Sermonstudio

Characters
Darius
Cassia

Props
Table and chair
Papers and pen

Setting
None required, but a spotlight could focus on the speaking character as the scene switches back and forth

Costumes
Use costumes from the period

(Darius is seated at a table, writing a letter, and speaking as he writes.)

Darius: Dear Cassia,
I hope this finds you well. Thank you for your last letter telling me how our parents are. You are such a good listener through these letters. I can tell because you seem to write back to me as soon as you receive a letter.

I have been very troubled of late. I told you several letters ago of how ill my manservant, Faustus, has been. Well, now I must tell you about his healing and tell you the end of the story.

Several weeks ago, one of my soldiers informed me that there was an itinerant Hebrew preacher who was also noted for his ability to heal. They told me his name was Jesus and that his hometown was Nazareth. It's just a very little village and not noted for anything in particular. They said he was very close right now, even though he has been wandering all over Galilee and was slowly heading south toward Jerusalem. I went looking for him and found him just as he was coming into Capernaum. I said to him, "Lord, my servant, Faustus, lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering." Jesus told me that he would come with me and heal him, but I told him that was not necessary, that I didn't deserve to have him come under my roof. I told him that I was a man under authority, with soldiers under me and that if I tell one to "go," he goes; or to "come," and he comes to my command. Jesus seemed astonished at my faith and said so to his followers. Then he told me to go back home and I would find my servant well. And when I got home, Faustus was healed! (fades out as Cassia picks up)

(Cassia quietly enters from the other side of the stage, reading Darius' letter. She picks up where he has faded out.)

Cassia: I knew that this man was a prophet of the Hebrew people. Once in a while, I heard about his healings, but he never seemed to make any problems for my soldiers and me. That changed one Sunday afternoon. A crowd of people started taking off their cloaks and laying them on the road into Jerusalem. They did this waving palm branches, you know, the big ones. Then I saw Jesus riding in on a donkey. To tell the truth my soldiers said he looked rather ridiculous as his legs were almost on the ground because the donkey was so short. They said the people were hailing him with the phrase, "Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that comes in the name of the Lord." (fades out as Darius picks up)

Darius: There were not that many people and it really lasted a short time. It wasn't until the next day that things began to change. Jesus walked into the Jewish temple and started a ruckus with a whip. He began to chase out all the moneychangers and the sellers of animals for sacrifice. Nothing else happened, but because of the uproar, Pilate ordered more troops onto the streets to quell any more problems. All the soldiers were upset with more work, and it was beginning to feel like a tightrope. The Jews began to celebrate their holiday on Thursday night. Only thirty of my cohorts had to be near Pilate. That night, Jesus was arrested in a garden and taken to the Jewish authorities, called the Sanhedrin. They forced him to go to Pilate who could find no fault with him. But these particular authorities wanted Jesus crucified and on Friday morning they had encouraged many of the crowd to ask Pilate to crucify him. (fades out as Cassia picks up)

Cassia: I was told to take care of the crucifixion of Jesus and the two other men who were thieves. First, my men tied Jesus to a post and proceeded to whip him. He was so bloody and weak. They also made fun of him by making a crown of thorns and placing it on his head so that these large thorns were forced into his scalp and forehead. They gave him a robe and a palm branch and then they spat on him. When they took the robe off, his wounds started to bleed all over again. Then it was time to take him to that hill that was really the city dump. The people called it Golgotha or "the place of the skull." As we marched the three men up to that hill, they were also made to carry their crosspiece on their shoulders. Jesus stumbled twice and the second time I grabbed this strong-looking fellow to carry Jesus' cross. I noticed that he had two boys with him, but that didn't stop me. (fades out as Darius picks up)

Darius: It took several groups of my men to get the three men nailed to their crosses. It seemed that Jesus was hallucinating, because he kept talking to his "father" and there was no male there that would have been his father. As a matter of fact, there was one man about Jesus' age with a group of about three or four women right at the foot of the cross. Someone told me that one of the women was his mother. I don't understand how she could have stood there to watch this cruel and horrible form of dying. I kept listening to his words, and I kept thinking about my servant, Faustus, that Jesus had healed. Why was this good man being put to death? I would have given anything to not be there. However, that was what I was ordered to do and there was no way I could change that. At close to three o'clock in the afternoon, Jesus said, "It is finished," and appeared to have died. I took my sword and put it in his side and blood came out, but there was no movement of his body. (fades out as Cassia picks up)

Cassia: Do you remember when I was hurt when we were children and the large scar that I had ever since then? Well, when Jesus' blood sprayed on me, it touched that scar and then healed it! (acts surprised) I just couldn't believe it even though I knew that he had healed Faustus from afar. Anyway, I remember saying, "Truly this man was the Son of God." I said it, but I wasn't sure what all that meant until later. But that wasn't the end of it. Two of the Jews from the Sanhedrin had gone to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus and to bury him in a brand-new tomb belonging to one of them. I think his name was Joseph. (fades out as Darius picks up)

Darius: I thought this would be the end of these happenings. But other Jews were worried that Jesus' disciples would carry the body away because Jesus had said that he would rise again. I was called to see Pilate and he asked that I put a guard on the tomb for several days and nights. The first night was uneventful, but on Sunday morning at dawn, my guards felt a mighty earthquake and saw a bright light. The stone was rolled away of its own accord. My men were frightened and they hurried back to inform me and then I had to tell Pilate! It's too long a story to tell you what became of those few soldiers of mine. On the day Jesus died, because it was their sabbath, they did not have time to bury him with the burial spices, so on Sunday, at dawn, a small group of women came to where the tomb was. They went into the tomb, but Jesus wasn't there! I'm told that they hurried back to Jesus' disciples to tell them. Cassia, I must tell you this, but you must not tell a soul, because it could end my life and the lives of many others: I have become a follower of Jesus. I, too, believe that Jesus rose from the dead that morning and is alive, and some day those of us that believe -- Jew and Gentile -- will be with him in the next life. I want to get back to Rome to tell you all about this Jesus, this Son of God, the only God. (fades out as Cassia picks up)

Cassia: I want to tell you the whole story about Jesus and his teachings and his gift of new life with God. One more thing, the Jewish temple has a place that only the rabbi may go into and it is called the "holy of holies." There is a curtain between this place and the rest of the worship area. When Jesus died, at that very moment in the darkest skies you've ever seen at three o'clock in the afternoon, the curtain in the temple was torn in two. One of Jesus' disciples, named Peter, explained from that moment, no one had to come to God through an intercessor. Because Jesus died for each of us, now we can each come to God -- this holy God, who gave his precious Son, on our own. (fades out as Darius picks up)

Darius: Be well, Cassia. My love to you, dear sister. If I do not see you in this lifetime, then I will see you in the next one!