Summary: The apostle John had such a fiery and zealous temperament that Jesus nicknamed him and his brother James “Sons of Boanerges”, meaning “sons of thunder.” Contrasting this is John’s own gospel and epistles, for which he later became known to the church as “the Apostle of Love” and “John the Evangelist.” John played a significant role in the early church. According to early church tradition, John would frequently repeat this exhortation to his congregation: “Little children, love one another”, a message that was central to his teachings from Jesus. This short drama reconciles the two sides of John and how his beloved Saviour taught him the power of love and mercy.
Style: Dramatic monologue
Duration: 20 mins
Scripture: Mark 3:17, Luke 9:54, John, 13:34-35, 1 John 1:1-3, 5-7, 1 John 4:7
Setting: A church around the year 85-90 AD, before John was exiled to the island of Patmos.
Characters: John the Apostle
Scene: An ordinary, rough, wooden step ladder is situated about half-way downstage, slightly left of centre. A red cloth rests on the ground beside it. A blue cloth is placed on the opposite side of the playing area.
John the apostle enters and faces the audience (his congregation). The actor is wearing a mask with wisps of grey hair attached to it, which suggests that John is a very old man, perhaps 80 or 85 years old. His robe is poorly fitted and appears to be in need of some adjustment, as if a man whose sight was failing had hastily dressed himself. John scrutinizes the audience for a moment, then begins to speak. His first line is muttered, so that the audience cannot hear his words but can hear that he is saying something. As he repeats the line, his voice strengthens and takes on an ascending emphasis. John is obviously undergoing many transitions of emotion and expression.
The ladder symbolizes many things to John, therefore he reacts to it throughout the play.
Old John: (muttering) Little children…love one another. (warmly) little children…love one another. (encouraging) little children…love one another! (absent-mindedly) love one another… (authoritatively, almost anxiously as if he feels he is not being taken seriously) little children, love one another! (desperately, compassionately, almost pleadingly) little children…little children…love…one another…
(John falls to his knees slowly, glancing up at the audience as if he is pleading for someone to help him. Then, the actor removes the mask and wig and sets it on the ground downstage.)
I had a dream. I dreamed that I was a young man of 18 years old again, as if the lord had restored to me the fullness of my youth - - my violent youth.
(He removes the mask and hangs it on the side of the ladder. He has become a younger John at 18 years old, with a strong, healthy physique and a resonant, musical voice.)
I am John, son of Zebedee and Salome. John. John! My father is a fisherman. My brother, James, is a fisherman. My father’s servants, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew are fishermen, too. But I was not born to be tangled in their nets; I was born to be a warrior for God! A warrior!
(He turns upstage and picks up a sword, which he brandishes while pacing the stage.)
The old men talk about Messiah the way they talk about their sweet milk and roasted lamb. They talk about Messiah the way they talk about their soft cushions and warm beds. Messiah! I’ll tell you about Messiah! I’ll tell you about the end times! The end times will be a harvest, a harvest of arms and legs and heads. The sword of the righteous, the might sword of the chosen ones of God will reap the flesh of the ungodly and pour out their blood upon the earth as if it were sour wine…
(He laughs raucously, then turns and looks toward the ladder, as if he is hearing a voice. Suddenly, he turns away, as if something terrible has been revealed to him.)
Judgment…the seat of judgment…the throne of judgment…
(He thinks for a moment, then presses the tip of the sword against his own throat.)
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (louder, as if he is trying to coerce a confessions from himself) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (louder still) If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us… (crying out in frustration)
No! No! Mercy! Mercy…
(As he cries out, he lowers the sword and falls to his knees. Then, after a moment, he raises the sword above his head, as if offering his sin up to God, as he pleads for mercy. He paraphrases psalm 51.)
Have mercy on me, o God! I know all my offenses, because my sin is always in front of me. I have sinned against you and done what is evil in your sight. You are justified when you judge me. I was sinful at birth, sinful from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire truth in my inmost being; you teach me wisdom in my most secret mind.
(He stands and tosses the sword aside, then he leans into the ladder, half sitting on one of the rungs.)
Create in me a pure heart, o god! Renew in me a faithful spirit! Banish me not from your presence and take not your holy spirit from me! Restore in me the joy of salvation! Cleanse me from my sin! Wash me whiter than the whitest snow!
(He hears something from the other side of the stage and stops. John the Baptist is performing mass baptisms in the waters of the Jordan.)
I went down the banks of the river Jordan.
(He walks toward a long piece of blue cloth draped along the floor, which represents the river Jordan)
I descended to the river Jordan to be baptized by the prophet John, the Baptist.
(He turns away from the audience for a moment. Slowly the alternating voices of the Apostle and the Baptist are heard.)
(as the voice of the Baptist) Come down to the holy river of god!
(as John) Yes!
(as the voice of the Baptist) Be baptized in the waters of the lord!
(as John) I have repented!
(as the voice of the Baptist) (turning towards the audience and seeing John the apostle) Will you be baptized, John, son of Zebedee and Salome?
(as John) Yes!
(as the voice of the Baptist) And your brother James, too?
(as John) Yes!
(as the voice of the Baptist) Are you prepared to meet the Lord, the Messiah, the Son of the Most High?
(as John) (Without hesitation) yes!
(as the voice of the Baptist) (bending down and lifting up the blue cloth above his head to suggest immersion) I baptize you, Jochanan bar Zebedee, with water, but he who comes after me…(setting the cloth down).
(as John) After you…?
(as the voice of the Baptist) (Pointing to the top of the ladder) Look! There He is, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world…who takes away the sins of the world…
(as John) (Starting towards the ladder) Where? Who is He?
(Remembering) The lamb of god who…
(John stops momentarily as he discovers a bible that is placed on the top part of the ladder. He reads a paraphrased version of 1 John 1:1-3, 5-7.)
…who was alive from the beginning of time…yet we heard him speak…we saw him with our own eyes…we touched him with our own hands. The word of life…appeared to us…we have…seen him and are…witnesses to him…
(John closes the bible and moves downstage, speaking directly to the audience.)
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard for this is the message we heard: God is light; there is no darkness in God. If we are in darkness, then we are not in God. But if we are in the light, then we are in God.
(John walks toward the ladder and sets the bible down behind it. We are now at Mount Hermon. John hears the voice of Jesus call out.)
(As the voice of Jesus) Peter…James…John!
(Turning towards the audience as if turning towards the voice of Jesus, unsure of why he is being summoned)
We are here, Lord!
(To the audience) He took us to the highest part of the mountain, where we could be alone with him to pray. The hours passed, and we grew weary, but the master continued to pray throughout the night. Peter was the first of us to see the transfiguration of Jesus.
(As the voice of Peter, waking the others) James! John! Look!
(John looks toward the top of the ladder and shields his squinting eyes with one arm. He is frightened, but excited.)
The master’s face was shining, the way the face of Moses shone when he saw the glory of God. We had to shield our eyes, so bright it was, as dazzling as a flash of lightning. But we could see two men, dressed like ancient prophets, speaking to him in the glory of the light of God. (Leaning into the ladder as if seeing the cloud) A cloud began to close in around us, sealing us in, and we were afraid. Peter cried out to Jesus in desperation, and suddenly, a voice penetrated the clouds around us and we shut our eyes so that we would not be struck dead by the sight of God Almighty.
(John closes his eyes. As he speaks, he no longer seems to be afraid.)
I expected a voice louder than rolling explosions of thunder, more fearsome than death.
(He opens his eyes, a puzzled expression on his face.)
But it was not. The voice of God was like a…like a descant…a melody upon a melody…as clear as one voice…but multiplied against itself, in layer upon layer of sound…a sound of gentleness, not violence…a sound of creation and redemption…a sound of mercy, mercy and love: “This is my son, my chosen one…listen to Him.”
John walks downstage towards the audience, away from Mount Hermon.
I am John, the one whom Jesus loved; the disciple whom Jesus loved. I was there at his transfiguration on the top of Mount Hermon. I was there, along with Peter and James, when he went to the home of Jairus, and said, ‘this little girl isn’t dead - -she’s just asleep’ and they scoffed at him until he said, ‘Talitha koum!’ and the daughter of Jairus came back to life…(standing on the blue cloth) I was there when the master walked across the surface of lake galilee, and when he… (tossing the cloth into the air) when he silenced the waters and the skies during a thunderstorm. My brother James and I, he called us Boanerges…Boanerges! Sons of thunder. If we were thunder, then He was the lightning that sparked the skies before us.
(John picks up the blue cloth and looks at it, thoughtfully.)
My mother, Salome, was devoted to the master, and his heart was tender towards her. (remembering) She went to Jesus and knelt at his feet.
(He puts the cloth over his head like a covering and kneels at the foot of the ladder.)
(As the voice of his mother Salome) Please…promise me that these two sons of mine…James and John…may some day have positions of honour in the kingdom of heaven, and be near you. (discarding the cloth) Then James and I went to the Master and said, (turning back to the ladder) “When you come into your kingdom, will you let us sit at your right side?” (moving down stage) The others heard what we had asked from the Master and were infuriated with us for being so… (he smiles, but the smile quickly fades)…so self-serving. Then Jesus called a meeting of His twelve.
(John sits on one of the rungs of the ladder, portraying Jesus speaking to the twelve disciples.)
Whoever among you wants to be great must become a servant…and whoever among you wants to be the greatest of all must become less than a servant---he must become a slave. Even the Son of God did not come to be served by others, but to serve others, and to give his life to save the lives of many others.
(John stands up, facing the audience.)
We set out for Jerusalem with Jesus, waiting for him to proclaim the kingdom.
(He begins to move, then refers back to the ladder.)
The Samaritans refuse to let you pass through their village, master! Shall we call down fire from heaven to burn down their homes? (running around the ladder and then back to his mark again) Master! Master! (breathlessly) We saw a man who was trying to do healings using your name, so we tried to stop him because he isn’t one of us. (running around the ladder and picking up his sword) Peter and James and I have swords! We are prepared to do battle for the kingdom of god! We are prepared to do battle…for your kingdom… (wearily, he sinks to the ground, allowing his sword to drop) We are your…soldiers…
(John’s eyes close and his head droops as he falls asleep.)
As we slept in the garden of Gethsemane, I had a dream, and in my dream, an angel of the Lord spoke these things unto me: “In the beginning was the Word, the Word that was with God, the word that was God. Through the Word, all things were created, and nothing was made without Him. In Him was life, the life that is the light of men. That light shines in the darkness but the darkness does not understand the light. The light was in the world, but even though the world was made through Him, it did not recognize Him. He came into that which was his own, who he was.”
(John opens his eyes suddenly and jumps to his feet, holding his sword.)
There was an outcry in the garden! They had seized the Master! Peter struck one of the scoundrels with his sword, but Jesus shouted at him, and all fell silent at his words: ‘Am I leading a revolution, that you attack us with clubs and swords? This is the hour when darkness rules. Put your swords away! Don’t you know that whoever draws their sword will die by that sword?’ (quietly) We knew that Jesus could have summoned an army of ten thousand angels, if He had wanted, but His kingdom was not the kingdom of the world. We knew that was true the moment our swords fell from our hands… (John lets his sword drop suddenly and involuntarily. It clatters on the ground.) Unwillingly.
(John picks up his sword again and places it upstage. Then he picks up a large, wooden beam and carries it across the stage and up the ladder.)
Golgotha. After a day of torture, trials, scourging and humiliation, the Master carried a large, wooden crossbeam up the hill of skulls; a place of damnation.
(He places the beam on top of the ladder, which now becomes a cross. He hangs strips of red cloth on each end of the beam as he speaks.)
Into the hand that cradled the head of Jairus’ daughter, they drove a long spike. And into the hand that reached out to Peter and saved him from drowning in the lake, they drove another long spike.
(He shrinks down beside the ladder, as if he is kneeling at the foot of the cross.)
His mother, Mary, and my mother, Salome, were there, along with Mary the Magdalene…and me…John…the one whom Jesus loved…while the others were in hiding…we had been granted permission to keep a vigil as Jesus…was crucified…
(The lights dim and John stands slowly, picking up the red cloth which he then solemnly hangs on the cross.)
Ohhhh…ohhh…ohh his blood ran in rivers down the cross. Finally, he cried out one last time!
(Turning out toward the audience, standing in front of the ladder, his arms spread out as if he is Jesus.)
(Loudly) “It is complete!’
(John shrinks down beside the ladder, visibly cringing in fear.)
Golgotha. The hill of death. Violence. Death and bloodshed. Golgotha. The violence. My death! My blood shed! No! No! Peter! Simon Peter!
(John hides behind one leg of the ladder as if talking to Peter in hiding.)
You didn’t see it, Peter! (almost angry with fear) You didn’t see how they murdered him! I was there! I watched his body convulsing as he hung there, nailed up between two criminals! I saw the ending and I am afraid, Peter, because I saw my own ending. Where can we hide now? Where?
(He hangs his head in defeat for a moment, then knocks on the ladder to simulate a door knock. He jumps to his feet.)
(To Peter) They’ve come for us! Who are you? (He crosses over to the door and listens for a reply) Mary! You shouldn’t have come here. We’re… (he breaks off suddenly in amazement. (To Peter) Did you hear what she said? The tomb! (He rushes over to the ladder)
(To the audience) I ran towards the tomb where the servants of Joseph of Arimathea had placed the Master’s lifeless body two days before. I was the first to arrive there.
(He looks down at the space underneath the ladder as if it were the open tomb.)
The stone was moved! How can it be? (to the audience, recalling his amazement) Peter and I could not understand what was happening…why the Master’s lifeless body had been moved…and we were very afraid… (crossing to the opposite side of the stage) We went into hiding again with the others… (John huddles down, very afraid).
The doors were locked. No one left or entered. Then we heard a voice and looked around us… (he looks around frantically, fearfully) looked around us…around…
(He looks toward the ladder, seeing the resurrected Jesus.)
“Peace be with you,” he said to us. “Peace.”
(John faces the audience, his face beaming from his remembrance of this greatest of all miracles. He gradually makes his way over to the mask.)
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ gave his life for us. So we should lay down our lives for each other as well. Dear children, let us not love merely with words, with the sound of our tongues, but let us love with actions and with truth. Everyone who loves had been born of God and knows God, and whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. This is love: not that we loved God, but that God loved us, and sent His only son as a sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us, we should also love one another. No one has ever seen God; but when we love one another, God lives in us and his love fills us completely. God is love. Whoever lives in love, truly lives in God, and God lives in them. (he picks up his mask)
Remember, there is no fear in love.
(He puts the mask back on, conquering his former fear and accepting his old age. His voice remains strong.)
Perfect love removes all fear.
(John now becomes more frail, but he is carried by a divine strength as he walks over to the ladder. The lights begin to dim, illuminating only the ladder/cross, if possible.)
Little children…love one another.
(John kneels down and slowly, lovingly, picks up the end of the hanging red cloth.)
Little children…(he kisses the cloth then looks directly at the audience)
Love one another!
(John gently lies down at the foot of the cross as if he were going to sleep. He continues to hold the cloth in both of his hands.)
…………………………………….
©Garth von Buchholz,, All rights reserved.
This script may be used free of charge, on the condition that copies are not sold for profit in any medium, nor any entrance fee charged to a performance. In exchange, the author would appreciate being notified of any occasion the poem is used in public performance. He may be contacted at: