We created a space on Easter Sunday evening, 2006, that had long tables arranged in square. A focus in the centre represented the empty cross and the empty tomb. I presented three monologues during the evening, from different points of view of the people to whom Jesus appeared.
We had soup and rolls, a good option after our family feastings at lunch time.
There was brown paper on the tables, and writing implements, so people could respond to the stories. Space was also left between each story for conversation.
I think this was the first time we had 'Daniel Lee and friends' - jazz guitars sometimes joined by a percussionist. They hit the spot in terms of creating the jazz mood we were seeking, and I remember looking at a team member and nodding approval!
If you would like to use these monologues, please feel free. I would ask that you acknowledge appropriately. Also - let us know how they go!
Resurrection Monologues - Sarah Agnew
Resurrection Monologue 1 : Mary
Dead and Buried
And so we took him down
(or thought we did)
Wiped off the sweat and spittle
From his face,
Washed the dried blood,
Threw out the crown of thorns,
And wrapped him once again
In swaddling clothes.
A tomb can be a cramped
Confining place,
Far smaller than a stable.
We laid him there
(or thought we did).
We were not able
To comprehend
The infinite contained.
For us it was the end.
Only the harsh realities
Of death and stone
Remained.
Elizabeth Rooney
(21st Century poet)
We were so devastated after the crucifixion, after burying Jesus in the tomb. There didn’t seem to be a way to stop the tears from flowing. We were overwhelmed, inconsolable – even with all the promises he had made, the assurances he gave that this was God’s will, that we would see him again, he would leave us a friend.
Well – where was that friend? And just how can you see a person again after they have died? How much we still hadn’t understood …
We were up early the day after the Sabbath, because we wanted to keep the custom and anoint his body. We’d been trying to decide what we were going to do about moving the stone in front of the tomb – it was far too heavy for a few women to move without tools or great physical strength. So when we got there and discovered that the stone had been rolled aside already, we were a little surprised. But we thought the men must have anticipated us and moved the stone. So we went in.
And then we really did receive a shock. He was gone – the body was not there, where we had so carefully laid it. It was not in the tomb at all. The cloths we had wrapped around him were strewn on the floor, the scarf from his head was folded, sitting at the place where his head should have been resting – where was Jesus’ body?
Before we could recover our voices to call the guards, we were stunned again, this time by the brightest of lights. Suddenly we found ourselves facing angels of God – they must have been, who else would it have been lit up that way?
How could we believe what they said? It was such a foreign idea they might as well have spoken in a foreign language.
‘Jesus is risen.’
And yet we believed, somewhere deep inside.
As we digested the news, we heard another voice and turned, still speechless, in shock, and received one more surprise. Standing before us now was Jesus himself. He is risen indeed!
Rabbouni, I cried. I had found my voice, hearing the voice of my teacher, my shepherd, as he had taught us. A shepherd knows his sheep, and they know the voice of their master.
My Rabbouni, my teacher is alive, and I will rejoice every day.
I have never known such joy as we felt in that moment. All those hints he had given, the secrets and promises; showing us his power over death by bringing Lazarus back to life; finally we understood.
The world would change because Jesus had lived. Our relationship to God had changed because Jesus had died and beaten death. Our relationships with each other would change because Jesus loved, because of God’s love.
The world will never be the same again. We will never be the same again.
We wanted to shout and dance and sing – but we ran. We ran to share this fantastic news, the best of all possible newses, with his closest friends. They would see him soon. They must believe he was alive.
Jesus is alive.
Resurrection Monologue 2 : Thomas
I didn’t hear Mary tell the others that Jesus was alive. Didn’t see their response to her news. I wasn’t waiting with them in the room that day.
It was such a tense time, those days after the crucifixion, and we had locked ourselves away from those who had persecuted the Lord. I was going crazy, so I had ducked out for a while. It wasn’t the best idea, but on my own I was less recognisable than all of us together.
Oh, but when I returned, the atmosphere in our room had changed. I couldn’t guess anything from their faces – these men I now knew so well. Some looked as though they had been shocked, some looked frightened, some looked happier than I’d seen them in years – so it couldn’t be that a threat had been delivered. What could have happened while I was gone to bring about these different responses?
When they saw me, and realised I had not been with them, they all began to talk fast and furiously, over each other.
I couldn’t make any sense of it at all.
Then one of them spoke, clearly, calmly – ‘We have seen the Lord: Jesus was with us. He is alive.’
No! How could that be? We felt the world change when he had died – surely we would notice if he had come back to life? How could he possibly be alive?
‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’
How could I have not believed them?
My grief was overwhelming, blinding me from seeing the possibility, as it had blinded my friends to the truth of what Mary said.
But he had raised Lazarus, and done countless other things. Of course he should defeat death. But at that time, all I could see was that he had gone to the cross, had given himself to the Romans, to his enemies and let them kill him. I didn’t understand why he would do that. Couldn’t see that it wasn’t because they were stronger than God, but because there was no other way to save God’s people than through this human/divine sacrifice.
Unless I see for myself, I will not believe. How could I have not believed him?
For a whole week I did not leave that place, unless I was with the others. If Jesus came to us again, if he really had risen as they insisted, I was not going to miss him again.
And then it happened. We were gathered together, the doors locked for fear of our persecutors, and yet he came and stood among us. Flesh, but not flesh.
‘Peace be with you.’ Peace? My heart was racing.
He had heard the cry of my brothers for certainty that Mary’s words were true. He heard my cry for one more moment, for a chance to see with my own eyes, which surely could not deceive me. And here he stood, with us.
‘Put your finger here. See my hands. Reach out your hand, put it in my side. Do not doubt, but believe.’
I believed. I fell to my knees, bowed my head. ‘My Lord, my God.’ For surely there was no doubt that Jesus and God were one and the same.
I did not touch his wounded hands or his side. I felt with every part of me that I was with my friend, my teacher, my God. God was most certainly present in Jesus, in that room.
We saw him among us then, and we saw him once more before his Spirit was all that was left. Be assured, friends who were not with us then – if you open your hearts and your minds, you can know his presence as surely as we did then. You, too, can believe that God made this sacrifice, and Jesus rose from the dead so that a new law would come to be. The law of love, for God and for each other, is a law for Jew and Gentile. It is the law Jesus personifies; it is the law that will free us all.
My prayer for you all is that you will believe – do not doubt – that Jesus is risen, Jesus is Lord, Jesus is the Son of God.
Resurrection Monologue 3 : Peter
My first response when I discovered the empty tomb with Mary and the others was to run. I didn’t know what was going on, but this was not a good sign – or so I thought.
Still I didn’t believe when Mary found us all in the room, shaking with fear, and told us her news. The best of all possible newses – yet we wouldn’t hear her. It was impossible. We were convinced Jesus had been defeated, and couldn’t make sense of the world at all.
I felt terrible after we saw Jesus for ourselves, risen and alive, we had not trusted Mary. Loyal, truthful, wise Mary. Mary who had stayed when we had run for cover. Mary who had wrapped and anointed the body of our dear friend. She was a stronger person than any of us in those days. Perhaps women are helped through their grief with the practical task of anointing the body? We could think of nothing to do but survive the persecution and wait for the friend Jesus had promised would show us the way until he returned. When would that be?
We were so blown away by the events of the last week of Jesus’ time on earth, we were overcome with fear. Look what it made me do on the day he was arrested – could I really have denied my Lord? Three times?
We saw Jesus once more before he returned to the closeness of God.
I had decided to go fishing, and the others joined me. we didn’t catch a thing. As the sun came up, a man appeared on the shore and he spoke – ‘you have no fish, have you? Throw your net on the right side of the boat. You’ll find some there.’
There were so many fish in the net when we tried to haul it in that seven of us couldn’t do it. Jesus’ dearest friend recognised him first, saying to me, ‘Peter, it is the Lord!’ I pulled my clothes on and jumped into the sea – I was so excited! I left the others to bring in the fish! We weren’t far out by then.
One more time, Jesus broke bread with us. We ate the fish we had caught cooked on coals.
I wonder if there’s something in the fact that Jesus asked me three times that morning: ‘Simon Peter, do you love me?’ Yes Lord. ‘Do you love me?’ Yes Lord. ‘Do you love me?’ You know everything – you know I love you. ‘Feed my sheep.’
And then he said something that made me uneasy. I had overcome my fears since Jesus had been with us, but when he said to me that when I was young I had fastened my own belt and gone where I chose, but in the future I would be bound and taken where I did not want to go – a shiver ran down my spine.
But I understood, at last, what he had meant when he had told me I would go where he was going. I would die in his name – as I had once boldly told him I would.
Follow me.
I have been rash in the past, made bold statements and not seen them through with bold actions. I knew at that moment, when he called me to follow him, the road would not be easy.
The breath he blew on us when he was first with us after his death was his spirit – the spirit of God. We consider ourselves now sent on the most important mission. People must hear of the things God has done, of the love Jesus showed. People of all races and creeds must hear that God is their God and has opened up the doors of the kingdom to all people.
I always said I believed Jesus’ teaching. But belief is nothing without action. People should see that I believe in God, that I believe Jesus is God and that he has left his Spirit to keep us close to him until we see him again.
I believe that Jesus has asked me to gather the flock – I’ll bring the people together and we’ll live in a community that values each person, that values love and trust and despises hate and deceit. I believe in Jesus as the true shepherd of us all, and until he comes again, I’ll watch over his sheep.
