THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act VI - The Gospel of John, Scene 6
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

Scene 6

                                    (READERS ARE IN THE SAME POSITIONS, BUT #1, # 3 AND #4 HAVE THEIR BACKS TO THE AUDIENCE)

4

1 2 3

VOICE TWO:            The sun was just going down that evening as every family of Jews living in Jerusalem began the observance of Passover.  God had commanded them through Moses to set aside a lamb, a perfect, unblemished lamb, one-year old.  As the sun went down, marking the beginning of a new day in the Jewish calendar, each father took a knife and slit the throat of the chosen lamb.  Carefully they caught the fresh blood in a bowl and then—with a small branch of hyssop plant, the father applied the blood to the lintel and the door posts of the house.  Next they roasted the lamb in its entirety and ate it, along with bitter herbs and unleavened bread.  All the time, they were careful not to break any bones of the lamb according to the solemn instruction given by Moses.

VOICE ONE:             (TURN TO FRONT)  Normal Roman practice was to leave those who had been crucified hanging on their crosses for days.  But the Jews wanted them gone before the Sabbath, the special Sabbath, the Day of Preparation.  This was Passover Week.  Breaking the legs of the crucified hastened death, because it made it impossible for them to push up their chests enough to catch a breath.  A large mallet would be used to smash the leg bones as they hung on the cross.

VOICE FOUR:          (TURN TO FRONT)  Starting at the outside, the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves, but then they noticed that Jesus was already dead.  They refrained from breaking His legs.

VOICE THREE:        (TURN TO FRONT)  Not one of his bones will be broken.

VOICE TWO:            John sees in Christ the perfect fulfillment of the Passover celebration which the Jews had been observing faithfully ever since the day of the Exodus from Egypt. 

VOICE ONE:             A day of salvation from the sword of the death angel.

VOICE FOUR:          A day of deliverance from the slavery on Egypt.

VOICE THREE:        A night of celebration that inspired thousands of nights of celebration.

VOICE TWO:            The death of Christ, the perfect Sacrifice, rescued us from death itself.  It was a death that brought us into the household of safety sheltered by the blood.  It was a death that assured our deliverance from sin and brought us into a new relationship with God.  It was a death to celebrate.