To Do His Father’s Will, Jesus Lets The Serpent Inject Its Venom

January 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Matt. 26; Mark 14; Luke 22; John 18

POY! SKIT GUIDELINES

  • In a small group, participants might simply read their lines, or glance at their lines to get the idea so they can speak in their own words.
  • Most POY! skits require no practice in advance.
  • Have any small children play a brief part. Most scripts have an optional part for children, listed last under Participants.
  • Most scripts have a Narrator who should read the script beforehand to see how to keep moving the story along.
  • It is not necessary to employ costumes and objects, unless the skit recommends such.
  • It is not required to have an audience watch the skit. All present may participate.
  • Scripture and paraphrases, if any, usually appear in bold.

PARTICIPANTS

Peter(also serves as Narrator)

Voice (of Jesus) Stand to one side, read slowly and loudly

Eve

Adam

Prompter (Optional). Prompter shouts a brief line and Companions repeat it.

Companions (Optional): children and all adults who want to take part. Make sure Companions know who the Prompter is, and that they are to repeat Prompter’s words. 

SCRIPT

Peter

John, look! Jesus is leading us again to that secluded place up on the Mount of Olives. King David once passed through this same Kidron valley and brook, shedding tears, betrayed by his close friend. Oh, now look down, westward! The last rays of sunset are caressing Jerusalem’s roofs!

Voice

Peter, James, John, come with me a little farther into this Garden of Gethsemane. My soul grieves to the point of death! Wait for me while I pray, and pray that you will not be tempted.

Peter

Jesus goes a stone’s throw beyond and falls face down, distressed and horrified. Why?

Voice

Abba! Father! If it’s possible, let this hour pass Me by. Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.

Peter

After this desperate plea, Jesus comesto find us sleeping, His soul swallowed up in sorrow.

Voice

Peter, could you men not keep watch for an hour?

Peter

Had I been watching, I would have seen flaming torches gathering outside the city walls. But no, I slept while the bravest person who ever lived wrestles with a terrifying choice. His would be no common death. The atoning blood of every Passover lamb, every goat and bull slain since Adam, becomes effective if ? only if ? the Galilean agrees to bear mankind’s sins.

Peter

Again, Jesus goes and prays the same agonizing words. He comes again and finds us sleeping; our eyes are heavy. He prays a third time, and returns. Oh no! Again! We’ve fallen asleep! Had we been alert, we’d have seen the column of flickering torches snaking its way across the Kidron and up the mountainside. Closer!

Voice

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Peter

I did not yet grasp the depth of the effect of this moment’s verdict! No mortal mind could grasp it. Every shameful act and thought, yours and mine, will make up the venom that will be injected by the serpent’s accusing fangs into Messiah’s veins, penetrating, scalding His deepest soul and heart. The full, excruciating, lethal dose! Oh, the horror of this night! The anguish! The shame!

Voice

Are you still resting? It is enough; the hour has come. The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let’s go. The traitor is coming!

Peter

We join the others and look down the slope. Torches! Many, many torches! Oh, they have weapons! My stomach knots in fear. Now we hear the yells of a huge mob!

Prompter & Companions

Where is that rebel?

Peter

Look! Judas is leading the officers sent by the chief priests. How can he, one of Messiah’s chosen twelve, do this? Judas is walking right up to Jesus! Oh! He’s kissing Him! A signal!

Voice

Soldiers, whom do you seek?

Peter

I hear them say, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

Voice

I AM.

Peter

“I Am!” The words Moses heard at the burning bush when God revealed His Name! The soldiers fall back! They notice something about this man! Apostate priests scream, spewing their hatred.

Prompter & Companions

“Seize Him! Seize Him!”

Peter

(Pretend to swing a sword wildly) Take that!

Prompter & Companions

Look out! They’re going to fight!

Peter

I swing my sword wildly, severing an ear of the high priest’s slave, Malchus.

Voice

Peter, sheath the sword. Shall I not drink the cup my Father has handed me?

Prompter & Companions

“Arrest him! Arrest him!”

Voice

Do you come with swords and clubs to arrest Me, as you would a robber? Daily I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did nothing. But this is your hour, your power of darkness.

Peter

All of us disciples flee, leaving Him alone… All alone!

Prompter & Companions

“Seize him! Seize him!”

Peter

Now, I wonder. What might Adam and Eve say in this moment, as they look down from heaven and see the One whom Scripture calls “the Last Adam”?

 

 

Adam & Eve

(Read slowly, in a way that stresses contrasts between the two gardens, Eden and Gethsemane.)


Eve

Both gardens, old Eden and Gethsemane,
    Were scenes of far-reaching decisions.
Two Adams, the First, and the Last we now see,
    Both shaped mankind’s fate and condition.
 Adam

In Eden it was day,all beauty and light,
    And the Lord made the old serpent crawl.
In Gethsemane tonight, Christ yields to its bite,
    Reversing the effect of my shameful fall.
Eve

It was daytime when the serpent sneaked in,
    Lying, interrupting our true King’s reign.
Now it’s nighttime, darker than ever it’s been
    As men seize Christ in the devil’s domain.
Adam

In Eden, I sinned and in me all men fell;
    I ate that fruit against God’s command.
Now Jesus spurns that foul fiend of hell
    And takes death’s cup from His Father’s hand.
Eve

For Adam and me, Eden was all delight,
    But we ate the fruit that left mankind ill.
Gethsemane gives Christ one terrible plight;
    But He takes death’s cup, fulfilling God’s will!
Adam

In Eden, I ran to hide shame and sham.
     God called; the sinner He sought.
Now, Jesus stands still, tells the soldiers, “I AM.”
     To seek God and His will is Messiahs’ one thought.
Eve

A flaming sword barred Eden’s gate that day,
     All was defeat; Adam and I all to blame.
Now Jesus tells Peter, “Put your sword away.”
    The last Adam has agreed to bear all our shame!

 

DISCUSS

What did the events at Gethsemane tell us about Jesus’ humanity?

What did those events suggest about His deity?

Why was there no other way to save sinners?

Romans 5:19 says the deeds of both the first and “final Adam” had contrasting effects. What were those effects?

The disciples that fled in fear later stood firm and brave; they died as martyrs rather than abandon Jesus again. What transformed their cowardice into courage?

Filed Under: Just-In-Time Church Planting Dashboard

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