Nicodemus

Nicodemus tells of going to meet Jesus, and the changes it brought.

It all began the night I went to see a man called Jesus. I was an important man--a Pharisee, and not just any Pharisee. I was a member of the Sanhedrin , the Council of the Seventy, the supreme court of the Jews. It was our job to interpret the Law of
Moses for the people. We held grand debates and argued the finer points of the Law amongst ourselves. We could decide the fate of one who was guilty of breaking Jewish law. We took our job very seriously.

Written by former DramaShare member Michael Colvin

Cast: 1 m, monolog

Bible Reference: John 3

Set: standard

Sound: wireless mics if available

Song: none

Lighting: standard

SFX: none

Props: none

Costumes:

• likely traditional

Special Instructions: none

Time: 25

Sample of script:

My name is Nicodemus.

Now, you're probably thinking, "Nicodemus? So what? Who is Nicodemus?" I can tell you that it's hard for me sometimes to recognize myself. If you had known me before, you wouldn’t recognize me either! I am so full of joy and happiness because of what God has done for me.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me begin at the beginning—the night I went to see a man called Jesus.

I was an important man—a Pharisee, and not just any Pharisee. I was a member of the Sanhedrin, the Council of the Seventy, the supreme court of the Jews. It was our job to interpret the Law of Moses for the people. We held grand debates, arguing the finer points of the Law among ourselves. We had the power to decide the fate of those found guilty of breaking Jewish law. We took our job very seriously.

While I was serving on the council, we began hearing reports of the activities of this man, Jesus, whom some claimed to be the Messiah, the King of the Jews. Now, for someone to claim to be the Messiah was not so strange in those days. Many had done so before. In fact, no self-respecting Jew would deny that the Messiah would someday come. Many, myself included, hoped that time would be sooner rather than later.

You see, Palestine had been under the jackboot of Roman oppression for far too long. The prophets had promised that the Messiah would be a great leader, a military man who would gather an army and make the Jewish nation the most powerful in the world. Our expectations were very high.

I had always been interested in those who claimed to be the Messiah. Many were simply mad. Others were dangerous revolutionaries. Most were easily dismissed as pretenders. But a very few warranted a closer look.

Jesus was one of those.

Some of us Pharisees had been watching Jesus rather closely. Most of my colleagues had already decided that he was not to be trusted—that he was intent on gathering an army and was a dangerous lawbreaker. They watched as he broke the laws of the Sabbath, partied frequently with tax collectors and sinners, and associated with prostitutes and lepers.

"This man was certainly not Messiah material," they said.

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