----------------------------- A NOTE REGARDING THIS VERSION ----------------------------- This script is from the HIS COMPANY CATALOGUE of plays and musical resources. It is in ASCII (or plain text) format, and is intended only to be used for evaluation purposes. Visit our web site at http://hc.dlampel.com to download the FREE Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version for performance. ----------- DESCRIPTION ----------- BLINDERS Type: Sketch (from The Essence of His Death) Synopsis: This sketch lifts two of the more explosively dramatic scenes from The Essence of His Death, ties them together with narration, to make a gripping statement about traditions and loyalty. "Seven hundred years earlier, the prophet Isaiah had warned his people of the change coming. He warned that the house of Israel would stumble over the Son of Man. The fulfillment of their long-awaited Messiah was so complete they were blind to it. And they were so locked into their mindless traditions they feared to let go. But there were some who dared--some who believed--some who rejoiced in His glorious light." (Narrator in Blinders) Themes: "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: `These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'" (Matthew 15:7-9 NIV) Jesus is the Christ. Characters: Narrator, Malchiah, Nicodemus (or Joseph of Arimathea), Caiaphas Length: 10 min. ------ SCRIPT ------ BLINDERS Copyright (c) 2000 David S. Lampel His Company [Enter the NARRATOR (in modern dress).] NARRATOR It's Thursday night--late. Throughout the city of Jerusalem small, yet eventful dramas are taking place. In a private, upper room, thirteen men share a final meal; somewhere out in the streets a man sells his soul for thirty pieces of silver; and in the palace of the powerful Chief Priest, Caiaphas, a man gathers the courage to announce publicly his allegiance to the one they call Jesus of Nazareth. [Enter MALCHIAH (Mal-keye'-uh) and JOSEPH (1), members of the Sanhedrin. They are in an anteroom off the main council chambers in the home of the Chief Priest, Caiaphas.] MALCHIAH (agitated) You're a fool, Joseph! How much longer do you think you can keep this up? JOSEPH (more calm than his friend) Will you now give me away? MALCHIAH (exasperated) No, I'll not give you away. You're still my friend. But I should turn you in. If you persist in this you'll bring us all down with you. JOSEPH You didn't vote with me. MALCHIAH I'm implicated by your confidence in me. I take a chance by simply leaving the council chamber with you. JOSEPH Then why can't you vote with me? Why can't you see it, Malchiah? MALCHIAH And I would ask you the same, my misguided friend. JOSEPH You were even with me that day he spoke. MALCHIAH There have been many days he has spoken. Too many. JOSEPH Yes, he's given us every opportunity to understand, and still some refuse........ MALCHIAH There's no need to get personal! JOSEPH But that's precisely what Jesus has been telling us! Malchiah, are you just like the rest? We keep going to him, (sarcastically) we learned men of the Sanhedrin, trying to....debate Jesus into submission. MALCHIAH (insistently) This man is a disruption! JOSEPH And what is he disrupting? MALCHIAH (flustered) Well,...our way of life,...the way we do things here,..... our,...well, our tradition. JOSEPH (he has been waiting for that word) Yes, our tradition. And I thank God he is disrupting our tradition. MALCHIAH Don't press your luck, Joseph. JOSEPH (slightly subdued; acknowledging his rash behavior) It was quite some time ago. A group of us had sought Jesus out to once again argue trivialities. (2) A report had come to the council that the disciples of Jesus had been observed eating without having washed their hands. MALCHIAH Now I remember. He refused the challenge, as I recall. JOSEPH Jesus refused to join in our petty bickering. MALCHIAH `Petty bickering'? It's the Law! JOSEPH Your memory fails you, Malchiah--as does your scholarship. [Malchiah is greatly offended.] JOSEPH (pressing his point further) We didn't challenge him on the law. We asked Jesus why his disciples transgress the tradition of the elders. MALCHIAH (not seeing the difference) Yes....... JOSEPH (incredulous; sadly) Well, I see you are still one of them. MALCHIAH (alarmed) One of `them'? Joseph, (gesturing toward where they entered) you are one of them! JOSEPH (with a touch of melancholy) Not anymore. Not since that day. MALCHIAH (firmly; taking Joseph by the shoulders) Don't take this any further. You are a respected councillor, a member of the Sanhedrin. Don't jeopardize your standing for the ravings of a deranged prophet--an accused blasphemer. JOSEPH (pulling away) I'm told there is an animal down in Ethiopia that has a habit of hiding its head in the sand when challenged by an adversary. (pause; pointedly) When I heard Jesus that day, I heard the truth--as if for the first time. Don't you feel the hunger, Malchiah? Don't you hunger for the truth? MALCHIAH (stiffly) I know the truth. JOSEPH Do you think Jesus serves a God other than ours? MALCHIAH (spitting) Don't quiz me on the twisted contents of his mind! My faith has been tested by time and was given by the very hand of God. JOSEPH (pleading) But it's those commandments God handed down to us that have become twisted. We have designed for ourselves such a maze of regulations that we have lost sight of who God really is! All Jesus has done is cut through the confusion to show us that our relationship with God must be personal. It cannot be founded on regulations. MALCHIAH (indignantly) He called us hypocrites! JOSEPH And he backed it up by quoting Isaiah: "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." Tradition, Malchiah. Just empty, selfish tradition. MALCHIAH Don't quote the scriptures to me! JOSEPH (heatedly) Why not? You seem to have forgotten them! MALCHIAH All right! Go follow your miniature God. I'll not stand in your way--and I'll not expose you to the rest of the council. (with bitterness) But I'll not vote with you. (pause) And I'll not be your friend. [Malchiah exits in a huff. Joseph stares after him, his anger diminishing into a sadness over the loss of his friend. With a heavy sigh, he follows, returning to the council chambers for the next vote against Jesus.] [Enter the NARRATOR.] NARRATOR After the final vote is tallied, and the call goes out to arrest the man, Joseph finds his courage and requests a private audience with Caiaphas himself. [Exit NARRATOR.] [Enter CAIAPHAS and JOSEPH. CAIAPHAS is weary from the all-night trial of Jesus.] CAIAPHAS (still distracted by the Council's debate) As if I hadn't enough occupying my mind. JOSEPH Lord Caiaphas,-- CAIAPHAS And you think you can successfully plead this man's case where he himself failed so miserably? JOSEPH (simply) I can't improve upon his eloquence..... CAIAPHAS (how ludicrous) Eloquence? (quieter) The man is a buffoon. JOSEPH (what has he got to lose) You don't believe that. CAIAPHAS (enraged) How dare you! JOSEPH You don't put to death buffoons. CAIAPHAS (uneasily) No one takes this sad person seriously. JOSEPH You're afraid of him. [CAIAPHAS stiffens with indignant alarm.] JOSEPH (insistent) You're afraid of him, Caiaphas. He's not a buffoon--he's a threat! A threat to your power. CAIAPHAS (steam coming out his ears) How dare you abuse this office so! JOSEPH (gathering his courage) It no longer matters. I renounce my standing as a member of the Council. CAIAPHAS (stunned) You what? JOSEPH I now claim as my master this one you have just consigned to death. CAIAPHAS (incredulous) You are not only insulting, but making a very dangerous--and costly--mistake. JOSEPH (sadly; seeing the futility) I was hoping you might see....... CAIAPHAS (exasperated) Why are you doing this to me? JOSEPH I'm not doing it to you--or anyone else, for that matter. I'm doing it for me. CAIAPHAS (with quiet, measured menace) Joseph. Joseph of Arimathea. I care nothing for you or your (mockingly) precious new faith. If you choose to believe the blasphemous rantings of this man, then proceed--at your own risk. And if there were no other considerations, I would run you out of town myself, gladly. (pause) But there are considerations. The Council is much bigger than the collection of its members. And the Council is much more important than the soiled reputation of one of its members. I will not have this august body compromised by your preposterous loyalties. (pause; with venomous satisfaction) I would gladly bring upon you disgrace of the most public kind--but I will not. I will not subject our governing Council to such infamy. (pause; sneering) You represent all that is the worst of your generation! You care nothing for our rich heritage. You so easily discard centuries of tradition for something still in its infancy! You and your kind are never satisfied. And your sedition infects us like a cancer. I detest you. And I detest this Jesus and what he has done to us. JOSEPH (with stronger conviction) You've done it to yourself, Caiaphas. You won't allow yourself to see the truth in what Jesus says. He is the Christ--and you resent the fact that he is without your permission. CAIAPHAS You will regret this, Joseph. You've been blinded! JOSEPH Yes. I guess I have. Blinded by his light. CAIAPHAS (furious) Get out of here! JOSEPH (shaking his head) You think you're still in charge. You think all this is your doing. (pause) For once God really is in control. You have just done exactly what He intended. You've just fulfilled the destiny of his Son--and established the end of your meaningless traditions. [JOSEPH exits. In a seething rage, CAIAPHAS exits opposite.] [Enter NARRATOR.] NARRATOR Seven hundred years earlier the prophet Isaiah had warned his people of the change coming. He warned that the house of Israel would stumble over the Son of Man. The fulfillment of their long-awaited Messiah was so complete they were blind to it. And they were so locked into their mindless traditions they feared to let go. But there were some who dared......some who believed... some who rejoiced in His glorious light. "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." (3) [Exit NARRATOR] NOTES ----- 1. Nicodemus may be substituted for Joseph of Arimethea. The characters and lines would remain the same, except that Malchiah and Caiaphas would say "Nicodemus" instead of "Joseph." 2. Matthew 15:1-9. 3. Isaiah 9:2. ---------------- COPYRIGHT NOTICE ---------------- This script is Copyright (C) 2002 David S. Lampel. This data file is the sole property of David S. Lampel. The data file may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 2002 David S. Lampel"). This data file may not be used without the permission of David S. Lampel for resale or the enhancement of any other product sold. This includes all of its content. Brief quotations not to exceed more than 500 words may be used, with the appropriate copyright notice, to enhance or supplement personal or church devotions, newsletters, journals, promotions, or spoken messages. Permission is hereby extended for this script to be printed for rehearsal and performance use. Copies may be reproduced in sufficient number for the director, actors, and technical personnel, as long as each copy contains the copyright notice (i.e., "Copyright (C) 2002 David S. Lampel") ----------------- USING THIS SCRIPT ----------------- For electronic distribution, the Internet version of this script uses the following conventions: * character names are in ALL CAPS. * stage directions within a character's line are enclosed in parentheses (e.g., "(with anger)"). * stage directions without are enclosed in brackets (e.g., "[They exit.]"). * the plus sign (+) indicates when to cue trax or begin intro for next song ---------------------------------------------------------------------- These plays and musical resources are made available free-of-charge, without obligation, in service to our Lord and to His glory. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- David S. Lampel Winterset, IA 50273 USA Complete resources at http://hc.dlampel.com/ "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Rom 11:36) 20120305