The Empty Tomb
Worship
IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD
Scriptures For The Lectionary Speaking Choir
Suggestions:
Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading or
immediately after the processional as a call to worship read from
the narthex or elevated loft in the rear of the sanctuary. Read
with an element of surprise in the voice as if it were the first
time to hear the story.
5 readers -- 2 women, 3 men
Key:
1 = older woman storyteller
2 = Mary (youthful female voice)
3 = Peter (storyteller)
4 = a disciple
5 = Jesus
1: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been
removed from the tomb.
2: So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
1: Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the
tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple
outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in
and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
3: Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.
He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had
been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but
rolled up in a place by itself.
4: Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went
in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand
the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the
disciples returned to their homes.
1: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent
over to look at the tomb; and she saw two angels in white,
sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head
and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you
weeping?"
2: She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not
know where they have laid him."
1: When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus
standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
5: Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
looking for?"
2: Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if
you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I
will take him away."
5: Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
2: She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!"
(Speak words in parentheses rather as an aside.)
1: (which means Teacher).
5: Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not
yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to
them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and
your God.' "
2: Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have
seen the Lord;" and she told them that he had said these things
to her.
Use in ordinary sequence with the scripture reading or
immediately after the processional as a call to worship read from
the narthex or elevated loft in the rear of the sanctuary. Read
with an element of surprise in the voice as if it were the first
time to hear the story.
5 readers -- 2 women, 3 men
Key:
1 = older woman storyteller
2 = Mary (youthful female voice)
3 = Peter (storyteller)
4 = a disciple
5 = Jesus
1: Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been
removed from the tomb.
2: So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the
one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
1: Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the
tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple
outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in
and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.
3: Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb.
He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had
been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but
rolled up in a place by itself.
4: Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went
in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand
the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the
disciples returned to their homes.
1: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent
over to look at the tomb; and she saw two angels in white,
sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head
and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you
weeping?"
2: She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not
know where they have laid him."
1: When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus
standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
5: Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
looking for?"
2: Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if
you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I
will take him away."
5: Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
2: She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!"
(Speak words in parentheses rather as an aside.)
1: (which means Teacher).
5: Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not
yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to
them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and
your God.' "
2: Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have
seen the Lord;" and she told them that he had said these things
to her.
