Hill Country Writer

Here's the last of our three Easter dramas. My wife is performing this one. I wish you could hear her. I'm biased, but she'd pretty good.

MARY MAGDALENE: We didn't know he was going to die. At least, not any sooner than the rest of us. We certainly didn't know he was going to come back to life.

All that resurrection and life stuff. We believed it in a certain way. I mean, he gave me back my life.

I used to see things. Hear voices. [laughing] I spent a whole year with Samson. You know, the longhaired guy. Judge. Killed people with the jawbone of a donkey. I talked to him everyday—in my head at least. He said I was cuter than Delilah. Yeah, he's been for two thousand years or so.

Jesus was only for three days. We bought spices on Friday. For his body. But we didn't have time before the Sabbath. And there was that stone. Me, Salome, and Mary against that big stone. It wasn’t going to happen, but we went anyway. We had all these expensive spices.

The sun was just coming up. The city was still asleep. But not the tombs. [laughs] Jesus loves turning things upside down like that.

We weren't talking much about anything, but we were all thinking about the stone.

"If it's true about the guards," I said, "maybe they'll help."

Salome looked at me and shook her head. "Roman guards? Sure, Maggie."

Everything we said fell apart like that. Like everything in the world had been hollowed out. I was just a polished shell— How did Jesus say it? A whitewashed tomb, full of inside.

But there was no at the tomb. No guards. No stone.

"It must have rolled away during that earthquake last night," I said.

Salome didn't say anything. Mary started to cry again. We all did.

But we had a job to do. So I went inside.

And there was Samson. Standing in the corner. Or somebody. I couldn't see his face because his clothes were like lightning. And this heat was coming out from him. I was seeing people again.

But I couldn't see Jesus. He wasn't there. I was still crying, and I thought, "They've taken his body." Sometimes they hang them back up. As a sign.

Then, the man in the corner started talking. "You are looking for Jesus who was crucified," he said.

I ignored him, but he kept talking. They always do.

"He is not here, for he is risen, just as he said."

But I ran out of the tomb. I had been there before.

I don't want to be crazy.

Mary and Salome tried to stop me, but I kept running.

There was another man near the tombs. He's not glowing or anything. Maybe he's real. Maybe he knows where they took the body.

"Why are you crying?" he asks.

And here we are in the tombs. He knows why I'm crying.

"Who did you come to see?" he asks.

Is this man real? I don't know, but I need to find Jesus.

So I say, "If you took his body somewhere, just tell me where. Please." And I'm thinking, please, please, be real.

And he says, "Mary. It's me."

And then I see Him. And I'm not crazy. He is alive. He is alive.

[Throughout the round that follows, the choir says, "He is alive!" softly at first, growing stronger and louder until the end. This round based on "He is Alive!" from Actors Not Included: 303 Scripts for Church Drama by Matt Tullos]

READER #1 [descending from the choir]: It is just as he said.

MARY [to the choir]: He is alive.

READER #2 [descending from the choir]: Quickly now, go tell his disciples.

ALL: He is alive.

MARY [joyous]: Why am I looking for the living among the ?

ALL: He is alive.

READER #3 [descending from the choir]: The earth is quaking.

ALL: He is alive.

MARY: The stone has been rolled away.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #4 [descending from the choir]: The government is stunned.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #1: The very foundation of the universe will never be the same.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #2: Satan is defeated.

ALL: He is alive.

MARY: This changes everything.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #3: The captives are set free.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #4: Forget your bitter tears.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #1: Let all creation rejoice.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #2: Let freedom ring!

ALL: He is alive.

READER #3: He will ultimately reign over heaven and earth . . .

READER #4: . . . over cancer, , fear . . .

READER #1: . . . over poverty, hatred, bitterness . . .

READER #2: . . . corruption, prejudice, pain . . .

MARY: . . . and all the powers of darkness . . .

READER #3: . . . because our hope is in His resurrection.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #4: Do not despair.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #1: Trust in the powerful name of Jesus.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #2 [kneeling]: Christ, the Lord.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #3 [kneeling]: The Prince of Peace

ALL: He is alive.

READER #4 [kneeling]: The Alpha and the Omega.

ALL: He is alive.

READER #1 [kneeling]: The Living Word.

ALL: He is alive.

MARY [kneeling]: My teacher.

ALL: He is alive.

MARY [standing]: You are risen today.

ALL: He is alive.

MARY and READER #1 [standing]: Today.

ALL: He is alive.

MARY and READER #1, #2, #3, #4 [READER #2, #3, and #4 standing]: Today.

ALL: He is alive.

Posted by Mark Goodyear @ 8:13 PM