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CAUGHT   6'*m1f RT: Woman caught in the act of adultery

(RT == Readers' Theater: requires little or no memorization,
little or no rehearsal. An indefinite number of reporters are
salted throughout the audience.)

WOMAN -- (enters wearing tunic, headdress and sandals, crosses
shielding face)

REPORTER -- Excuse me, madam, may we ask you some questions?

WOMAN -- (stops, doesn't turn) Who are you people. What do you
want?

REPORTER -- We're newspaper reporters. We want to ask you a few
questions about the man people are calling the messiah of
Israel.

WOMAN -- If you want to know more about him, why don't you ask
him?

REPORTER -- We think you might have some unique insights.

REPORTER -- Are you the woman who was caught in adultery?

WOMAN -- (pause) Yes. Yes I am. You don't REALLY want to talk to
ME, do you?

REPORTER -- Yes, we do.

WOMAN -- (crosses to podium)

REPORTER -- Is it true that Jesus just saved your life in the
temple today?

WOMAN -- Yes. That's true.

REPORTER -- Why do you think Jesus saved your life when the law
requires that people caught in adultery must be put to death?

WOMAN -- Because this incident had nothing to do with the law or
justice.

REPORTER -- How can you say that?

WOMAN -- Because the man I was caught in adultery with was not
included. The law requires that BOTH people caught in adultery
must be put to death.

REPORTER -- Jesus never mentioned your sex partner did he?

WOMAN -- No. But everybody in the temple knows that the Jewish
leaders were merely looking for a way to trap Jesus, so they can
have an excuse to put him to death.

REPORTER -- Why would the Jewish leaders want to kill their
messiah?

WOMAN -- First of all, many of them don't think Jesus is the
true messiah.

REPORTER -- But Jesus has healed the sick and driven out demons
and even raise the dead to life again. What more proof do they
need?

WOMAN -- I doubt that any amount of proof will be enough for
some of them.

REPORTER -- Is this because Jesus repeatedly call them vipers
and snakes?

WOMAN -- And whitewashed tombs. These are the people Isaiah
spoke about when he said, "These people come near to me with
their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are
far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught
by men."

REPORTER -- So, tell us how Jesus saved your life.

WOMAN -- Well, the minion hauled me into the temple courts and
through me at Jesus' feet.

REPORTER -- Excuse me. You used the word minion. Can you tell us
what a minion is?

WOMAN -- Sure. According to Jewish law, ten men must preside
over any judgement in the temple. A minion is at least ten men.

REPORTER -- And this... minion accused you of adultery.

WOMAN -- That's right. They said "In the Law Moses commanded us
to stone such women. Now what do you say?"

REPORTER -- Did Jesus plead your innocence?

WOMAN -- No. He didn't SAY anything.

REPORTER -- Then how did he save your life?

WOMAN -- He bent down and began writing with his finger in the
dirt.

REPORTER -- What did he write, the laws of Moses?

WOMAN -- No. He wrote the names of women.

REPORTER -- Women? He wrote the names of women?

WOMAN -- In the dirt with his finger.

REPORTER -- How did that save your life?

WOMAN -- Well, every time he wrote a new name, one of the
members of the minion, turned and walked out of the temple. By
the time Jesus had written the tenth name, every member of the
minion had left the temple.

REPORTER -- I don't understand.

REPORTER -- Were the women's names related to the men on the
minion?

WOMAN -- No. I know some of the men on the minion personally.
The women were not related to the men.

REPORTER -- Can you explain why the men left?

WOMAN -- I'm not sure. But I think so. While Jesus was writing
on the ground, he said to the minion "If any one of you is
without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

REPORTER -- What do you make of this?

WOMAN -- I think the women named by Jesus had adulterous
relationships with the members of the minion. So, none of the
men were without sin, and none of them could cast the first
stone.

REPORTER -- How could Jesus possibly know the names of all those
women?

WOMAN -- I am convinced now that Jesus really is the messiah,
the annointed one of God. He is God in human flesh. He knows the
hearts of men.

REPORTER -- Yes, but if Jesus is God, he is the God of justice.
He could not allow an adulterous like you to escape punishment.
Why didn't Jesus cast the first stone?

WOMAN -- I didn't escape ALL punishment. I still have to face
Jesus when I die and try to get into Heaven.

REPORTER -- That's not what I asked. If Jesus is the God of
justice, he should have stoned you to death.

WOMAN -- Fortunately for me, Jesus keeps the law perfectly. And
the law requires a minion to carry out the death penalty. I knew
the moment that the first man left the temple that there was no
longer a minion and my life would be spared.

REPORTER -- So, you're saying that when Jesus failed to condemn
you, it was because there was no longer a minion?

WOMAN -- That's right.

REPORTER -- So, in order to save your life, technically, Jesus
could have written only one or two names in the dirt and the
minion would have been dissolved.

WOMAN -- That's right.

REPORTER -- So, why do you think Jesus named TEN women?

WOMAN -- I think he was trying to show his disciples who were
watching that the Jewish leaders were not really interested in
justice, but were just trying to pick a fight with Jesus.

REPORTER -- So, Jesus saved your life and just sent you on your
way with no punishment at all?

WOMAN -- Without a minion, Jesus couldn't even slap me on the
wrist. He told me, "Go now and leave your life of sin."

REPORTER -- And will you do that?

WOMAN -- Of course! I have looked into the eyes of the annointed
one. How can I continue to sin after God himself has set me
free? (exits)

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