The Day of Quietness

I wrote this play a couple of years ago and it was presented, in Russian translation, in my home church here in Ukraine. The idea came to me that we never hear anything about the Saturday between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection--precisely because, you might say, nothing happened that day. Heaven was silent; it was a "day of quietness". Jesus' followers, those who loved Him, could do nothing more than grieve, fear, wonder and ache. And, perhaps, hope? So the challenge I set myself was this: to create a dramatic piece about a day on which, essentially, nothing happens. (Drama about nothing--there's a creative challenge!) A day about which Scripture itself is silent. That Sabbath day was a day of silence in more than one way--a day of silence, or quietness, because Scripture is silent on it; a day of quietness because the Lord Himself lay still and quiet in the tomb; a day of quietness because the disciples could do nothing at all about...anything. And, unless in their hearts they were taking seriously the Lord's promise to rise on the third day, they couldn't foresee ever truly being able to do anything again. In a way, it was the end of the world--at least, the end of a world. And so, I attempted to convey this "limbo", this mixture of dread and faint hope, the confusion, the temptation to point fingers, to be bitter, to despair, even while trying to hang on to the love and spirit of Jesus' life and words. 

I make this play available for anyone's use, trusting that anyone choosing to stage it will be kind enough to credit the author. There is no need to ask my permission to use it, but I would love to know if it is being used and so would be delighted to hear from you if you choose to stage it, and to hear how it went. My e-mail address is given under the title of this blog. 

To God be the glory.... 

Easter Play: The Day of Quietness by Ken Sears

(At the opening of the scene, Mary the mother of Jesus is sitting between Mary Magdalene and Salome, who are sleeping. Mary is awake but extremely weary; she is starting to nod off. She just begins to sleep when there is a knock at the door. She hurries to open it.)

Mary: Lazarus! Thomas! Come in, come in!

(Lazarus and Mary greet each other with deep emotion.)

Lazarus: Mary… Mary….

Thomas: (seeing two people sleeping) Who is that?

Mary: Salome and Mary of Magdala. They only fell asleep this past hour. Thank God they're sleeping. It was a terrible night… terrible.

Thomas: Terrible nights are all that is left to us now. And days—  oh, God, days without life at all.

Mary: And are you a prophet now, Thomas? No. There will be no more nights like this one. There will be no more days like yesterday. Everything changes, Thomas.  Always.

Lazarus: And "the mercies of the Lord are new every morning." Even death cannot change that. The new day comes even when your heart lies in the grave.

Mary: Hope is a very severe master, Thomas. She doesn't let us lie long in our grief. She calls us early to rise and go to work.

(During the last two lines Salome and the Magdalene have woken up.)

Magdalene: "Are there not twelve hours in a day? Must we not do the work of the Father while there is light?"

Mary: Oh, Mary, Salome, we woke you up. I'm so sorry. I wanted you to sleep.

Magdalene: It was enough. I will not sleep again till I have fulfilled my duty to my Lord.

Salome: Nor I. We'll go today to anoint… the body.

Thomas: Today? You can't do that. It's the Sabbath.

Magdalene: "Is not the Son of Man also Lord of the Sabbath?" How can you even speak that way, Thomas? Can anything we do for him defile us, or break God's holy law? Didn't the Lord heal on the Sabbath?

Thomas: But… to enter a grave, to touch… the dead on the Sabbath day….

Magdalene: Didn't he touch the dead? Didn't he touch them and raise them back to life? Did that make him unclean, Thomas? Did it?

Mary: And are you going to raise my son back to life, my dear?

Magdalene: (shaken) Oh… no, I didn't mean—…  Oh, my dear, I only wanted—… I need to do something for him. (She weeps, with Salome comforting her)

Mary: I know. I don't blame you, but… today is not the day. Today is the day of quietness. He is quiet, where he lies, today. We too must be quiet. None of us can do anything for him now. Even to think that we can is, somehow, terribly wrong—perhaps even sin…. I feel this, I know it in my heart. Hasn't he shown us all – you, brothers, and you, my sisters, and… me – that we never really knew his purpose? Even when he told us, we refused to hear him; we said he must be wrong. "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of sinners and be crucified, and on the third day, he will rise again." On the third day, the third day— (the Magdalene and Salome cling to Mary, with soft words of affection)—oh, whatever happens tomorrow, let my son rest quiet today (Mary breaks into sobs, with the Magdalene and Salome embracing her).

(There is a knock at the door. Thomas goes and opens it slowly. Nicodemus rushes in.)

Lazarus: Brother Nicodemus!

Nicodemus: (Sees Mary) I've seen you before, with him. You are his mother.

Mary: Yes.

Nicodemus: I—

Mary: I know who you are. And I know that he loved you. I also know what you and Joseph did for… for the Lord, yesterday. How can I thank you?

Nicodemus: Please, never again speak of thanking me. I feel I failed him utterly, I feel a criminal, a murderer.

Magdalene: Perhaps you are.

Thomas, Lazarus, Salome: ("Mary!" "How dare you?" "What are you saying?")

Magdalene: Perhaps we all are. I heard him cry from the cross—never, never can I forget the sound of his cry: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" That very moment the answer pierced my heart like a sword. I knew why he was abandoned—by his own Father in heaven! It was me. What all my sins deserved, Jesus was suffering there. He brought it all there… I never asked him to, I never wanted him to. But that was his plan the whole time. 

Salome: If he had asked me, I'd have told him no— no—don't do this for me, Lord. No, Lord, you're… holy, I'm unworthy; it's not right, you don't deserve this suffering—

Nicodemus: Glory to the Most High, Jesus never asked any of us permission to do the Father's will—as if we'd have ever understood. (recalling, reciting the words of Scripture…) "Who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" Now, as blind as I am, I begin to see… glory to the God of Israel…. "He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities… by his wounds we are healed… the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all… for the transgression of my people he was stricken… he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." [from Isa. 53: 1, 5, 6, 8, 12]

Thomas: "This is my blood which is shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins"…

Mary: All of it is what had to be—yes, and the sword that has pierced my own heart, too. It's terrible—it has always been terrible: we are in the hands of the living God and are undone… the world is undone. It's the end of the world. …I don't know what world tomorrow brings, but it must be a different one, a new one. There's no other possibility. (resolutely to the others…) So no more talk about which of us would "let" my son do… what he's done. It's… blasphemy. The whole world… all of heaven…  expects nothing from us, today. …Today the world is silent, silent—while Jesus is silent in the grave….

Nicodemus: "Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling." [Zechariah 2:13]  Oh, Lord… and when he rouses himself…? …But I have forgotten the reason I came here. Lazarus, I came to tell you you must leave the city immediately. The Pharisees have dispatched men to kill you. You're the greatest threat to them now… after Jesus. And in your case they won't bother with a trial. Who can charge them with killing a man who was already dead?

Lazarus: How do you know this?

Nicodemus: You know I sit in the Sanhedrin. I have friends, Lazarus, who aren't as full of hate, or under the power of darkness, as the rest. They tell me things they hear…. But we're wasting time. You must leave quickly. You are a living sign of Jesus' power. The Pharisees are intent on eliminating that sign. And this time, my friend, Jesus won't be there to stand in front of your grave and call you out.

Lazarus: Oh… no. The next time he will call me from my grave.

Magdalene: And me.

Salome: And me.

Nicodemus: (accepting the sense in which they speak) And me, Lazarus. And me. Yes. I believe. He is the savior of the world.

Thomas: "I am the resurrection and the life. Who believes in me will never die…."

Magdalene: "And I will raise him up on the last day…."

Salome: "The dead will hear the voice of the Son of man, and—"

Nicodemus: But how? …How? Now he is dead. Who'll stand before his grave? Who'll call him to come out, Lazarus?

Mary: (categorically) No one. … No one, Nicodemus. "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days…."

Nicodemus: But, but he was talking about the temple—

Mary: No. He wasn't.

Lazarus: In the grave of death, I heard his voice, telling me to live, and I had to live. I know who he is, Nicodemus: the Prince of Life. And you ask who will call him out of the grave? Why don't you ask who advised the Lord God when He made heaven and earth?

Nicodemus: Oh, I believe, I believe… but I can't understand—I am an old man—

Lazarus: You're a teacher of Israel.

Nicodemus: …. No, I was a teacher, but I knew nothing. I realized that when—

Thomas: When he spoke to you.

Nicodemus: Yes.

Thomas: Nicodemus… dear brother… none of us understands. We're  devastated and heartbroken. …I thought I understood when the Lord said, "Let's go back to Judea". I said, "Let's go back and die with him." Oh, I was so brave, Nicodemus, so sure of myself. And I understood nothing. He knew… everything: that we would all leave him; that he would die alone, there, on the cross; that my courage was just empty, meaningless words. He knew, and we knew… nothing.

Salome: No, you're wrong, Thomas. We knew he had the words of life—

Magdalene: And the power of life—

Lazarus: The power of God.

Thomas: …Yes, we did, and we believed.

Nicodemus: And we'll continue believing. It's all we can do. Our brother Lazarus could do nothing in the grave until the Lord spoke. Now we're like Lazarus in the grave. We're—dead with grief. Yet hope does live in us, all the same. We will hear his voice again.

Lazarus: And now I must go to Bethany. My sisters need me. They're surely in danger, too. 

Thomas: I'll go with you. And whatever happens, I'll stand by you, Lazarus, and Martha and Mary.

Nicodemus: Come, I have friends waiting to help us to get out of the city unseen.

Lazarus: Us?

Nicodemus: I'm going with you. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but when it comes I want to be with the one who heard Messiah's voice call him from the grave to life.

Thomas: But, the sisters… who'll take care of them?

Salome: When you disciples ran away in fear, we women continued to follow the Lord, and now you worry who'll take care of us?

Mary: Salome, don't. Go, brothers, we'll be all right. John and Mark are coming soon. They went out to find Peter. I'm worried for him. I hope soon we'll all be together again. Lazarus, when you can, when it's safe, come back to us with your sisters. I… know that he will bring us together again—for His purpose.

(The men and the women begin taking leave of each other, with phrases like "Till we meet", "Go with God", "Peace be with you", when, before the men can exit, there is a knock at the door. They look at one another, and then Thomas opens the door. Judith enters silently and looks at the group. Thomas closes the door.)

Judith: My name is Judith. I am a servant in the house of Governor Pontius Pilate.

(The next three lines overlap)

Magdalene: Pilate!

Nicodemus: How dare you come here!

Salome: Like Judas, she'll bring the Romans here to arrest us!

Mary: No – let her speak! (everyone goes quiet; Judith stands uncertainly) Please, my dear, why have you come?

Judith: I… I… I have a message for the mother of Jesus. It was forbidden to me to tell it to any man, only (looking at Mary questioningly)… to you?

Mary: Yes, I am his mother. So then, you cannot tell me while these friends of ours are standing here? (Judith shakes her head) Well then, dear brothers, once more: peace, go with God.

Thomas: But—

Mary: It's all right. (The men leave.) Now, Judith, there are only us women here. You can tell us your message.

Judith: There is no message.

Magdalene: You lied?!

Salome: Just as I said, she's a traitor!

Judith: No, no! I beg you, listen! I couldn't tell you why I came while they were here. My mistress would have punished me severely. I had to make them leave.

Mary: If you serve in the house of Pilate, then your mistress is Claudia, his wife.

Judith: Yes.

Mary: Why did she send you to us?

Judith: She didn't send me.

Mary: Oh… dear, now you make my head spin. There's a message, there isn't a message, your mistress has sent you, she hasn't sent you—please… we've borne enough these last hours…. I'm listening, Judith: why are you here?

Judith: Forgive me, I didn't mean to torment you, truly. I'll speak plainly: My mistress didn't send me here with a message. I've brought my mistress here to see you.

Salome: The governor's wife— you led her here?!

Magdalene: Why?!

Judith: She's suffering terribly. She's desperate to know more about this Nazarene, the one that Pilate—! (Seeing the grief on the women's faces) I'm sorry.

Mary: How did you know where we were?

Judith: Jesus the Nazarene had followers even in the house of Pilate. It wasn't difficult for me to find out.

Salome: But you were not one of his followers?

Judith: No… not yet—though word about him had come to me: reports that sounded wonderful, but frightening, too. A strange hope began to rise in my heart… But now it's too late.

Mary: No, Judith, not too late, not too late. … But where is your mistress?

Judith: She's waiting, hiding in a side street, till I come and let her know it's safe. She feared Jesus' followers would take revenge on her for Pilate's deed.

Mary: Revenge? That is not the Way Jesus taught, Judith.

Judith: I know that. But my mistress doesn't know.

Mary: Go, bring her here. Tell her that we receive her… with love.

Magdalen: Yes. With love.

Salome: …With love.

(Judith goes out. There is no dialogue while the three women wait. They sit quietly, reflectively, until there is a soft knock at the door.)

Mary: (gently, steadily) Come in.  

(Claudia enters, with Judith following. Judith closes the door behind them. Claudia stands, nervous, uncertain, but also trying to maintain her accustomed air of power and authority. She is not sure of her position here.)

Claudia: (her gaze settling on Mary) You are the mother of the man Jesus, the one they crucified yesterday?

Mary: Yes.

Claudia: And now he's… dead?

Mary: Yes.

Claudia: Truly dead?

Mary: …His body is lying cold, without breath,  or heartbeat, in the tomb. If, dear lady, that's what you mean by "truly dead", then… yes.

Magdalene: What—are you afraid he's not dead?

Claudia: (stares, hesitates, admits…) I'm… afraid. Of what, I don't know, I don't understand.

Mary: Come, please sit. Tell us. We'll help you. (Claudia sits) And you, Judith— come, sit.

Judith: No, no. I may not sit down in my mistress' presence.

Salome: In this house, she is not your mistress. (Claudia starts at this; Salome looks at Claudia) We are free women here.

Magdalene: No, not "free". We're the slaves of another Lord, the only Lord… and he is not Caesar, he is not Pilate.

(Claudia stares at Salome and Mary Magdalene, struggling with her emotions. Then she speaks, saying "Yes" as if saying, "I understand".)

Claudia: Yes. (not quite making direct eye contact with Judith) Judith? Come and sit with us. (Judith hesitates; Claudia looks directly at her, speaks more sincerely) Please. (Judith sits with the other women; there is an awkward pause…) I don't know how to begin… (The other women make no reply to this; Claudia searches for something to say, addresses Mary) Please receive my… deep sorrow for your grief.

Mary: I receive it.

Claudia: (a moment as this sinks in, then she loses her composure, stands up again in frustration and exasperation) I cannot sit! (Judith starts to get up) No, Judith, you don't need to. (Judith sits down again; Claudia paces for a moment, till finally her agitation explodes in words…) Who is He? Who is your Son? What is he going to do? Will he destroy us—me, my husband, the empire—for the… sin we've done? Please tell me. I'm losing my mind, I can't stand it anymore!

(The women are stunned at the outburst and its import. They look at each other in amazement. Mary Magdalene expresses their feeling…)

Magdalene:  How do you know of His power?

Claudia: Then it's so. Your faces tell me. My visions were true. What have we done? Oh, my husband, my husband…!

Mary: Please, whatever you've done, the Lord's power is greater—not only to destroy but to save… to forgive.

Claudia: Forgive? (pondering, shaken, then, not accusingly but in a kind of perplexity and grim irony, half to herself…) Forgive… is this not truly the highest treason, the worst insult? Who dares to forgive Pilate? To forgive the imperial power of Rome?

Salome: The King of kings, God's Anointed.

Magdalene: The Son of God.

(Claudia is speechless at these words. Mary steps in.)

Mary: Tell us what you saw. What were these visions?

Claudia: (pulling herself together to speak) That night… before they brought… Him to my husband, all night I suffered tormenting dreams.  There was a… Power, not a man I could see but only a presence; it was… ultimate Power, the source of all power. And it was something else—it was… Life, too. I can't say how I knew these things, but I did know. Then I saw a hand, just a hand, reaching for this Power, to destroy it, and I knew whose hand – my husband's. I was filled suddenly with the most awful terror, and I screamed at him to stop— "Don't touch him!"—but he didn't stop. His hand touched what… no one must touch and, immediately, everything, the whole world, became a whirlwind and chaos: flying, spinning away, coming apart, even my own soul—my soul was being ripped apart. And there was a voice, so strong it shattered the chaos itself. It roared continually like a mountain crashing: "The kingdom of the world is fallen! The kingdom of the world is fallen!" Never stopping: "The kingdom of the world is fallen!" In all of that terror and chaos, and the endless thunder of that voice, I was… being annihilated. It was a madness I knew I could never, ever escape from.

Judith: (overcome, in frightening awareness…) He is the Son of God. He truly is the Son of God! (hides her face; is comforted by one of the other women sitting with her)

Claudia: When day came, it was a miracle… that I survived such a night. But then they brought him, and I knew. That Power had come—that Life! What I saw in the night… was happening, it was real. I tried, again, to stop my husband, I told him: "Don't touch him!", but he—he— Oh-h-h, what will happen now?

Mary: Now you must sit, dear lady. (Mary helps Claudia to a chair)…A messenger from heaven announced to me that I would bear the Son of God. He told me, "Don't fear". I tell you now: don't fear. With God all things are possible. What you need to do now is believe, hope for the mercy of the living God. And… wait. This is what we're all doing now, today. We can do nothing else.

Claudia: Wait…. For what?

Mary: (with quiet certainty, directly) For the kingdom of God that appears when the kingdom of this world is fallen. He will bring it soon. Death won't stop Him.

(Suddenly, without knocking, three men enter: Peter, John and Mark. They are harried and entirely consumed with their own thoughts, particularly Peter. They stop short, as if interrupted, upon seeing Claudia and Judith.)

Claudia: (rising, a little panicky) Judith—Judith?

Judith: (also rising in response) Yes, my lady.

Claudia: We must go now. (Looks at Mary)

Mary: Trust, and wait. He has power to save… and forgive.

(Claudia nods. She and Judith head to the door.)

Magdalene: You have His followers in your household, including Judith here. Be assured: when the time comes, we will send word to you.

Salome: One thing more, Lady Claudia. (Claudia looks at her) Before you can gain everything—everything: his Life, his kingdom—you'll have to lose … everything. (Claudia perhaps shudders slightly, nods very slightly, gestures to Judith and the two of them exit. After a moment's pause, Peter speaks.)

Peter: The Roman – who was she?

Magdalene: (with a hint of defiance) Claudia, wife of the governor Pontius Pilate.

Peter: What? What are you—? Have you lost your minds? She'll turn you all over to Pilate, and they'll kill you all! What were you thinking? You can't—

Magdalene: Is this what you've come back for, Peter? To give orders?

Peter: Clearly, someone must. Oh, you foolish women—

Salome: How dare you—!

Mary: (rising) Simon Peter son of Jonah! (She fixes him with her gaze; she does not raise her voice but she is trembling with fierce emotion) There will be a day, Peter… when the Lord makes you… a shepherd of His people. Of His people, Peter... yes, there will be a day. …But today, Peter— (the intensity of her emotion is expressed by speaking even more quietly) be quiet.

Peter: (struck still, ashamed, hides his face) Forgive me! Oh, forgive me.

(Peter drops his hands from his face, gazing downward, shakes his head, turns, heads to the door.)

John: Where are you going?

Mark: Peter!

Peter: I'm leaving. Everything is finished.  (To all) Forgive me the pain I've brought you. I only came back at all to—to say goodbye to you.

Magdalene: No!

Salome: What are you saying?

Mark: No! You can't betray Jesus like this! (This is a "bomb"; Peter is again struck still; Mark repeats, with controlled passion…) You can't.

Peter: Mark… oh, Mark, you don't know what you're talking about.

(As the following lines are spoken, we see Peter's attitude of shock, indignation and shame over the account of his denying Jesus being known to all.)

Mark: Yes, I do. You've already denied Him.

Mary: …We all know, Peter.

John: I told them. 

Peter: John! Why?

John: …Dearest brother… "nothing is hidden that won't be known". I didn't mean to shame you, but— it's not my fault. I won't answer for anything I said. (Looking at the women) When we came to the house, we were all of us out of our mind with grief and horror. And it all came pouring out of me like it was happening all over again. Everything: what they did to Him… what He went through… and when you said you didn't know Him—  (Peter makes to head for the door again, but John stands in his way) No! Mark is right. You can't leave us. The Lord won't let you.

Peter: The Lord? Or you?

John: "But I have prayed for you, Peter… and when you've returned, strengthen your brothers…."  He told you what would happen, and you didn't believe it. You wanted to be the one who loved Him more than any of us. And you never stopped to think how you insulted us, Peter. You were so sure that we… that I…would leave Him but you wouldn't. Oh, Peter—how foolish your pride is… but how great your love. 

Magdalene: "To him who loves much, much will be forgiven."

Mark: Peter, I'm waiting for Jesus. You will wait with me. …You begged him once to leave you, because you were a sinful man and unworthy. Well, look—nothing's changed!  …"The Good Shepherd will give up his life for his sheep." …It's done, Peter: he did it—he's given up His life.  …You thought you were the greatest disciple, and now you think you're the worst traitor….  Peter, you're nothing. And I'm nothing.  And you and I will wait for the Lord, together. …You begged him to leave you—he said "No." Now you can't leave. …He promised to come back for us…. 

Peter: (quietly, almost to himself, almost in prayer) No… no. I'll never …never deny him again… if only he'll….

Mary: Yes, Peter, he will.

Peter: …All the others… we've got to find them. 

John: Yes, brother.

Mark: Let's gather them all, quickly. 

Peter: (looking at John) You know where they must have gone….

John: I think so. The cave, under the Garden. On the Mount of Olives.

Peter: Yes.

Mary: Go, bring them. We must be together, and ready. 

Peter: (shaken at the thought of needing to be "ready" again; in quiet intensity…) Lord. Make us ready…

(Peter and John head for the door; Mark stops and speaks.)

Mark: Peter! John! (They look at him; Mark is afraid to speak the next words) And if we… find Judas? (They stare at him, unable to respond)

Salome: If you find him, then—it's God's will. And if not, then… God's will.

(The men leave.)

Mary: "Enough for today are today's troubles."  I feel in my heart, sisters, we've survived today's troubles. There's time now to rest, time to gather strength for tomorrow.

Magdalene: Tomorrow Salome and I will fulfill our duty to the Lord, and nothing will stop us.

Mary: (gazing at her pensively, with a slight smile and a slight weariness) …Maybe. …Maybe not. Or perhaps, dear Mary, you don't yet know what your duty to the Lord is… tomorrow.  (Magdalene sinks into an embrace with Mary. Then Mary says to the two women…) Come, we'll prepare something for the brothers to eat… when Peter brings them back.

(Mary and Magdalene exit left, as Salome prepares to follow, gathering a few things from the table. Salome stops, gazes forward "distantly", speaks…)

Salome:  Oh Jesus, Lord Jesus, see how your flock needs you. There's no way ahead for us without you. You must return to us.   …Oh "Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"… rest now, "it is finished".  …Oh Son of the Living God, we wait for your glory….

Mary: (gently, from offstage) Salome?

Salome: (softly) I'm coming. (picks up a plate and cup or two, and gently exits)

The End