(A grove in Jerusalem. Mary; Mary Magdalene; Mary Mother of James; Salome; Joanna; and two children, REBEKAH and JOSHUA, are picking fruit from a lush green tree, placing them in baskets.)
JOANNA: We don’t know, Rebekah, but soon. The angel said Jesus would go before us. And we’ll meet Him there.68
MARY MOJ (handing items to Rebekah): Rebekah, pack these too, please.
JOSHUA: I’m scared to see Him again.
JOANNA: Why, son?
JOSHUA: I thought they put Him in a tomb.
MARY MOJ: They did, Joshua. That’s why the angel said, “Fear not.”69
SALOME: And Jesus said the same thing to us.
JOSHUA: He did?
SALOME: Yes, on the road. He said, “Be not afraid,” and then we bowed down and held his feet, and worshipped Him.70
JOSHUA: And you weren’t afraid?
JOANNA: Oh, maybe a little. But we were also joyful. Very joyful.71
MARY MAGDALENE: It’s true, what He said, isn’t it—that this experience would be like childbirth?
MARY: Yes, “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, . . . but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish.”72
MARY MAGDALENE: We’ve been grieving for three days, and suddenly the grief is forgotten!
MARY MOJ: Oh. Not forgotten—changed. Our sorrow became our joy.
JOSHUA: I still don’t understand why He had to die.
MARY: Come here, Joshua. Did you know that once, when He was not much older than you, we lost Him?
REBEKAH: Where?
MARY: Here, in Jersusalem. For three days Joseph and I searched frantically, worried for His safety, afraid He was lost. And finally we found Him. In the temple. He was teaching grown men, doctors, priests!73 And he said to us, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”74
JOSHUA: His Father’s business?
MARY: You see, it was His Father’s will that He leave us those three days. And for these past three days, when it seemed we had lost Him again, it was the will of His Father He’s been doing as always.
[Music cue: “Do His Will—Reprise” 
, 
]
MARY (cont’d): That is why He laid down his life, so that He could take it up again, and us with Him.
JOSHUA: Did you know all this would happen?
MARY: No, not exactly, but I remember what He said, those many years ago.
REBEKAH: I don’t want to ever lose Him again.
MARY: You don’t have to, Rebekah. Because if you follow Him, and remember Him, you’ll always feel Him near.
REBEKAH: I’ll follow Him, then, wherever He wants me to go.
JOSHUA: How will we know where that is? And what if we can’t?
|
MARY (cont'd.) Ask God all your questions, |
WOMEN Ooo . . . |
(Thomas enters.)
THOMAS: Sisters!
SALOME: Thomas.
THOMAS: Mary Magdalene. I’ve been looking for you since yesterday. Peter said you’d gone back to the garden.
MARY MAGDALENE: I did.
SALOME: Thomas, He is alive, just as the angels said.
THOMAS: You saw Him, with your own eyes?
JOSHUA (over the end of Thomas’s line): Yes, she did.
MARY MOJ: Yes. On the road. And Mary Magdalene . . .
(Cleopas and Disciple enter.)
CLEOPAS: Sisters! Thomas!
THOMAS: Cleopas!
CLEOPAS: Did Peter find you yet?
CLEOPAS: We were, but Jesus met us on the way.
THOMAS: He did?
CLEOPAS: Yes.
THOMAS: He came to the women as well!
CLEOPAS: We know.
DISCIPLE: And then last night He came again.
THOMAS: Again?
CLEOPAS: Yes. The wounds were there. It was Jesus.
DISCIPLE: Yes, we were gathered in the upper room, and He appeared.
THOMAS: We? Who is “we”?
CLEOPAS: Peter, the Twelve, and some of the disciples.
DISCIPLE: Well, most of the Twelve.
THOMAS: And you were there as well?
CLEOPAS: Yes. He told us to be witnesses of Him—of His resurrection.
DISCIPLE: The work is going forward. Oh, Thomas, we can still serve Him!
THOMAS: I hope you will.
(Women and children begin to exit.)
JOANNA: Children—
REBEKAH: Can we take these to Jesus in Galilee?
JOANNA: Yes, come.
(Women and children exit, except for Mary and Mary Magdalene, who linger behind, listening.)
CLEOPAS: Thomas?
THOMAS: I’ll do whatever I can to help.
CLEOPAS: Shouldn’t we be offering help to you?
THOMAS: No, I don’t think so.
[Music cue: “Except I Shall See - Part A” , ]
CLEOPAS: But you were called to be a witness.
THOMAS: How can I be a witness of what I haven’t seen!? (pause) I’m sorry, Cleopas, but . . .
THOMAS (cont’d)
I cannot hear His words
when He’s not with me.
I cannot feel His touch
If He’s not here.
I cannot tell the world
My Lord still walks with me
If I can’t see Him
And have Him near.
(Mary and Mary Magdalene exit.)
CLEOPAS: Thomas.
THOMAS (cont'd)
Except I shall see, I will not believe.75
Except I behold His wounds,
I will always grieve.
Except I put my finger into the print of nails,
He has not risen up for me.
(Peter and Joyn enter, listening)
THOMAS (cont'd)
I will not, I cannot believe.
[Music cue: Segue into “Peter’s Witness” underscore , ]
PETER: Thomas.
(Thomas turns and sees Peter and John.)
THOMAS: Peter, John, I didn’t know you were here.
PETER: I’m sorry you didn’t see Him.
THOMAS: What I said about believing—
JOHN: We understand, Thomas. You want to see Him with your own eyes.
THOMAS: So I can be a witness!
PETER: You are a witness. Look, Thomas, we did see Him, but that is not enough for any of us.
THOMAS: What?
(As Peter speaks, Cleopas and Disciple gradually exit.)
PETER: Plenty of people saw Him in life, watched His miracles and heard His teachings, and yet some of them were among those who condemned Him to the cross. To see Him, Thomas —to see Him as He is, for who He is—we must look with our hearts. Do you remember when we came to the borders of Caesarea Philippi, Jesus asked us “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” And we answered Him, “Some say that thou art John the Baptist:
JOHN: Some Elias;
PETER: And others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”
THOMAS: Yes.
PETER: And then He asked, a second time, “But whom say ye that I am?” And I looked at him and I said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And he said to me, "flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”76 You see Thomas, it isn’t by flesh and blood that we know, but by what we feel. At first Mary Magdalene thought He was the gardener. And Cleopas walked along the road to Emmaus, thinking He was a rabbi. But when they felt Him, they knew. And one day, when you do see Him, you will not know any better than you know now that He lives, because you already feel— (pointing to Thomas’ heart)—here.
PETER: Then believe, Thomas, and see.
(Peter embraces Thomas, and Peter and John exit.)
[Music cue: “Except I Shall See—Part B” , ]+
THOMAS
If I can’t hear His words,
Then I will speak them.
If I can’t feel His touch,
His touch I’ll give.
And I’ll rejoice because my Lord called even me,
And by His teachings I’ll always live.
(The music continues as the scene is transformed into the Upper Room.)
+ Because these two pieces are performed without a break, the audio file contains both of them.
NOTES
68. See Matthew 28:7.
69. Matthew 28:5.
70. See Matthew 28:9–10.
71. See Matthew 28:8.
72. John 16:21.
73. See Luke 2:41-49.
74. Luke 2:49.
75. See John 20:25.
76. See Matthew 16:13–17.
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