Jesus' Trial Before The Sanhedrin
Drama
Robert Lakey
Readers’ Theater for Children’s Church
Object:
Characters
Narrator
Caiaphas
Witness 1
Witness 2
Witness 3
Jesus
Girl
Peter
Servant
Questions
1. Did the three witnesses agree on what Jesus said?
2. Why did the high priest ask Jesus if he was the Son of God?
3. What did the Sanhedrin decide to do with Jesus?
4. When Peter was asked if he was a disciple of Jesus, what did he say?
5. What did he do when he heard the rooster crow?
Narrator: Jesus has been arrested by soldiers from the temple guard. They have brought him before the Jewish High Council, the Sanhedrin. The trial is presided over by the high priest.
Caiaphas: Well, Jesus, what have you to say for yourself? (silence) Do you claim to be the Messiah? (silence) Who gave you the right to attack those in the temple who sold the lambs and those who exchanged the Roman coins for temple money? (silence) So you won't answer. You stand there in silence. We have ways to make prisoners talk, but since we have several witnesses willing to give evidence, we don't need your own confession. Bring up the first witness.
Witness 1: I heard Jesus say that he would destroy the temple in three days.
Caiaphas: Did any of you other men hear that?
Witness 2: I heard something a little different. He said he could rebuild the temple in three days.
Witness 3: I heard him say that the temple would be completely destroyed, not one stone would be left piled on another.
Witness 2: I also heard him say that those in charge of the temple had turned it into a den of thieves. Didn't sound like he liked you priests very much. (laughs)
Witness 1: He did say that we ought to pay taxes to Caesar, but nothing about paying the temple tax.
Witness 3: Another thing, he said the small gift of two pennies from the poor is more pleasing to God than the fantastic gifts of the wealthy. That sure would undercut support for the temple.
Caiaphas: This testimony is most damaging, but each one is different! We must have two witnesses who agree so that we can convict him. Didn't any two of you hear him say the same words? (silence -- under his breath) If we can't get at least two of these idiots to agree, don't pay a single one of them.
Witness 2: I asked Jesus who gave him the right to drive out the money changers. All he did was ask me if John the Baptist was right in calling him the Messiah. I didn't dare answer yes or no.
Witness 1: Would it help for me to say that he told the crowd it was better to love God than to offer a temple sacrifice?
Witness 3: He also said the greatest command was to love God and the second greatest was to love our neighbors. Neither of those is from the ten commandments. Isn't that bad enough to put him away?
Caiaphas: (angrily) I've wasted enough time on these imbeciles. I'll get him to admit his own guilt. Jesus, I charge you in the name of the great God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do you claim to be the Messiah? Your silence will be your admission that you are not. Are you the Son of God?
Jesus: (firmly) I am he! And one day you will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with the glory of God.
Caiaphas: (angrily) There. You've heard it from his own lips. He is guilty of the most terrible blasphemy against God, claiming to be the heavenly Messiah mentioned in the book of Daniel. He deserves to die! Don't you agree?
(Cast shouts "Yes")
Caiaphas: Shall we take him to the Roman governor for execution?
(another shout of "Yes")
Narrator: Meanwhile, Peter, who has followed the soldiers and Jesus to the council chamber, sits outside in the courtyard, trying to warm himself by the fire. A servant girl has been staring at him for some time.
Girl: Hey, you by the fire. Didn't I see you out in the garden with Jesus? Aren't you one of his followers?
Peter: (firmly) I certainly am not!
Servant: Now wait a minute. I'm sure I saw you slashing with a sword, nearly cutting off a man's ear. You really are one of his disciples!
Peter: (angrily) How many times do I have to say that I don't know this Jesus? He's nothing to me. I'm just here trying to get warm.
Girl: He can deny it as much as he wants, but I'm positive he's a friend of Jesus. Just listen to his accent. He's from Galilee, the same as Jesus.
Peter: (shouts) Don't accuse me of following Jesus. He's fake, a liar, a heretic. For all I care, they can hang him on a cross. (trembles as crowing of rooster is heard in the distance) What was that?
Servant: Haven't you ever heard a rooster crowing?
Peter: (to himself) Jesus said I'd deny him three times. Oh, God, what have I done? (weeps as he turns away) I've denied my Lord. God, oh, God, forgive me.
__________
Read the questions again, and prompt answers from the children.
Narrator
Caiaphas
Witness 1
Witness 2
Witness 3
Jesus
Girl
Peter
Servant
Questions
1. Did the three witnesses agree on what Jesus said?
2. Why did the high priest ask Jesus if he was the Son of God?
3. What did the Sanhedrin decide to do with Jesus?
4. When Peter was asked if he was a disciple of Jesus, what did he say?
5. What did he do when he heard the rooster crow?
Narrator: Jesus has been arrested by soldiers from the temple guard. They have brought him before the Jewish High Council, the Sanhedrin. The trial is presided over by the high priest.
Caiaphas: Well, Jesus, what have you to say for yourself? (silence) Do you claim to be the Messiah? (silence) Who gave you the right to attack those in the temple who sold the lambs and those who exchanged the Roman coins for temple money? (silence) So you won't answer. You stand there in silence. We have ways to make prisoners talk, but since we have several witnesses willing to give evidence, we don't need your own confession. Bring up the first witness.
Witness 1: I heard Jesus say that he would destroy the temple in three days.
Caiaphas: Did any of you other men hear that?
Witness 2: I heard something a little different. He said he could rebuild the temple in three days.
Witness 3: I heard him say that the temple would be completely destroyed, not one stone would be left piled on another.
Witness 2: I also heard him say that those in charge of the temple had turned it into a den of thieves. Didn't sound like he liked you priests very much. (laughs)
Witness 1: He did say that we ought to pay taxes to Caesar, but nothing about paying the temple tax.
Witness 3: Another thing, he said the small gift of two pennies from the poor is more pleasing to God than the fantastic gifts of the wealthy. That sure would undercut support for the temple.
Caiaphas: This testimony is most damaging, but each one is different! We must have two witnesses who agree so that we can convict him. Didn't any two of you hear him say the same words? (silence -- under his breath) If we can't get at least two of these idiots to agree, don't pay a single one of them.
Witness 2: I asked Jesus who gave him the right to drive out the money changers. All he did was ask me if John the Baptist was right in calling him the Messiah. I didn't dare answer yes or no.
Witness 1: Would it help for me to say that he told the crowd it was better to love God than to offer a temple sacrifice?
Witness 3: He also said the greatest command was to love God and the second greatest was to love our neighbors. Neither of those is from the ten commandments. Isn't that bad enough to put him away?
Caiaphas: (angrily) I've wasted enough time on these imbeciles. I'll get him to admit his own guilt. Jesus, I charge you in the name of the great God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do you claim to be the Messiah? Your silence will be your admission that you are not. Are you the Son of God?
Jesus: (firmly) I am he! And one day you will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with the glory of God.
Caiaphas: (angrily) There. You've heard it from his own lips. He is guilty of the most terrible blasphemy against God, claiming to be the heavenly Messiah mentioned in the book of Daniel. He deserves to die! Don't you agree?
(Cast shouts "Yes")
Caiaphas: Shall we take him to the Roman governor for execution?
(another shout of "Yes")
Narrator: Meanwhile, Peter, who has followed the soldiers and Jesus to the council chamber, sits outside in the courtyard, trying to warm himself by the fire. A servant girl has been staring at him for some time.
Girl: Hey, you by the fire. Didn't I see you out in the garden with Jesus? Aren't you one of his followers?
Peter: (firmly) I certainly am not!
Servant: Now wait a minute. I'm sure I saw you slashing with a sword, nearly cutting off a man's ear. You really are one of his disciples!
Peter: (angrily) How many times do I have to say that I don't know this Jesus? He's nothing to me. I'm just here trying to get warm.
Girl: He can deny it as much as he wants, but I'm positive he's a friend of Jesus. Just listen to his accent. He's from Galilee, the same as Jesus.
Peter: (shouts) Don't accuse me of following Jesus. He's fake, a liar, a heretic. For all I care, they can hang him on a cross. (trembles as crowing of rooster is heard in the distance) What was that?
Servant: Haven't you ever heard a rooster crowing?
Peter: (to himself) Jesus said I'd deny him three times. Oh, God, what have I done? (weeps as he turns away) I've denied my Lord. God, oh, God, forgive me.
__________
Read the questions again, and prompt answers from the children.
