By Melinda Cousins
The characters come prepared for a Christmas play, only to discover they have got the date wrong. This skit was written for a children's talk on Easter Sunday. All the actors need to be enthusiastic in both dressing up outrageously and over-exaggerated miming!
N: Narrator
A: Angel
M: Mary
S: Shepherd (woman with spices)
W: Wise Man (Jesus)
Christmas Costumes - Angel, pregnant Mary, Shepherd & Wise Man
CD - Christmas Carols
A simple wooden manger which can be easily taken apart and two pieces used to
form a cross
Easter eggs
N: Who can tell me what today is? And why is it special? What happened on this day? Today, of course, is Easter Sunday and it's the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. Now, last year on Easter Sunday, I arranged for some friends of mine to come along and help me tell you all the story of what happened on the very first Easter Sunday, when Jesus rose from the dead. They were supposed to be the women who took spices to Jesus' tomb. But I put my friend Amanda in charge, and sometimes she gets things a bit mixed up, and well, she and some other girls who were supposed to be the women with the spices came as the Spice Girls instead. So, I thought I would do it again for you this year, but this time we'll do it properly. I spoke to my friend Amanda the other day, and she has organised for the people who were REALLY there that first Easter Sunday morning to come along and act out the story for you! They should be here pretty soon [louder] are the people who were there on the first Easter Sunday morning here yet?
[Christmas Music begins, everyone else comes in from out the back]
N: What are you doing here?
A: Amanda told us to come and help you this morning.
N: But you've got it all wrong!
S: What do you mean? Amanda said we had to be here at [checks watch and reads out exact time] and it's right on the dot.
N: But, but who ARE you?
W: Isn't it obvious? [pause] I'm a wise man bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh [Aside to audience] I had some buddies, but I think I lost them back at the last turn.
A: And I'm an angel, ready to burst forth into song.
S: And I'm a shepherd, watching my flocks by night.
M: And I'm Mary, and I'm about to have a baby!
N: But what have you guys got to do with Easter Sunday?
W: Easter? Never heard of it!
A & S: We're the Christmas story!
M: Look, we've even got a manger and everything.
N: But guys, it's not Christmas!
W: What? Are you sure?
N: Yes
S: What are all these people doing here then?
A: Yeah, and how come none of them are going to work tomorrow?
W: And how come we keep seeing people giving each other presents wrapped up in bright coloured paper? [Aside to audience] Although, come to think of it, they all do seem to be the same shape interesting
N: I can't believe this! I told Amanda it was Easter, not Christmas what am I going to do?
S: Look, I don't know anything about this Easter thing, but hey, we're here now, so we'd like to help if we can. When did you say this all happened?
N: Well, it was about thirty years after you guys did your thing on Christmas morning. You know Jesus?
W: Yeah, He's the baby we all came to worship!
N: Well, he grew up, like most babies do, and became a man, and Easter is when we remember how he died
M: He died???!!!
N: Yes, on Good Friday, but don't worry, it's okay, today is Easter Sunday, and that's the day that He rose from the dead.
S: Rose from the dead? Woah! And I thought being born of a virgin was impressive!
N: Okay, look, here's how it happened. The rulers of Jesus' day got angry at Jesus because He was going around telling people He was the Son of God.
A: But He was! That's what all the singing was about when He was born.
N: Yes, but they didn't believe Him and so they sentenced Him to die, and He was crucified.
S: Crucified? That's on a cross isn't it?
N: Yes
S: I think we've got one of those. [Reaches over and takes manger from M]
M: That's the manger!
S: [pulls manger apart and puts two pieces together] Now it's a cross!
N: After Jesus died on the cross, they took His body down and put it in a tomb, and they rolled a big stone in front of the tomb to seal it off. Then, on Easter Sunday morning Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary, Jesus mother
M: That's me!
N: That's right, you were there!
M: Cool what do I do?
N: You and the other women
W: [pushing S forward] Here, use him in that outfit, he could pass for one of them
(From here on, act out what is being said as it happens feel free to exaggerate and have fun with it!)
N: The women went to the tomb to get Jesus' body ready for its final burial. But as they walked along, they were wondering how on earth they were going to move this great big huge ginormous stone.
S: How on earth are we going to move this great big huge ginormous stone????
N: But when they got to a place where they could see the tomb, they saw that the stone wasn't there!! Someone had rolled it away! They were amazed! They couldn't believe their eyes! They were astounded! They ran toward the tomb wondering what had happened. They thought maybe someone had stolen Jesus' body! They were worried, and upset, and confused and a little bit disorientated and an awful lot bewildered. All of a sudden, a person with clothes that shone really bright like lightning appeared beside them.
A: I think you mean an angel
N: Yes, that's right All of a sudden an angel appeared. The women were afraid and they fell on their faces in front of the angel. Faces to the ground, that's right. They bowed down almost as if they were worshipping. But the angel said, "Don't be afraid!"
A: Don't be afraid.
N: I know who you're looking for, you're looking for Jesus!
A: I know who you're looking for, you're looking for Jesus!
N: But why are you looking for the living among the dead?
A: But why are you looking for someone who is alive in a place like this where all you will find is dead people?
N: He is not here; he is risen!
A: He's not here; he's risen!
N: The women couldn't quite take all of this in but before they could say or do anything else, the angel said "Go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him."
A: Run! Quick! Go and tell all the other people who hang around Jesus all the time Jesus has risen from the dead, He's alive and He's alive and He's alive [to N]: Well at least I remembered the most important bit.
N: He's alive and He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.
A: Yeah, he's alive and He's gone to Galilee so if you go there, you'll see Him.
N: Once the women heard this, they were off. Leaving the angel in their dust, they turned and ran away to find all the other disciples. They were still afraid, but they were also really, really excited, and filled with joy! They ran and ran and then all of sudden Jesus appeared in front of them. Like He had come out of thin air.
W: [who up to this point has been standing around getting obviously bored by not having a role] Hey! Jesus was a wise man, wasn't He? A very, very wise man, I would think, no?
A: Yep! And He was a king, so that crown will come in handy too!
N: Okay, so all of a sudden Jesus appeared in front of them, and he said, "Greetings"
W: Hello!
N: The women couldn't believe it! Actually, that's a silly expression. They could believe it and they did, but it was pretty amazing! They ran to Jesus and knelt at His feet and worshipped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid."
W: Don't be afraid.
N: "Go and tell my disciples to go to Galilee and there they will see me."
W: Keep going, find all the others, and tell them to go to Galilee and I'll meet you all there.
N: And then all of a sudden, just as quickly as he had appeared, Jesus was gone. But the women weren't afraid any more, because they knew for sure now that Jesus was really alive, and so they ran off to tell everyone they could!
[M & S run around saying to kids, "He's alive! He's alive!]
N: Well, that's what happened on the first Easter Sunday morning - more or less.
A: Wow! That's pretty amazing maybe even more amazing than what happened on the first Christmas morning.
N: Maybe !!!
W: Now about these small oval shaped present things that people give each other at Easter
N: Well, if you guys would like to help me, I think we've got some of those we can share!
[All help hand out small Easter eggs to children]
..
© 2004 Melinda Cousins, all rights reserved.
This script may be performed without royalty payment, provided no charge is
made for entry to the performance. In return the author would like to be told
of any performance. She may be contacted at melinda.cousins@bigpond.com