A Play In One Scene
By Father John R. Green
Copyright © by John R. Green
Shown with his blessing
Isabella, age 34, Mother
Joel, age 36, Father
Dan, age 12, Son
Miriam, age 10, Daughter
Ruth, age 14, Daughter
Reuben, age 30, A Family Friend
Deborah, age 28, A Shepherd's Wife
Michal, age 28, A Shepherd's Wife
Rosander, age 36, The Zealot
A room used for dining and informal gatherings in a home in Bethlehem
Early morning following the birth of Christ
Rosander
Mary
Joseph
Joel, Shepherd
Obadish, Shepherd
Malchiah, Shepherd
Gasper, King
Melchior, King
Balthazer, King
A Stable in Bethlehem
Midnight Before Christmas Morning
A curtain shields the manger scene until it is withdrawn (as indicated) during Rosander's narration. It is redrawn at the conclusion of Rosander's narration. The cast acts in pantornine what Rosander narrates.
The characters of Rosander and Joel are played by doubles for the narrating Rosander and the Christmas morning Joel.
SETTING: Straw is on floor of stable.
AT RISE: Mary and Joseph are sleeping in center of stable. Rosander is sleeping in rear right of stable.
SETTING: A table with chairs is centered near front of room, on which is placed bowls, eating utensils, cups and a pitcher of beverage. Beside table and to the right are three chairs, while two chairs are placed beside table on the left. At far front of room a door opens to the outside of house, while at far left front of room an open door is the passageway to other rooms in the home.
AT RISE: Isabella is seated to the right of table mending clothing. Enter Dan and Miriam from inside door skipping and laughing merrily.
MIRIAM (excitedly, to Isabella) Father told us about meeting the Messiah last night, the real Messiah! (rapturously) Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that glorious?
DAN (wondering) And he saw angels and heard them singing!
ISABELLA (shaking her head in amused disgust) Oh your father is a dreamer, always expecting great things to happen. God only knows what all he dreams about in the Shepherd Field. (sighing) And such an imagination! (Dan and Miriam exchange puzzled looks.) Oh, yes, he told me the same nonsense; seeing some baby in the Inn stable. (pause, looking intensely in faces of Dan and Miriam.) But we know that he, Obadiah and Malchiah didn't leave their sheep last night; they wouldn't dare desert them to the wolves. So the sheep are alive, or we would have heard otherwise from our day time Shepherds.
MIRIAM (persistently) But mother, he told us how scared they were when they first saw the angels.
DAN (determinedly) And he said that they found the Messiah in the manger, exactly the way the angel said they would, and his mother and father were with him.
ISABELLA (groans, deposits clothing on tab1e) My dear children, my beloved children, how many times must your mother remind you that angels no longer visit the earth, as they did in olden times. And besides, the Messiah will not be born in a stable. He will come from royalty, the House of David, and he will free Israel from Roman tyranny. No child born in a stable will accomplish that mighty victory.
DAN There was no room in the Inn for him with all those people crowding into Bethlehem.
MIRIAM (gaily) Oh come, Dan, let's dance to the Messiah!
DAN (embracing Miriam's outstretched hands with his hands) We are so happy we should be singing songs, or playing our lute and lyre! (they dance to the sound of music being played in hidden rear of room, as Isabella, shaking her head and smiling indulgently, watches them for a short time; then claps her hands sharply for their attention.)
ISABELLA Go to the table and eat your morning meal. (Dan and Miriam reluctantly retreat to the table, and begin eating from their bowls. There is a knock at the outside door; Isabella opens door and happily motions for Reuben to enter house.) You are the first good thing to happen this morning. Please seat yourself, and I will pour a cup of beverage for you.
REUBEN (after seating himself to left of table) Have you heard about our distinguished visitor in Bethlehem last night?
DAN (excitedly) Yes, Miriam and I heard about him from father!
REUBEN (puzzled') How would he know about it? Wasn't he watching sheep last night?
ISABELLA (passing a cup of beverage to Reuben) Don't pay the children any mind. Their imaginations are running wild this morning. (seating herself) Now who was this visitor?
REUBEN Rosander, The Zealot.
ISABELLA (with amazement and delight) Rosander, the Zealot! Rosander, the Zealot! Why was he in Bethlehem last night?
MIRIAM Who is Rosander, the Zealot?
ISABELLA (proudly) He is one who will help the Messiah when he comes to free Israel from Roman rule.
DAN (frustrated) But the real Messiah is already here; father said so!
REUBEN (to Isabella) What is this about the Messiah being here in Israel?
ISABELLA You know how Joel gets carried away at times. Well, he claims that he and Obadiah and Malchiah saw and heard angels singing above the Shepherd Field last night, and that the three of them visited a new born Messiah in the stable of the Bethlehem Inn. But you and I know that they had to be with their sheep the entire night.
REUBEN (reflective) Come to think of it, Isabella, they were not in the Shepherd Field all night. I went by there sometime after midnight and didn't see them. I intended to inquire about that this morning.
ISABELLA (startled) Who was attending the flock?
REUBEN There wasn't anyone with the sheep. I thought this strange, but I was in a hurry. I couldn't linger.
ISABELLA Were the sheep frightened?
REUBEN (in wonderment) I have never seen them more at peace and quiet. They didn't seem anxious about anything.
(Enter Ruth from inside door and waves a greeting to Reuben)
RUTH (glowing) Oh, but did we ever have a wonderful time in the Inn last night!
MIRIAM (eagerly) Did you see the Messiah?
RUTH The Messiah? How could I have seen someone who is yet to arrive in Israel? But we had. guests from all over the world, and they told the most fascinating stories. I heard them as I stayed in the room to serve light food and drink.
DAN But there was a baby born in the stable.
RUTH (taking seat left of table beside Reuben) Oh, yes, I heard about that baby. We didn't have accommodations for its family in the Inn. But I suppose many babies were born everywhere last night. Now let me tell you about the stories the Inn guests were telling. One of them told about a garden springing up mysteriously in the desert.
DAN (laughing) Oh, that was a mirage. Everyone tells of seeing mirages in the desert.
RUTH (indignantly) No, not a mirage! He would have died if this garden had not suddenly appeared out of nowhere. And it had real water for him to drink. Another traveler told us about shipwrecked sailors discovering gold in Ephesus! No gold had ever been found in Ephesus! (Becoming more excited) And Arimedes from Greece was at the Inn again last night, and he told us how a chorus of girls dancing around a fountain flew him in midair, all the way from Nicea to Sardis!
ISABELLA (sighing wistfully) Oh, how I would love to have seen that.
REUBEN (amused) Do you really believe that flight of fantasy?
ISABELLA Of course not, but I might as well get some thrills from the Inn tales. Nothing exciting happens in Bethlehem. Were there other stories?
RUTH A messenger from Pamphylia saw fish in the Aegean Sea that could sing.
MIRIAM (fascinated) Were there stories about flowers?
RUTH Oh, Yes, a merchant from Crete told us about a valley where flowers dance with fairies.
REUBEN Your storytellers seem to have occupied the entire Inn.
RUTH Perhaps so. I didn't see any Israelite lodgers.
(knock on door)
ISABELLA (moving toward door) Your audience may be increasing, Ruth. (opens door) Deborah and Michal! Sooner or later, I thought we would be seeing you. (she motions for them to enter, and Deborah and Michal walk in room, near the table) Oh, I can tell by your eyes that you believe everything your shepherd husbands told you about the Messiah. But please be seated and have some warm beverage. (Deborah and Michal nod a smiling greeting toward Reuben, Ruth, Dan, and Miriam and then seat themselves in chairs to the right of table. Isabella serves them cups of beverage and then returns to her seat.) I assume we are to listen to your ecstatic utterances about last night in Bethlehem.
DEBORAH We hoped that you would be as thrilled as we are over the coming of the Messiah.
ISABELLA (tossing her arms in air) Messiah! Messiah! Messiah! The best I can say is that your husbands and mine experienced one grand hallucination in the Shepherd Field.
DEBORAH (frustrated) Oh, Isabella, you well know that my Obadiah has very little in the way of imagination. He couldn't create a story about angels and the Messiah.
MICHAL And neither is my Malchiah given to fantasy. And the Shepherds never indulge in wine while in the Shepherd Field.
ISABELLA Your Malchiah is childlike. He can be made to believe strange things which in reality have no substance whatsoever.
DEBORAH (joyfully) Obadiah is deliriously happy, and he has told everyone in Bethlehem about his experience last night. Some believe him, (sorrowfully) some don't.
ISABELLA (returning all cups to table) It is good to learn that not all people in Bethlehem have taken leave of their senses.
DAN (to Michal) What will the Messiah do when he becomes a man?
MICHAL (rapturously) Your father, Joel, reads from our great prophet Isaiah that "He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (pause) And with him, peace will have no end!
DEBORAH (glowing) "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. And the calf and the lion and the fatling together. And a little child shall lead them." This is how Isaiah described the Messiah.
MICHAL (with deep conviction) And Israel will truly be free.
ISABELLA (forcefully) The only way Israel will be free is for the Messiah to drive the Roman army from its borders.
(Enter Joel from outside door. Dan and Miriam rush to embrace him.)
Well now, how many angels have greeted you this morning? And is that Messiah baby still smiling and cooing for you?
JOEL (moving toward table with Dan and Miriam, and chuckling, tenderly) Why don't you walk down to the stable and see Mary and Joseph and the Baby Jesus? We ran to see them!
ISABELLA Oh, so his name is Jesus. Now I wonder why?
(Dan and Miriam return to their seats)
JOEL Because He will save us from our sins.
ISABELLA (derisively) Oh now, he is greater than the angels!
(knock on door)
JOEL (opens door. gasps in amazement) You are Rosander! Rosander, the Zealot!
(all in room leap to their feet and look toward door)
ISABELLA (astounded, and happily) Invite him in, Joel! Please for the love of David show him in.
JOEL (motioning to Rosander to enter) Oh, sorry, please do join us. Maybe you can understand my astonishment at seeing you in our doorway.
ROSANDER (entering, chuckling and smiling broadly) Ah yes, Shepherd Joel, how well I understand.
JOEL (puzzled) You know that I am a shepherd? Oh, anymore I shouldn't be surprised, no matter what happens!
ROSANDER (walks to table. To Reuben) You were a tremendous help to me last night, and I am not likely to forget it.
ISABELLA (to Rosander) We are deeply honored by your presence in our home, but please tell us how Reuben assisted you?
ROSANDER Reuben made it possible for me to sleep in the stable.
JOEL (stunned) You were in the stable last night? I wasn't aware of your presence there.
ROSANDER I was in hiding. Herod's spies are constantly seeking me out, and everywhere I go in Judea he seems to think I will stage a rebellion against Caesar. And there are many Israelites who believe the same thing. Reuben made it possible for me to find safe shelter with the cattle.
JOEL (fascinated) Did Mary and Joseph realize that you were with them in the stable?
ROSANDER Not when I first entered. I managed to slip by them to a hiding place, but I observed that Mary was great with child. Being utterly exhausted, I rapidly fell into a deep sleep.
(Shielding curtain over auxiliary and manger scene is withdrawn. Singing and accompanying music begins.)
Later, I was awakened by singing, strange wonderful singing; never had I heard such beautiful music. (A dazed Rosander sits up and in wonderment looks around. He then slowly rises to his feet and points upward and outward.) It seemed to be coming from a distance, the vicinity of the Shepherd Field, and I was overwhelmed with curiosity. (Rosander slowly walks toward front of stable, near Mary and Joseph.) I had no difficulty slipping past Mary and Joseph as they were asleep. (Rosander stops and gasps in amazement, as he sees the sleeping Jesus.) I was startled to observe that their sleeping baby had arrived. As fatigued as I was, it is a mystery to me how I slept through the birth of that child. (Rosander wrings his hands, shakes his head; then proceeds to front of stable and gazes toward the streets of Bethlehem.) On the streets there was total silence. People who couldn't obtain lodging in the Inn were sleeping on the grounds adjoining the streets. Oddly, the singing hadn't aroused them as it did me.
DAN (wondering) Maybe it wasn't intended for them to hear the singing.
ROSANDER (chuckling and placing his arm around the shoulder of Dan) I believe you are very perceptive, my lad.
ISABELLA (desperately puzzled) But why was the singing heard by you?
ROSANDER (removing arm from Dan's shoulder) I believe that will become clear to you as I relate the other events of the night. The music ceased, but the sky above the Shepherd Field was bright and brilliant beyond mortal comprehension. I was charmed by the light and felt a pull toward it, but I pressured myself to remain in hiding. (Rosander stands entranced with the light for a brief period, and then moves as pulled toward it. He then struggles to retreat from light, returns to his sleeping place, and again lies on the straw. Shepherds: Joel, Obadiah and Malchiah excitedly enter stable and kneel before the baby Jesus. Rosander awakens, rises to his feet and stares in amazement at the shepherds, who speak silent words of warmth and love to Mary and Joseph.) If I had been less tired I don't believe I would have slept again, but I was awakened this time by the visit of Joel, Obadiah and Malchiah. I was amazed by the way they knelt worshipping the baby and fascinated by their narration of the angels and the Messiah.
(Mary speaks silently to the shepherds.)
And all of this was further glorified with Mary relating to them an earlier experience with an angel through which she learned that she would be the mother of the Messiah.
(Isabella becomes enthralled with Rosander, as Dan and Miriam silently point toward her.)
JOEL (anxiously) Did you then believe that Jesus is the Messiah?
ROSANDER I neither believed nor disbelieved. Following the shepherds' departure, I had to sort out my thoughts and feelings.
(The shepherds depart from stable and Rosander lies upon the straw, his body moving from left to right, and then assumes a sitting position, where he shakes his head and covers his face with his hands. After a pause he lays silently upon the straw.)
I lay tossing, turning and churning inwardly. If this is the Messiah, who am I, and what have I been? He was definitely not the Messiah of my expectation. (pause, breathes deeply.) Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with another heavenly visitation.
(Three Kings: Gasper, Melchior and Balthazar enter stable and fall on their knees in worship of the baby Jesus. Rosander leaps to his feet astounded by what he is viewing.)
Three kings, gentile kings, entered the stable and immediately fell upon their knees in adoration of the baby-gentile kings worshipping a Jewish child.
(Reuben, Deborah, Michal, Ruth, Dan and Miriam listen as though enchanted to Rosander.)
Then they arose and told a fascinated Mary and Joseph about seeing a Star in the East which foretold the birth of a prince and guided them to Bethlehem.
(The three Kings arise and speak silently to Mary and Joseph, pointing outward and upward from the stable.)
Nothing could prevent me from seeing this Star and, again, I secretly slipped from the stable. The Star shone radiantly and brilliantly over the stable, a truly celestial Star, and I had never witnessed such splendor. (Rosander moves carefully past Mary and Joseph to front of stable and gazes rapturously upon the Star. Then he looks in awe as he points toward the caravans of the Kings.) Then I noticed the caravans of the Kings, more majestic and magnificent than I have seen in Israel.
(The three Kings leave stable under watchful eyes of Rosander.)
From their caravans, the Kings brought to the little child treasures of gold, frankincense and Myrrh.
(The three Kings return to the stable and present their gifts to the baby Jesus, as Rosander follows them in wonder and awe.)
(pause, and lie surveys the faces of all in the room, breathes deeply) Then my body began to tremble and, inwardly, I felt urged to make myself known to the family and kings. I cannot explain all that happened within me but, in a moment, I discovered myself worshipping the baby. (Rosander's body trembles and he falls on his knees before the baby Jesus.) I don't see how anyone could be in the presence of that child without prayerfully adoring him. I then knew he was the Messiah!
(curtain covers auxiliary manger scene. A period follows of stunned and joyous silence as faces are radiantly trained on Rosander.)
DEBORAH (lovingly) Oh, Rosander, how you have thrilled our hearts! We knew nothing of a Star and the kings.
MICHAL (rapturously) God's glory has no ending!
JOEL (musing) We did see the Star following our return to the Shepherd Field, and wondered about its significance.
RUTH (sorrowfully, shaking her head) The stable boy came in the Inn several times last night and whispered to the Innkeeper about strange happenings in the stable, but the Innkeeper and guests didn't want to be interrupted; they wished to hear the stories being told in the Inn.
ROSANDER And they missed the greatest story of all.
MIRIAM (excitedly) Is the Star still above the stable?
ROSANDER No, it disappeared at daybreak.
DAN (eagerly) Can we see the Messiah? Father said "maybe" last night!
ROSANDER (tenderly, shaking his head) No, it is important that we keep secret the whereabouts of Mary, Joseph and the little Messiah. God has warned Joseph in a dream that Herod is seeking to destroy Jesus.
(gasps of dismay from those in the room)
DEBORAH How utterly horrible! Why would he do such a thing?
ROSANDER The Messiah is destined to be a King, a heavenly King, but Herod looks upon him as an earthly King who would replace him on the throne in Judea. Feeling threatened by the infant Messiah, he is sending his soldiers to Bethlehem to search for him. God has urged Joseph to flee with Mary and Jesus into Egypt, where they will be safe from Herod's evil intent. I will accompany the three on their journey to Egypt.
JOEL But won't the soldiers pursue you?
ROSANDER I think not, but they will likely try capturing the three kings. However, I doubt that they will succeed; the kings left Bethlehem during the night.
REUBEN (mystified) Why does Herod want the kings captured?
ROSANDER On their way to Bethlehem the kings stopped at Herod's palace in Jerusalem to inquire about the whereabouts of the baby Prince and Messiah. They indicated to Herod that the Star seemed to be guiding them to Bethlehem. Herod pretended to want to worship the new born Messiah and requested the kings to inform him where they found the baby. After learning the true intent of Herod to destroy the little Messiah, they didn't communicate with him again. This outraged Herod, and he seeks to punish them. (Pause, Rosander lovingly surveys all in the room.) I must depart from you now, but my gratitude for your understanding and support renders me humble and my gratitude knows no bounds.
(All in room, with the exception of Isabella, in turn embrace Rosander.)
JOEL (fervently) We wish you God's speed, Rosander, and we hope to be graced by your presence with us after you have safely returned with the Holy Family from Egypt!
DAN (pointing toward Isabella) Look, Father! Look at Mother!
JOEL (after surveying the face of Isabella) Your Mother is in a state of shock.
ROSANDER The truth which comes from God is shocking. How well I know. (leaves room)
JOEL (triumphantly) Dan, Miriam, Ruth, Reuben, Deborah, Michal, God is with us! Now merrily dance, dance, dance! Sing if you like (placing his arm around the shoulder of Isabella), and I believe that Isabella will join with you when she emerges from shock.
(with great joy and delight they dance to the sound of music coming from a hidden area of room)
CURTAIN