similar) should be short and ‘flashy’ - just glimpses of what was to come.

Characters: Disciple 1, Disciple 2, Woman 1, Woman 2, Boy, Person 3, Person 4.



[Speakers take their position on stage behind respective microphones]

Disciple 1 (Based on Matt. 21.1-7)
This was going to be an amazing week! As we reached Jerusalem, Jesus told us to go on ahead and find a colt for Him to ride. We went to the village and there it was, just as He said. So we threw some clothes over its back and then Jesus got on and rode that colt - which had never been ridden before - right into Jerusalem... What an entrance! It was great - the people loved seeing Jesus. It was like they finally realised who He was and..... well, everyone just wanted to be around Jesus.

[ Clip 1 8sec, Crowd yelling out “crucify Him” ]

Boy (Based on Matt. 21.8-9)

Everyone just wanted to be around Jesus. I’d heard a lot about him from some of the other kids, and when I saw Him riding into town I was really excited. I saw Him riding on the colt, right through the streets of Jerusalem. There were people following behind Him, and more people in front of Him calling out and dancing and singing in the street. I’d never seen anything like it - we treated Him just like a king.

[ Clip 2 8sec, Crown of thorns, purple robe, King of the Jews ]

Woman 1 (Based on Mark 11. 7-10)
We treated Him just like a king. Some of the men were taking their coats off and throwing them onto the ground for the colt to walk on. All of a sudden everyone started pulling down palm branches and waving them about as Jesus walked past - I’d never seen such a parade! And if that wasn’t enough, some of the children - and even some of the men - climbed the trees so that they could see Jesus over the rest of the crowd. They were up there waving their branches. Imagine that - a grown man up a tree.

[ Clip 3 8sec, Cross, Jesus hanging on Cross ]

Woman 2 (Based on John 12. 13, 17-18)
A grown man up a tree started calling out His name and then everyone was shouting
“Hosanna to the Son of David, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord - Praise God in the highest heaven”. We’d heard that this Jesus had performed many miracles.... and had even brought a man - Lazarus - back to life.... That’s why when we heard He was coming to Jerusalem we rushed out into the streets to see Him. Here was someone who had power over death - what kind of man was this?

[ Clip 4 8sec, Jesus giving up his life, dying ]

Person 3 (Based on Matt. 21. 12-16)
What kind of man was this? He rode that colt right into the middle of town and then headed over to the temple. When He went into the temple He was really angry and started knocking over all of those tacky trading tables that the merchants had set up in there. And then the most amazing thing happened - some blind and lame men came to Him and.... he healed them....right there in the middle of the temple - He healed them.
The children in the temple started shouting “Praise God for the Son of David”, which made some of the priests angry, but I just marvelled at His healing hands and listened to his voice speaking to the crowd.

[ Clip 5 8sec, Jesus having hands nailed and crying out ]

Person 4 (Based on John12. 33-35)
I listened to his voice speaking to the crowd - His wonderful words of teaching. But then He said something that just didn’t make any sense to me. He said something about dying. I couldn't work out what He meant, because I understood the scriptures to say that the Messiah would live forever. Why would this ‘Son of Man’ die - who was this ‘Son of man’ He was talking about - surely He wasn’t talking about Himself. After all that had happened that wonderful day, there was no way we would let this man die anytime soon. Imagine that - Jesus talking about death in the middle of the passover celebrations.

[ Clip 6 8sec, Jesus and spear, crosses ]

Disciple 2 (Based on Mark 14. 12-26)

In the middle of the passover celebrations Jesus told us to go and find a room to prepare the supper. We followed this man to his house and he showed us to an upstairs room, just as Jesus had said would happen. To celebrate the passover in Jerusalem with Jesus was amazing. We shared together in the unleavened bread and the wine, remembering how God had saved His people all those years ago in Egypt. This was really one of the most incredible weeks of Jesus’ ministry. We sang a hymn and went up to the Mount of Olives - and just couldn’t stop wondering what amazing things Jesus would do next.

[ Clip 7 8sec, Jesus dead, taken from cross, rising again, empty tomb ]