Character Needed - Bible Sketches 23

CHARACTER NEEDED – BIBLE SKETCHES

Character Needed, by Robert Allen, published by Regular Baptist Press, includes 33 skits illustrating the truths of each of the verses in Proverbs 15.  These Character Needed – Bible Sketches are designed to accompany those contemporary plays, illustrating the same character traits by use of a Bible story.  

CHARACTER NEEDED

THE STONING OF STEPHEN

Proverbs 15:23

Acts 6:8-15; 7:1, 56-60

Character Trait:  Kind Speech

Cast of Characters

                        Narrator

                        Ebenezer

                        Jochan

                        Hanani

                        Stephen

NARRATOR:             It was very busy in the temple in Jerusalem that day.  Men were bringing their sheep and doves to the priests to be sacrificed.  Women were watching children and talking while they waited for their husbands to return.  Suddenly some of the men yelled and started to chase a man who had simply been walking through the temple courtyard.

EBENEZER:              There he is!

JOCHAN:                   Stop him!

HANANI:                   Don’t let him get away.  It’s Stephen.  He’s here to stir up trouble again.

EBENEZER:              He went that way.

HANANI:                   Over there.

JOCHAN:                   Don’t let him get away.

EBENEZER:              There he is.

HANANI:                   Good job, Jochan.  You caught him.  Hold on now.  Don’t let him get away.  We’re going to take him before the council.

NARRATOR:             Stephen knew what that meant.  He was one of the believers in Jerusalem and the council didn’t like the believers.  They didn’t want people to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.  They wanted everyone to just forget about Him.  Then men who had captured Stephen took him right into the council chambers.  Then they started to tell lies about him.

HANANI:                   This man has spoken blasphemy against Moses.

EBENEZER:              And against God.

JOCHAN:                   He has blasphemed the holy temple.  He says that our sacrifices aren’t worth anything any more.

HANANI:                   He claims that Jesus paid the sacrifice for sin when He died on the cross and that we don’t need to sacrifice sheep and doves.  That’s blasphemy.

EBENEZER:              He even said that Jesus of Nazareth would destroy this temple.  Can you imagine such a horrible lie?

JOCHAN:                   He’s against the law of Moses.

HANANI:                   He said that Jesus would change the customs Moses left for us.

JOCHAN:                   He doesn’t deserve to live.  I think he should be stoned.

EBENEZER:              Yes.  Stone him.

HANANI:                   Stone him!   Stone him!

ALL:                           Stone him!  Stone him!

NARRATOR:             The high priest who was heading the council asked Stephen what he had to say for himself, so Stephen began to preach.  He told them about Christ and how He had come to save them.  But they just became more angry.  They got so mad that they rushed him out of the chamber and outside the city wall.

EBENEZER:              Stone him!

HANANI:                   Blasphemer!

JOCHAN:                   Stone him!  Stone him!

NARRATOR:             They were saying terrible things about Stephen, but not once did he yell back at them.  In fact, those who were there said his face shone like the face of an angel.  The men who were throwing the stones took off their cots and left them with a man named Saul.  As the rocks pelted down on Stephen, he fell to his knees and began to pray.

STEPHEN:                 Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.  Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.

NARRATOR:             The rocks continued to fly until Stephen was dead.  The men picked up their coats and went home.  But the man Saul couldn’t forget how Stephen had answered when those men were stoning him.  He remembered Stephen’s words and not many weeks later, that young man accepted the Lord Jesus Christ Stephen had served.  Stephen’s dying words helped bring the Apostle Paul to salvation.