Christmas Play

Christmas Play: What really happened (kind of).

Scene 1: Mary and Gabriel

Narrator: Our story started one day when God sent the angel Gabriel to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. The angel had a message for a young virgin girl called Mary. She was engaged to marry a man named Joseph, who was a descendant of King David.

(Angel enters as Mary is sitting on a chair.)

Gabriel: Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.

Mary: Whoa! Who are you and how did you get in here?

Gabriel. I am Gabriel and God sent me with a message for you.

Mary: Okay…

Gabriel: Don’t be afraid, Mary. You have found favor with God. You will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him Jesus. He will be a great man and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. Your son will be king of Jacob’s people forever, and his kingdom will never end.

Mary: How can this be? I’m a virgin.

Gabriel: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. And look, your relative Elizabeth has also become pregnant with a son in her old age—although she was called barren, she is now in her sixth month! For nothing will be impossible with God.

Mary: Yes, I am a servant of the Lord; let this happen to me according to your word.

(The angel leaves and Mary kneels in prayer.)

Mary:  God, you have told me that I will carry Your child.  I don’t understand this, but I am willing to do Your will.  But God, I don’t know what to do.  Joseph is going to be so upset. (Mary drops her head.)

(Lights fade.)

Scene 2: Joseph and the Angel

(Joseph sitting on the side of his bed.)

Joseph: God, I thought Mary was a follower of You. I thought she was special, but she is pregnant now and it wasn’t me.  Was I mistaken?  (Joseph lies down to sleep.)

(Angel appears, Joseph remains asleep.)

Angel: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.

(Joseph wakes and sits up as the angel disappears, looks around and then lays back down)

(Lights fade)

Narrator: This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Look! The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” When Joseph awoke from sleep he did what the angel of the Lord told him. He took his wife, but did not have marital relations with her until she gave birth to a son, whom he named Jesus.

At that time the Emperor Augustus ordered a census of the Roman Empire. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All the people went to register in the cities where their ancestors had lived. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. So he traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee and took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child.

Scene 3: Mary and Joseph on the Road

Mary: I am so tired, can’t we just book a room somewhere?

Joseph: [irritated] Only a little bit farther my dear. I’m sorry that every hotel is full, but I didn’t know we would be traveling this holiday season!

Mary: Don’t get huffy at me! No one asked me if I wanted to flee my home, or if I wanted to become the mother of God’s son!

Joseph: Yes, dear. I know. How did that happen again? You were so frightened when you came to me.

Mary: Well an angel came from God to me in Nazareth. He told me that I was favored and that God chose me to bear his son. I am to call him, Jesus. I was so scared, but then the angel said do not be frightened for this means that God will always be with me. I’m still nervous and unsure about this whole thing. What if I’m not right? What if I’m not going to be a good mother to God’s son?

Joseph: Mary, Mary, Mary. Stop your worrying, and breathe. God chose you for a reason, and he chose me as your husband for a reason. (Mumbles: Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.)

Mary: Well, my back is sore and my feet hurt.

Joseph: Let’s just try one more place. Look! There’s the Red Rood Inn and they left the lights on for us.

(Mary and Joseph enter the inn - a little table with someone standing behind it on the side of the stage.)

Clerk: Good evening. Welcome to the red roof Inn. How may I help you?

Joseph: We need a room.

Clerk: I’m sorry, we’re all booked up. You should have made a reservation.

Joseph: Yeah, I know, but I didn’t get a lot of notice. And every place we’ve stopped is full. Don’t you have somewhere we could just lie down? We’ve been travelling all day and my wife is tired, and pregnant.

Clerk: Well, you could stay in our manger if you don’t mind the smell.

Joseph: Great! Anything will do.

(Mary looks at Joseph with a look of unbelief and says: Uh, Joseph…)

Joseph: Don’t worry honey, it will be okay.

(Lights fade.)

Narrator: And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there wasn’t any room for them in the inn.

Scene 4: The Shepherds

Narrator: That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

Shepherd 1: This job is sooooo lame.

Shepherd 2: Hey, I wouldn’t complain. It’s paying for that data plan on your iPhone.

Shepherd 1: Ha… ha… ha… you think you are so funny! No seriously. This job is so boring. Nothing exciting ever happens! I mean all of my friends work at McDonald’s and get free meals, and what do I get? I get to “watch o’er my flocks by night” and shovel sheep poop!

Shepherd 2: Oh come on, it isn’t that bad. We get plenty of fresh air and at night you watch the stars and really appreciate the wonder that God created.

Shepherd 1: Oh, come on. What are you, one of those God people?

Shepherd 2: Well yeah. I guess I am. I mean. I don’t know! I have heard that God is sending his son to save us from our sin.

(All of the sudden a bright light appears.)

(The shepherds block the light.)

Narrator: Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.

(Suddenly, the angel is joined by a bunch of other angels.)

Angels: Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.

(The angels leave.)

Shepherd 1: Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.

(Lights fade)

Scene 5: The Manger

(Manger scene. Mary, Joseph, Jesus, hay trough, donkey cow and sheep).

Donkey: Man am I tired. I had to carry this pregnant lady all the way from Nazareth!

Cow: Hey Charlie (the sheep), there’s something in my food?

Charlie: Oooh! Gross! Remember that time I found a hair in my Jambalaya? What is it?

Cow: It looks like a baby.

Narrator: The shepherds hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. (Enter the shepherds.) And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

(Lights fade.)

Scene 6: The Wise Men

Narrator: Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea when Herod was king. After Jesus’ birth wise men from the east arrived in Jerusalem. They asked, “Where is the one who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star rising and have come to worship him.” When King Herod and all Jerusalem heard about this, they became disturbed. He called together all the chief priests and the experts in the Scriptures and tried to find out from them where the Messiah was supposed to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this: Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah. A leader will come from you. He will shepherd my people Israel.” Then Herod secretly called the wise men and found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. As he sent them to Bethlehem, he said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you have found him, report to me so that I may go and worship him too.” After they had heard the king, they started out.

Wiseman 1: Man, we’ve been travelling for like a month. Are you sure you got the directions right.

Wiseman 2: Yes I’m sure. All it said was: “Follow the star and you will find a baby king who'll rule God’s people.”

Wiseman 3: What is that supposed to mean?

Wiseman 2: How should I know? Do you think I’m a wise man or something? Anyways, it’s just something some prophet said.

Wiseman 1: Yeah, that's the secret of being a good prophet. Make it vague enough and something's bound to fit.

Wiseman 2: We'll ask one of the locals. They're bound to have heard something. (He stops a passerby.) Excuse me, sir/madam. We're looking for a baby king that we have been told has been born in your town. Can you tell us where we might find him?

Passer-by: A baby king? Haven't seen anything on the TV about that. Are you sure you've got the right place?

Wiseman 3: This is where the star has led us.

Passerby: Star! Which star was that? Drew Brees?

Wiseman 3: What are you talking about? Are you sure you're in the right play? We're looking for a baby king.

Passerby: Try the Red Roof Inn. I think it’s full, but they’ll leave the lights on for you.

(Lights fade.)

Scene 7: The Red Roof Inn

Clerk: Good morning gentlemen. Let me start by apologizing. The inn is full.

Wiseman 2: Yeah, we heard. But we’re not looking for a room. We’re looking for a king. Do you know if you have one staying here?

Clerk: Let me check the register? Kingsman, Regent, Schaffer. Nope. Sorry. No King here.

Wiseman 1: Do you have a stable or something like that?

Clerk: We have a manger, but I doubt you’ll find a king in there.

Wiseman 3: Thanks. We’ll check.

(Lights fade.)

(The Wise Men go to the manger. Everyone is there, shepherds, animals, etc.)

Narrator: They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

(Sing Joy to the World)

Narrator: This is the story of what happened that one special night over 2,000 years ago. But today we aren’t celebrating only the birth of a baby named Jesus, but the reason for which He came. God saw the world full for sin and going to hell and knew that they needed a Savior, so He sent his only begotten son to be that savior.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

The reason that Jesus came was to die; to die in my place, in your place; to die for our sins. He paid the price that was required to save us and that price was His precious blood. Christmas today seems to be all about presents and today God is offering you a present; the greatest present you could ever receive - salvation. (Add whatever you want for a salvation message.)

Jesus loves you! Merry Christmas.