The Birthday
Drama
Lectionary Scenes
58 Vignettes For Cycle B
Theme
The Holy Spirit works to bring everyone to Jesus.
Summary
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John, the beloved disciple, have opened their home to a friendless girl, Tirzah, whose background, when she compares it to the Christian life, as the Master lived it, was lively. After listening to Mary recount the story of Jesus' birth, as only a mother can tell it, Tirzah accepts the new way of life and becomes a Christian.
Playing Time
8 minutes
Setting
The house of John
Props
Stools, bowls, cups, pitcher
Costumes
Peasants of Jesus' time
Time
After the resurrection of Jesus
Cast
MARY -- the mother of Jesus
JOHN -- the beloved disciple of Jesus
TIRZAH -- a young girl of the streets
(MARY IS SEATED CENTER STAGE ON A LOW STOOL MENDING SOME GARMENTS AND SINGING SOFTLY TO HERSELF)
TIRZAH: (OFFSTAGE) The meal will soon be ready.
MARY: Good. John said he would return early tonight.
TIRZAH: (ENTERS CARRYING A BOWL AND STIRRING SOME CURDS) Where did he go today?
MARY: He said he was going to stay in the city.
TIRZAH: (KNEELING BESIDE MARY) May we eat with him tonight?
MARY: I'll ask.
TIRZAH: There will be no visitors tonight.
MARY: As far as we know. There's no telling who John will bring home with him.
TIRZAH: They're usually very nice people but a little dull.
MARY: He brought you home.
TIRZAH: And I am thankful. This is a nice home and I'm grateful John took me in.
MARY: John is like that. His heart is full of love. He's always bringing someone home for a meal or to stay the night or sometimes even longer. He took me in. Many years ago, when Jesus was arrested, I had no one to care for me ...
TIRZAH: I'll bet John found you on the street like he did me.
MARY: Well, no, not quite. Remember, I told you, Jesus ...
TIRZAH: The Messiah, your son.
MARY: Yes, that's right. Jesus was the sacrifice so that everyone can live forever with the heavenly Father.
TIRZAH: Yes, I remember.
MARY: As Jesus was hanging on the cross making that sacrifice he had so much compassion for me, his mother, that he told John to care for me.
TIRZAH: Why did he choose John?
MARY: I think he chose John because John has a great capacity to love and also because Jesus loves John dearly. John has been very good to me. You'll be well taken care of.
TIRZAH: I've been working for it.
MARY: Yes, we all do what we can. You should thank the Lord that you're healthy and can do the work.
TIRZAH: I've always worked, ever since I can remember.
MARY: But this is honest work.
TIRZAH: And hard.
MARY: It's good for you. Don't you feel better than you did when you first came here?
TIRZAH: Better? Well, I suppose I do, a little. But I miss the gaiety, the parties, the fine clothing, the good food, and the exciting people.
MARY: And the sickness.
TIRZAH: No, I don't miss that.
MARY: The Lord has really strengthened your body.
TIRZAH: And I'm glad. I really am, but I miss the fun.
(JOHN ENTERS BUT TIRZAH DOES NOT SEE HIM)
MARY: What you were doing couldn't have been fun.
TIRZAH: It was and I miss it.
JOHN: (REMOVING HIS CLOAK) What do you miss, Tirzah? (KISSING MARY) Good evening, Mary.
TIRZAH: I miss having a good time.
JOHN: When I found you, you weren't having such a good time.
TIRZAH: Yes, I know, but there were good days, before the sickness came.
JOHN: Don't ever forget how you got the sickness.
TIRZAH: But, I've been cured. I know it.
JOHN: Not completely, I guess.
TIRZAH: I have. I'm as healthy as anyone.
JOHN: Your body has been healed. We'll await the rest. But, enough of this. Let's eat. I'm famished. (SITTING. TIRZAH SILENTLY SIGNALS MARY)
MARY: John, Tirzah wants to know if we may eat with you tonight.
JOHN: Yes. We're having no guests tonight. Of course you may.
TIRZAH: (EXITING) Oh, thank you, thank you. I'll bring the food.
(MARY OFFERS JOHN A BOWL. HE WASHES HIS HANDS AND SO DOES MARY.)
JOHN: It might cheer her.
MARY: That's why I asked.
JOHN: Has she been like this long?
MARY: A couple of days.
JOHN: I'm afraid I hadn't noticed.
MARY: It comes and goes. She has a lot to forget.
(TIRZAH ENTERS WITH BREAD, WINE, AND CURDS)
JOHN: (LIFTING THE BREAD FOR A BLESSING) For those who gave us the bread, we ask a blessing. Bless the Lord who provided for them and through them, us. (LIFTING THE WINE) A blessing on you, First Born of the Dead. Feed us with your food and drink. (THEY EAT)
MARY: How was your day?
JOHN: An exciting day, but then they all are.
MARY: Nothing special?
JOHN: Yes, there was something. I talked to Joasar, the Pharisee.
MARY: And did he understand?
JOHN: Better than that, he accepted.
MARY: Bless the Lord. May his name be praised forever. You've been talking to him a long time.
JOHN: Yes, a long time. Since Pentecost.
MARY: Has it really been that long? It seems like only yesterday.
JOHN: Yes, it does. It's strange. Joasar was there at Pentecost, I mean, after we were all touched by the Holy Spirit of God. He heard Peter's message but just couldn't accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord of his life. Now he has. It took seventeen years. Finally he accepted the truth. The others will make it difficult for him. When a Pharisee believes on the Messiah they won't even let him buy anything in the streets.
MARY: But now he has someone to carry his load.
TIRZAH: Someone to carry his load?
MARY: Jesus.
TIRZAH: Oh.
JOHN: He'll be all right. He's going to come to our meetings. He'll find new friends soon and the believers will support him.
TIRZAH: All this talk of help and support and someone to carry the load; it tires me just to listen. Please, could you tell us a story, John? Anything to pass the time. The nights are so dull and boring with so little to do.
MARY: A story would be nice, John.
TIRZAH: The days are so busy. Why can't we have some fun? Don't you people ever have any fun?
JOHN: Fun? Yes, lots of it.
TIRZAH: Is that bad, to want some fun?
JOHN: No, not bad. That sounds really good to me, too.
TIRZAH: It does?
JOHN: I miss the good times. There's so much work to do that I forget that we need to relax sometimes and just have fun.
TIRZAH: Do you mean parties? I didn't think you people ever had parties.
MARY: Oh, yes. You just haven't been here long enough. We've had some exciting parties, and we will again.
JOHN: And very soon, too. Two of our group are getting married.
TIRZAH: Did the Messiah ever attend a party?
MARY: Why, of course.
JOHN: It was at a wedding party that he performed his first miracle.
TIRZAH: Tell us.
JOHN: It was the first time we ever saw anything like that. And then, when we'd seen it, we weren't sure what we saw.
TIRZAH: What did he do? What happened?
JOHN: The wedding feast was so much fun no one noticed until it was too late that we were running out of wine.
MARY: So I told the servants to follow the orders of Jesus and he simply told them to fill the water pots with water.
JOHN: And when a cup of it was tasted, we found it was wine, and good wine too.
MARY: As I recall, no one went home that night.
JOHN: The party lasted three days and it was such a fine celebration.
MARY: John, do you remember how we used to celebrate each other's birthdays?
TIRZAH: Birthdays?
JOHN: Of course I remember. None of us had ever done it before. Whose idea was that, anyway?
MARY: Jesus', I think. Yes, I'm sure it was his idea.
JOHN: Those were joyful occasions.
TIRZAH: How do you celebrate a birthday and why?
JOHN: Why? I couldn't figure that out myself, at first. I thought, why would anyone want to celebrate being born? It's painful for both mother and child.
MARY: But what a joyful pain.
JOHN: But I learned that being born is the only way we can have life, and a second birth is necessary if we want to have a glorious and everlasting life.
TIRZAH: But how?
JOHN: Well, you have to accept the Messiah as the Son of God and a Lord of your life.
TIRZAH: No, I mean at the celebration, what did you do?
JOHN: Oh.
MARY: We had a party.
JOHN: And what a party. Every year, on the same day, we'd have a party for the person who was born on that day.
MARY: And it was a special day. He was treated as an honored guest all day.
JOHN: We'd have sweet cakes.
TIRZAH: But I don't even know on what day I was born.
MARY: Many of us didn't either, so those who didn't each chose a day on which to celebrate their birth. Some of us chose the date of our second birth.
TIRZAH: It sounds wonderful.
JOHN: It is. After the feast we'd sing and dance and tell stories.
MARY: We all danced, even the older ones. Of course the younger ones were the best, but we all danced a little.
JOHN: A lot of people complained about our parties, but Jesus told them that we should be celebrating while he was here with us because the time would come when he wouldn't be with us.
TIRZAH: Who told the stories?
JOHN: There were some who were better storytellers, but most of us were pretty big talkers. Anyway, I think Jesus, Philip, Matthew, Nicodemas, and of course Mary here, were the best storytellers.
MARY: You were good yourself, John.
JOHN: I was a better listener, I think. I loved to hear Jesus tell stories. All his stories had some meaning for us.
TIRZAH: Which was your favorite?
JOHN: My favorite? Hmm, let's see. Well, strangely enough, it wasn't one that Jesus told, but it was about him. I always wanted to hear Mary tell of Jesus' birth.
TIRZAH: Please tell it now, Mary. I always wanted to hear about Jesus' birth.
JOHN: Mary?
MARY: It was so glorious. My husband and I left our home in Nazareth and traveled to Bethlehem in Judea. It was for the census ordered by the Roman government.
Joseph could have gone alone, but after talking it over and praying about it we decided it would be best for us both to go. He sold half his tools to buy a donkey to carry me on the long journey. She was a dear animal. We called her Vashni, the strong one.
It was too uncomfortable a trip considering my condition; it was a long one. We traveled across the plain of Esdraelon, down the Jordan River valley to Jericho, then up to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem. As we approached the town I knew my time was near.
It was late afternoon and the streets were still crowded with people, mostly travelers like us. Joseph could find no place to lodge us. He was desperate and I was concerned with my pain and wasn't much help to him. So, we prayed together, and then Joseph got the idea of staying in one of the caverns in the hillsides in which animals were kept during the cool of the year.
It was a dark and damp place, but I knew in my heart that my firstborn was special, for no man had known me. It was a miracle. God had touched me.
While I prepared myself I thought back to the visit from the glorious messenger from the Lord of Heaven, how he told me it would happen. But when the spirit of God came upon me, I can hardly explain it, it was almost joyfully unbearable. From that time I knew a new life grew strong inside my womb. And I knew it was he of whom all the prophets speak. I knew it was the Messiah, the Chosen one, the Son of God.
I was alone with my thoughts and my pain. Joseph was nearby, but of course was not allowed to help with the birth. I could hear him outside, walking back and forth, praying and saying encouraging things to me.
The pain was intense, but I delivered quickly, and the moment I saw him and held him and cleaned his little body I knew it would have been worth much more pain.
He was so pretty, his eyes so dark that the contrast between the dark and the light of them seemed a place to jump off into the soul of him. Everyone who saw him remarked about his eyes. He had a lot more hair than most newly born babies and it was curly. His lips were a dark rose color and his skin was dark, too, like the color of wheat bread. His little hands were so fine, so beautiful, but he was a large child, long, so we knew he was going to be tall. And when he slept we could see him breathe and it was a most wondrous miracle to know that this baby was a gift from our Creator.
JOHN: I never tire of that story.
TIRZAH: I love it too. I would have loved to meet him.
MARY: Good. You shall.
TIRZAH: How?
JOHN: By doing as we all did; realizing who he is ...
TIRZAH: But I already know -- the Son of God.
JOHN: ... And telling him you want him to direct your life.
TIRZAH: Oh, I do want that.
MARY: Let's do it.
TIRZAH: But, how do I do it?
JOHN: Just ask him.
TIRZAH: Like he was here?
JOHN: He is.
TIRZAH: All right. Dear Messiah, I know who you are. Take control of my life. I haven't done so well with it. How was that?
JOHN: That's good enough. Now you're completely healed.
TIRZAH: I feel so clean.
MARY: You really are now.
TIRZAH: I see everything more clearly. I feel so good and clean. Oh, I've got a good idea. Let's celebrate the Messiah's birthday every year and tell stories about him and sing and treat him as the honored guest just as if he were here with us, physically, I mean.
JOHN: Yes, I think that would please him.
MARY: I'm sure it does. (THEY ALL EXIT JOYFULLY)
The Holy Spirit works to bring everyone to Jesus.
Summary
Mary, the mother of Jesus, and John, the beloved disciple, have opened their home to a friendless girl, Tirzah, whose background, when she compares it to the Christian life, as the Master lived it, was lively. After listening to Mary recount the story of Jesus' birth, as only a mother can tell it, Tirzah accepts the new way of life and becomes a Christian.
Playing Time
8 minutes
Setting
The house of John
Props
Stools, bowls, cups, pitcher
Costumes
Peasants of Jesus' time
Time
After the resurrection of Jesus
Cast
MARY -- the mother of Jesus
JOHN -- the beloved disciple of Jesus
TIRZAH -- a young girl of the streets
(MARY IS SEATED CENTER STAGE ON A LOW STOOL MENDING SOME GARMENTS AND SINGING SOFTLY TO HERSELF)
TIRZAH: (OFFSTAGE) The meal will soon be ready.
MARY: Good. John said he would return early tonight.
TIRZAH: (ENTERS CARRYING A BOWL AND STIRRING SOME CURDS) Where did he go today?
MARY: He said he was going to stay in the city.
TIRZAH: (KNEELING BESIDE MARY) May we eat with him tonight?
MARY: I'll ask.
TIRZAH: There will be no visitors tonight.
MARY: As far as we know. There's no telling who John will bring home with him.
TIRZAH: They're usually very nice people but a little dull.
MARY: He brought you home.
TIRZAH: And I am thankful. This is a nice home and I'm grateful John took me in.
MARY: John is like that. His heart is full of love. He's always bringing someone home for a meal or to stay the night or sometimes even longer. He took me in. Many years ago, when Jesus was arrested, I had no one to care for me ...
TIRZAH: I'll bet John found you on the street like he did me.
MARY: Well, no, not quite. Remember, I told you, Jesus ...
TIRZAH: The Messiah, your son.
MARY: Yes, that's right. Jesus was the sacrifice so that everyone can live forever with the heavenly Father.
TIRZAH: Yes, I remember.
MARY: As Jesus was hanging on the cross making that sacrifice he had so much compassion for me, his mother, that he told John to care for me.
TIRZAH: Why did he choose John?
MARY: I think he chose John because John has a great capacity to love and also because Jesus loves John dearly. John has been very good to me. You'll be well taken care of.
TIRZAH: I've been working for it.
MARY: Yes, we all do what we can. You should thank the Lord that you're healthy and can do the work.
TIRZAH: I've always worked, ever since I can remember.
MARY: But this is honest work.
TIRZAH: And hard.
MARY: It's good for you. Don't you feel better than you did when you first came here?
TIRZAH: Better? Well, I suppose I do, a little. But I miss the gaiety, the parties, the fine clothing, the good food, and the exciting people.
MARY: And the sickness.
TIRZAH: No, I don't miss that.
MARY: The Lord has really strengthened your body.
TIRZAH: And I'm glad. I really am, but I miss the fun.
(JOHN ENTERS BUT TIRZAH DOES NOT SEE HIM)
MARY: What you were doing couldn't have been fun.
TIRZAH: It was and I miss it.
JOHN: (REMOVING HIS CLOAK) What do you miss, Tirzah? (KISSING MARY) Good evening, Mary.
TIRZAH: I miss having a good time.
JOHN: When I found you, you weren't having such a good time.
TIRZAH: Yes, I know, but there were good days, before the sickness came.
JOHN: Don't ever forget how you got the sickness.
TIRZAH: But, I've been cured. I know it.
JOHN: Not completely, I guess.
TIRZAH: I have. I'm as healthy as anyone.
JOHN: Your body has been healed. We'll await the rest. But, enough of this. Let's eat. I'm famished. (SITTING. TIRZAH SILENTLY SIGNALS MARY)
MARY: John, Tirzah wants to know if we may eat with you tonight.
JOHN: Yes. We're having no guests tonight. Of course you may.
TIRZAH: (EXITING) Oh, thank you, thank you. I'll bring the food.
(MARY OFFERS JOHN A BOWL. HE WASHES HIS HANDS AND SO DOES MARY.)
JOHN: It might cheer her.
MARY: That's why I asked.
JOHN: Has she been like this long?
MARY: A couple of days.
JOHN: I'm afraid I hadn't noticed.
MARY: It comes and goes. She has a lot to forget.
(TIRZAH ENTERS WITH BREAD, WINE, AND CURDS)
JOHN: (LIFTING THE BREAD FOR A BLESSING) For those who gave us the bread, we ask a blessing. Bless the Lord who provided for them and through them, us. (LIFTING THE WINE) A blessing on you, First Born of the Dead. Feed us with your food and drink. (THEY EAT)
MARY: How was your day?
JOHN: An exciting day, but then they all are.
MARY: Nothing special?
JOHN: Yes, there was something. I talked to Joasar, the Pharisee.
MARY: And did he understand?
JOHN: Better than that, he accepted.
MARY: Bless the Lord. May his name be praised forever. You've been talking to him a long time.
JOHN: Yes, a long time. Since Pentecost.
MARY: Has it really been that long? It seems like only yesterday.
JOHN: Yes, it does. It's strange. Joasar was there at Pentecost, I mean, after we were all touched by the Holy Spirit of God. He heard Peter's message but just couldn't accept Jesus as Messiah and Lord of his life. Now he has. It took seventeen years. Finally he accepted the truth. The others will make it difficult for him. When a Pharisee believes on the Messiah they won't even let him buy anything in the streets.
MARY: But now he has someone to carry his load.
TIRZAH: Someone to carry his load?
MARY: Jesus.
TIRZAH: Oh.
JOHN: He'll be all right. He's going to come to our meetings. He'll find new friends soon and the believers will support him.
TIRZAH: All this talk of help and support and someone to carry the load; it tires me just to listen. Please, could you tell us a story, John? Anything to pass the time. The nights are so dull and boring with so little to do.
MARY: A story would be nice, John.
TIRZAH: The days are so busy. Why can't we have some fun? Don't you people ever have any fun?
JOHN: Fun? Yes, lots of it.
TIRZAH: Is that bad, to want some fun?
JOHN: No, not bad. That sounds really good to me, too.
TIRZAH: It does?
JOHN: I miss the good times. There's so much work to do that I forget that we need to relax sometimes and just have fun.
TIRZAH: Do you mean parties? I didn't think you people ever had parties.
MARY: Oh, yes. You just haven't been here long enough. We've had some exciting parties, and we will again.
JOHN: And very soon, too. Two of our group are getting married.
TIRZAH: Did the Messiah ever attend a party?
MARY: Why, of course.
JOHN: It was at a wedding party that he performed his first miracle.
TIRZAH: Tell us.
JOHN: It was the first time we ever saw anything like that. And then, when we'd seen it, we weren't sure what we saw.
TIRZAH: What did he do? What happened?
JOHN: The wedding feast was so much fun no one noticed until it was too late that we were running out of wine.
MARY: So I told the servants to follow the orders of Jesus and he simply told them to fill the water pots with water.
JOHN: And when a cup of it was tasted, we found it was wine, and good wine too.
MARY: As I recall, no one went home that night.
JOHN: The party lasted three days and it was such a fine celebration.
MARY: John, do you remember how we used to celebrate each other's birthdays?
TIRZAH: Birthdays?
JOHN: Of course I remember. None of us had ever done it before. Whose idea was that, anyway?
MARY: Jesus', I think. Yes, I'm sure it was his idea.
JOHN: Those were joyful occasions.
TIRZAH: How do you celebrate a birthday and why?
JOHN: Why? I couldn't figure that out myself, at first. I thought, why would anyone want to celebrate being born? It's painful for both mother and child.
MARY: But what a joyful pain.
JOHN: But I learned that being born is the only way we can have life, and a second birth is necessary if we want to have a glorious and everlasting life.
TIRZAH: But how?
JOHN: Well, you have to accept the Messiah as the Son of God and a Lord of your life.
TIRZAH: No, I mean at the celebration, what did you do?
JOHN: Oh.
MARY: We had a party.
JOHN: And what a party. Every year, on the same day, we'd have a party for the person who was born on that day.
MARY: And it was a special day. He was treated as an honored guest all day.
JOHN: We'd have sweet cakes.
TIRZAH: But I don't even know on what day I was born.
MARY: Many of us didn't either, so those who didn't each chose a day on which to celebrate their birth. Some of us chose the date of our second birth.
TIRZAH: It sounds wonderful.
JOHN: It is. After the feast we'd sing and dance and tell stories.
MARY: We all danced, even the older ones. Of course the younger ones were the best, but we all danced a little.
JOHN: A lot of people complained about our parties, but Jesus told them that we should be celebrating while he was here with us because the time would come when he wouldn't be with us.
TIRZAH: Who told the stories?
JOHN: There were some who were better storytellers, but most of us were pretty big talkers. Anyway, I think Jesus, Philip, Matthew, Nicodemas, and of course Mary here, were the best storytellers.
MARY: You were good yourself, John.
JOHN: I was a better listener, I think. I loved to hear Jesus tell stories. All his stories had some meaning for us.
TIRZAH: Which was your favorite?
JOHN: My favorite? Hmm, let's see. Well, strangely enough, it wasn't one that Jesus told, but it was about him. I always wanted to hear Mary tell of Jesus' birth.
TIRZAH: Please tell it now, Mary. I always wanted to hear about Jesus' birth.
JOHN: Mary?
MARY: It was so glorious. My husband and I left our home in Nazareth and traveled to Bethlehem in Judea. It was for the census ordered by the Roman government.
Joseph could have gone alone, but after talking it over and praying about it we decided it would be best for us both to go. He sold half his tools to buy a donkey to carry me on the long journey. She was a dear animal. We called her Vashni, the strong one.
It was too uncomfortable a trip considering my condition; it was a long one. We traveled across the plain of Esdraelon, down the Jordan River valley to Jericho, then up to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem. As we approached the town I knew my time was near.
It was late afternoon and the streets were still crowded with people, mostly travelers like us. Joseph could find no place to lodge us. He was desperate and I was concerned with my pain and wasn't much help to him. So, we prayed together, and then Joseph got the idea of staying in one of the caverns in the hillsides in which animals were kept during the cool of the year.
It was a dark and damp place, but I knew in my heart that my firstborn was special, for no man had known me. It was a miracle. God had touched me.
While I prepared myself I thought back to the visit from the glorious messenger from the Lord of Heaven, how he told me it would happen. But when the spirit of God came upon me, I can hardly explain it, it was almost joyfully unbearable. From that time I knew a new life grew strong inside my womb. And I knew it was he of whom all the prophets speak. I knew it was the Messiah, the Chosen one, the Son of God.
I was alone with my thoughts and my pain. Joseph was nearby, but of course was not allowed to help with the birth. I could hear him outside, walking back and forth, praying and saying encouraging things to me.
The pain was intense, but I delivered quickly, and the moment I saw him and held him and cleaned his little body I knew it would have been worth much more pain.
He was so pretty, his eyes so dark that the contrast between the dark and the light of them seemed a place to jump off into the soul of him. Everyone who saw him remarked about his eyes. He had a lot more hair than most newly born babies and it was curly. His lips were a dark rose color and his skin was dark, too, like the color of wheat bread. His little hands were so fine, so beautiful, but he was a large child, long, so we knew he was going to be tall. And when he slept we could see him breathe and it was a most wondrous miracle to know that this baby was a gift from our Creator.
JOHN: I never tire of that story.
TIRZAH: I love it too. I would have loved to meet him.
MARY: Good. You shall.
TIRZAH: How?
JOHN: By doing as we all did; realizing who he is ...
TIRZAH: But I already know -- the Son of God.
JOHN: ... And telling him you want him to direct your life.
TIRZAH: Oh, I do want that.
MARY: Let's do it.
TIRZAH: But, how do I do it?
JOHN: Just ask him.
TIRZAH: Like he was here?
JOHN: He is.
TIRZAH: All right. Dear Messiah, I know who you are. Take control of my life. I haven't done so well with it. How was that?
JOHN: That's good enough. Now you're completely healed.
TIRZAH: I feel so clean.
MARY: You really are now.
TIRZAH: I see everything more clearly. I feel so good and clean. Oh, I've got a good idea. Let's celebrate the Messiah's birthday every year and tell stories about him and sing and treat him as the honored guest just as if he were here with us, physically, I mean.
JOHN: Yes, I think that would please him.
MARY: I'm sure it does. (THEY ALL EXIT JOYFULLY)
