The Bible Study
Drama
Lectionary Scenes
57 Vignettes For Cycle A
Theme
Studying the Bible is important for Christian growth but the Bible student must be willing to learn and obey the truth of God.
Summary
Reggie, pressed into service as the Bible teacher, is no match for the regulars, who are used to tearing apart the teaching and the teacher.
Playing Time: 10 minutes
Setting: Someone's home
Props: A Bible for everyone, stools
Costumes: Contemporary, casual
Time: The present
Cast: REGGIE -- The study leader
WENDY
BILL
ILKA
BRUCE
MAGGIE
MARK
(THERE IS SOME SMALL TALK AS ALL ENTER)
WENDY: What's the lesson today, Reggie?
BILL: Yeah, it's time to start.
ILKA: Let's begin. This Bible study has become the high point of my week.
BRUCE: Last week's lesson meant so much to me.
REGGIE: My goodness, you sure are anxious. Well, I guess you all know Willie couldn't be here and he asked me to teach the lesson.
BILL: How is he? Has anyone heard?
REGGIE: Well, Rosie said he'd be in the hospital for some time and then he'll need lots of rest.
WENDY: That's terrible.
BRUCE: What's our lesson this week?
REGGIE: Well, Willie told me to teach anything I like so I thought we'd take the tenth chapter of Matthew, verses 32 and 33. Do you all have it? "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." Now as we can see, this is spoken by Jesus to His ...
WENDY: Reggie, excuse me for interrupting, but what translation was that?
REGGIE: That's all right, Wendy. I'm using the King James version. Now, as I was saying ...
WENDY: Do you mind, Reggie, dear, could we hear that read from another version? I don't especially care for the King James version -- all those "thees" and "thous."
REGGIE: There aren't any "thees" and "thous" in this passage.
WENDY: I still don't like them.
REGGIE: Well, I don't have another version.
BILL: Here, I do. Want me to read it?
REGGIE: Sure. Go ahead.
BILL: "So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in Heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in Heaven."
REGGIE: Thanks, Bill. Now, as I was saying, Jesus not only speaks to His disciples when He ...
MAGGIE: The word "confess" bothers me.
REGGIE: What's that, Maggie?
MAGGIE: I said, that word "confess." It bothers me.
BRUCE: It doesn't say "confess."
MAGGIE: Of course it does. It says it two times in verse thirty-two.
WENDY: Well, we just read it in that other version, and it said "acknowledge." I like that better.
ILKA: What's wrong with "confess"?
MAGGIE: "Confess." It sounds like Jesus is calling us criminals or something. I don't have anything to confess.
BRUCE: Well, let's use "acknowledge." I can understand that. I mean, I know Jesus, or something like that.
ILKA: That doesn't make sense. "Whosoever therefore shall know me before men ..."
MARK: I think of it as recognizing Jesus.
ILKA: "Whosoever therefore shall recognize Me before men ..."
WENDY: It can't mean "recognize." It's like I'm walking down the street and I see Jesus walking my way and I recognize him and say, "Hi, Jesus." Now if there happens to be other people around, then Jesus will do the same for me if I'm in heaven.
REGGIE: I think we should get back to the scripture, folks.
MAGGIE: I still can't stand that word, "confess."
REGGIE: How about "acknowledge"?
MAGGIE: No, I don't like that either.
MARK: I like "recognize."
BILL: How about "identify"?
BRUCE: (LAUGHING) "Identify." "Whosoever therefore shall identify Me before men ... No! Can't you see Jesus looking at a police line up. "Yep, that's him, officer."
REGGIE: Now, wait a minute, let's not ...
MARK: Here, let's look it up in the dictionary. Nope, it says "to acknowledge a crime," but here it says "to declare one's faith in."
REGGIE: That's it. To declare your faith in Jesus. You see, if you declare your faith in Jesus ...
BILL: But that doesn't make sense. I mean, the last part of it. Why would Jesus declare His faith in us in heaven?
ILKA: There's one thing that bothers me. This does say,"confess me ..."
BRUCE: (CORRECTING HER) "Declares faith in me."
ILKA: All right. All right. That's not the point now. I'm talking about "before men."
BILL: So?
ILKA: Oh, you're just like all men. It says "before men." Why doesn't it say "before women"?
BRUCE: Oh, for Pete's sake.
REGGIE: "Men," as it is being used here, means the universal human race.
ILKA: Of course, but why don't they just say "women" too?
BRUCE: Because it says "men" and any man knows that it means women, too.
ILKA: Well, I want it to say "women."
BRUCE: But we wouldn't want to anger all those men-libbers.
REGGIE: I, ah, think we could easily say "people."
WENDY: Wait. I've got it. We could say "men and women."
REGGIE: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men and women"?
BRUCE: Remember, we're using "declare faith in me."
REGGIE: Oh, yes, I forgot. I was reading from the Bible. Let's see. "Whosoever therefore shall declare faith in me before men and women."
ILKA: Wait a minute.
BILL: Now, what?
ILKA: Why should women be second?
REGGIE: All right, how about this: "Whosoever therefore shall declare faith in me before women and men."
ILKA: I like that.
BILL: The word we're using now -- "faith" -- what exactly does that mean?
REGGIE: Faith is belief, trusting, putting your trust in Jesus.
BILL: Yes, I understand. But, "belief," "trust." It's a thing you think. It's in your mind, isn't it?
REGGIE: Yes, it is. When we trust Jesus ...
BILL: Well, if it's a thing you think, how come we do it publicly?
WENDY: Good point. We can't think before women and men. I mean, we can, but how would they know we weren't thinking something else besides that we trust Jesus?
MARK: Good point. People, I mean, "women and men," can't read our minds.
WENDY: It really doesn't make sense.
MAGGIE: It really doesn't.
WENDY:
Imagine standing on Main Street and asking "women and men" to read our minds.
REGGIE: I don't think it means that. Let's move on.
MAGGIE: Look, here, it says Jesus will deny us. Why would He deny us if He loves us?
REGGIE: Simply because we have denied Him.
MARK: You mean if we deny Him.
WENDY: Deny Him what?
REGGIE: We don't exactly deny Him anything. It's just that we deny that we know Him.
ILKA: Like if we snub Him.
REGGIE: Yes, I suppose. That could be it.
WENDY: If we snub Him He'll do the same before His Father.
ILKA: Let me tell you, my father wouldn't put up with behavior like that. He always taught me to be kind to everyone.
MARK: Wait a minute. This whole thing is wrong. This whole thing. Look at this: "Whosoever shall deny me I will deny." That is flat not biblical. Didn't Jesus say whoever hits you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek?
REGGIE: Yes, He did.
MARK: And didn't He say, if a man, oh, excuse me, if a "woman or man" asks you for your coat, give "her or him" "her or his" coat, too?
REGGIE: Yeah, kinda.
MARK: Then why is He going to snub us?
BILL: Good point. Jesus wouldn't do that.
REGGIE: Well, I think this is a little different ...
MARK: Different? How is it different? He either loves us or He doesn't.
REGGIE: Of course Jesus loves us. But we have to respond to that love. Now, let's get back to our study. "Whosoever therefore ..."
WENDY: I liked the other version better. It didn't say "whosoever" or whatever.
REGGIE: Yes, who read that?
BILL: I did.
REGGIE: Could I use your Bible then, Bill?
BILL: Sure. Here.
REGGIE: "So, everyone who declare faith in Me ..."
MARK: I think we changed that to "trusts or believes," didn't we?
REGGIE: Yes, yes, we did. Let's see now -- "So everyone who trusts or believes in Me before women and men ..."
BILL: Didn't we say it was impossible to think before women and men?
REGGIE: We did. Yes, we did. I believe we did. "So everyone ..."
ILKA: Wait, I missed that one. Shouldn't that be ...
REGGIE: Why, yes, you're right. There's one we missed. "So, every woman or man who trusts or believes in Me before." No, I can't say "before," can I?
ILKA: In "her or his" own mind.
MAGGIE: Yes, that's better.
REGGIE: Yes, yes, let's try it again, shall we? "So, every woman or man who trusts or believes in Me in his or her own mind, I also will trust or believe in My mind before My Father who is in heaven."
BRUCE: What do you think? That other part, the part about Jesus denying us -- I don't think it's biblical.
MAGGIE: We'll just leave that part out.
REGGIE; We can't do that. This is holy scripture.
WENDY: Well, we could change it, just a little teensy weensy bit, couldn't we?
MARK: Sure, we could. To make it more like Jesus.
ILKA: How about something like the "turn the other cheek" passage?
BRUCE: Yeah. How about something like: "I wouldn't snub you no matter if you snub me or not." Something like that.
REGGIE: Okay, let me see what I've got.
WENDY: Read the whole thing.
REGGIE: Matthew, chapter 10, verses 32 and 33. "So ...
MARK: Do we need that "so" in there. It sounds very demanding.
BILL: No. Cut that out.
REGGIE: Matthew, chapter 10, verses 32 and 33. "Every woman or man who trusts or believes in her or his own mind, I also will trust or believe in my mind. And whatever woman or man who snubs me before women or men, I would never snub before my Father who is in heaven."
WENDY: Very good. I can understand that.
BILL: Me, too. I think that says it all.
BRUCE: Nice study, Reggie. Very worthwhile.
ILKA: Yes, you did very well, Reggie.
MAGGIE: What do we study next week?
MARK: I'm looking forward to it.
REGGIE: I don't know if I can make it next week.
Studying the Bible is important for Christian growth but the Bible student must be willing to learn and obey the truth of God.
Summary
Reggie, pressed into service as the Bible teacher, is no match for the regulars, who are used to tearing apart the teaching and the teacher.
Playing Time: 10 minutes
Setting: Someone's home
Props: A Bible for everyone, stools
Costumes: Contemporary, casual
Time: The present
Cast: REGGIE -- The study leader
WENDY
BILL
ILKA
BRUCE
MAGGIE
MARK
(THERE IS SOME SMALL TALK AS ALL ENTER)
WENDY: What's the lesson today, Reggie?
BILL: Yeah, it's time to start.
ILKA: Let's begin. This Bible study has become the high point of my week.
BRUCE: Last week's lesson meant so much to me.
REGGIE: My goodness, you sure are anxious. Well, I guess you all know Willie couldn't be here and he asked me to teach the lesson.
BILL: How is he? Has anyone heard?
REGGIE: Well, Rosie said he'd be in the hospital for some time and then he'll need lots of rest.
WENDY: That's terrible.
BRUCE: What's our lesson this week?
REGGIE: Well, Willie told me to teach anything I like so I thought we'd take the tenth chapter of Matthew, verses 32 and 33. Do you all have it? "Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is in heaven. But whosever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven." Now as we can see, this is spoken by Jesus to His ...
WENDY: Reggie, excuse me for interrupting, but what translation was that?
REGGIE: That's all right, Wendy. I'm using the King James version. Now, as I was saying ...
WENDY: Do you mind, Reggie, dear, could we hear that read from another version? I don't especially care for the King James version -- all those "thees" and "thous."
REGGIE: There aren't any "thees" and "thous" in this passage.
WENDY: I still don't like them.
REGGIE: Well, I don't have another version.
BILL: Here, I do. Want me to read it?
REGGIE: Sure. Go ahead.
BILL: "So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in Heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in Heaven."
REGGIE: Thanks, Bill. Now, as I was saying, Jesus not only speaks to His disciples when He ...
MAGGIE: The word "confess" bothers me.
REGGIE: What's that, Maggie?
MAGGIE: I said, that word "confess." It bothers me.
BRUCE: It doesn't say "confess."
MAGGIE: Of course it does. It says it two times in verse thirty-two.
WENDY: Well, we just read it in that other version, and it said "acknowledge." I like that better.
ILKA: What's wrong with "confess"?
MAGGIE: "Confess." It sounds like Jesus is calling us criminals or something. I don't have anything to confess.
BRUCE: Well, let's use "acknowledge." I can understand that. I mean, I know Jesus, or something like that.
ILKA: That doesn't make sense. "Whosoever therefore shall know me before men ..."
MARK: I think of it as recognizing Jesus.
ILKA: "Whosoever therefore shall recognize Me before men ..."
WENDY: It can't mean "recognize." It's like I'm walking down the street and I see Jesus walking my way and I recognize him and say, "Hi, Jesus." Now if there happens to be other people around, then Jesus will do the same for me if I'm in heaven.
REGGIE: I think we should get back to the scripture, folks.
MAGGIE: I still can't stand that word, "confess."
REGGIE: How about "acknowledge"?
MAGGIE: No, I don't like that either.
MARK: I like "recognize."
BILL: How about "identify"?
BRUCE: (LAUGHING) "Identify." "Whosoever therefore shall identify Me before men ... No! Can't you see Jesus looking at a police line up. "Yep, that's him, officer."
REGGIE: Now, wait a minute, let's not ...
MARK: Here, let's look it up in the dictionary. Nope, it says "to acknowledge a crime," but here it says "to declare one's faith in."
REGGIE: That's it. To declare your faith in Jesus. You see, if you declare your faith in Jesus ...
BILL: But that doesn't make sense. I mean, the last part of it. Why would Jesus declare His faith in us in heaven?
ILKA: There's one thing that bothers me. This does say,"confess me ..."
BRUCE: (CORRECTING HER) "Declares faith in me."
ILKA: All right. All right. That's not the point now. I'm talking about "before men."
BILL: So?
ILKA: Oh, you're just like all men. It says "before men." Why doesn't it say "before women"?
BRUCE: Oh, for Pete's sake.
REGGIE: "Men," as it is being used here, means the universal human race.
ILKA: Of course, but why don't they just say "women" too?
BRUCE: Because it says "men" and any man knows that it means women, too.
ILKA: Well, I want it to say "women."
BRUCE: But we wouldn't want to anger all those men-libbers.
REGGIE: I, ah, think we could easily say "people."
WENDY: Wait. I've got it. We could say "men and women."
REGGIE: "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men and women"?
BRUCE: Remember, we're using "declare faith in me."
REGGIE: Oh, yes, I forgot. I was reading from the Bible. Let's see. "Whosoever therefore shall declare faith in me before men and women."
ILKA: Wait a minute.
BILL: Now, what?
ILKA: Why should women be second?
REGGIE: All right, how about this: "Whosoever therefore shall declare faith in me before women and men."
ILKA: I like that.
BILL: The word we're using now -- "faith" -- what exactly does that mean?
REGGIE: Faith is belief, trusting, putting your trust in Jesus.
BILL: Yes, I understand. But, "belief," "trust." It's a thing you think. It's in your mind, isn't it?
REGGIE: Yes, it is. When we trust Jesus ...
BILL: Well, if it's a thing you think, how come we do it publicly?
WENDY: Good point. We can't think before women and men. I mean, we can, but how would they know we weren't thinking something else besides that we trust Jesus?
MARK: Good point. People, I mean, "women and men," can't read our minds.
WENDY: It really doesn't make sense.
MAGGIE: It really doesn't.
WENDY:
Imagine standing on Main Street and asking "women and men" to read our minds.
REGGIE: I don't think it means that. Let's move on.
MAGGIE: Look, here, it says Jesus will deny us. Why would He deny us if He loves us?
REGGIE: Simply because we have denied Him.
MARK: You mean if we deny Him.
WENDY: Deny Him what?
REGGIE: We don't exactly deny Him anything. It's just that we deny that we know Him.
ILKA: Like if we snub Him.
REGGIE: Yes, I suppose. That could be it.
WENDY: If we snub Him He'll do the same before His Father.
ILKA: Let me tell you, my father wouldn't put up with behavior like that. He always taught me to be kind to everyone.
MARK: Wait a minute. This whole thing is wrong. This whole thing. Look at this: "Whosoever shall deny me I will deny." That is flat not biblical. Didn't Jesus say whoever hits you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek?
REGGIE: Yes, He did.
MARK: And didn't He say, if a man, oh, excuse me, if a "woman or man" asks you for your coat, give "her or him" "her or his" coat, too?
REGGIE: Yeah, kinda.
MARK: Then why is He going to snub us?
BILL: Good point. Jesus wouldn't do that.
REGGIE: Well, I think this is a little different ...
MARK: Different? How is it different? He either loves us or He doesn't.
REGGIE: Of course Jesus loves us. But we have to respond to that love. Now, let's get back to our study. "Whosoever therefore ..."
WENDY: I liked the other version better. It didn't say "whosoever" or whatever.
REGGIE: Yes, who read that?
BILL: I did.
REGGIE: Could I use your Bible then, Bill?
BILL: Sure. Here.
REGGIE: "So, everyone who declare faith in Me ..."
MARK: I think we changed that to "trusts or believes," didn't we?
REGGIE: Yes, yes, we did. Let's see now -- "So everyone who trusts or believes in Me before women and men ..."
BILL: Didn't we say it was impossible to think before women and men?
REGGIE: We did. Yes, we did. I believe we did. "So everyone ..."
ILKA: Wait, I missed that one. Shouldn't that be ...
REGGIE: Why, yes, you're right. There's one we missed. "So, every woman or man who trusts or believes in Me before." No, I can't say "before," can I?
ILKA: In "her or his" own mind.
MAGGIE: Yes, that's better.
REGGIE: Yes, yes, let's try it again, shall we? "So, every woman or man who trusts or believes in Me in his or her own mind, I also will trust or believe in My mind before My Father who is in heaven."
BRUCE: What do you think? That other part, the part about Jesus denying us -- I don't think it's biblical.
MAGGIE: We'll just leave that part out.
REGGIE; We can't do that. This is holy scripture.
WENDY: Well, we could change it, just a little teensy weensy bit, couldn't we?
MARK: Sure, we could. To make it more like Jesus.
ILKA: How about something like the "turn the other cheek" passage?
BRUCE: Yeah. How about something like: "I wouldn't snub you no matter if you snub me or not." Something like that.
REGGIE: Okay, let me see what I've got.
WENDY: Read the whole thing.
REGGIE: Matthew, chapter 10, verses 32 and 33. "So ...
MARK: Do we need that "so" in there. It sounds very demanding.
BILL: No. Cut that out.
REGGIE: Matthew, chapter 10, verses 32 and 33. "Every woman or man who trusts or believes in her or his own mind, I also will trust or believe in my mind. And whatever woman or man who snubs me before women or men, I would never snub before my Father who is in heaven."
WENDY: Very good. I can understand that.
BILL: Me, too. I think that says it all.
BRUCE: Nice study, Reggie. Very worthwhile.
ILKA: Yes, you did very well, Reggie.
MAGGIE: What do we study next week?
MARK: I'm looking forward to it.
REGGIE: I don't know if I can make it next week.
