Fourth Sunday In Lent
Monologues
MY TOMB WAS EMPTY
Seven Monologues For Lent And Easter
ORDER OF SERVICE
Prelude
Call To Worship (Responsive)
Leader: Dear Lord, so often we are short-sighted.
People: So often we, like Caiaphas, do what we think are the
right things, but they are wrong because we do them for the wrong
reasons.
Leader: As we listen to Caiaphas tonight, give us your
wisdom and your insight ...
People: ... that we might see your will for all of history and
the world.
Opening Hymn -- "To God Be The Glory"
Invocation (Unison)
We acknowledge, Loving God, that our belief in Jesus is a matter
of faith. Help our faith to be stronger than the faith of those
who work against him, and through this worship, make us more
committed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Scripture -- Matthew 26:47-68
Introduction Of Character -- Prefaces the monologue
Dramatic Monologue -- "Coming On The Clouds Of Glory"
Final Comments About Caiaphas -- At the end of the monologue
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn Of Commitment -- "How Great Thou Art"
Benediction
A lot of time has gone by, Lord, and there are still people who
don't believe. Help us believe, and help us lead others to
belief. As we leave this worship here today, give us the strength
to tell others of the Savior. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
Matthew 26:47-68
Coming On The
Clouds Of Glory
"Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, 'He has
uttered blasphemy. Why do we still need witnesses? You have now
heard his blasphemy.' " That's what the scripture says.
Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to be the
high priest Caiaphas, the one to whom Jesus was brought from the
Garden of Gethsemane? Here's one way he might have seen these
events.
The High Priest, Caiaphas
There's no question in my mind that I was right. You might
expect me to be sorry that we killed this man named Jesus, but
I'm not.
Oh, I've heard the claims that he rose again from the dead.
Claims, that's what they are. And he's not the first one they've
said that about.
It all comes down to faith, doesn't it? There's not one of you
who can prove he's risen either. It all comes down to faith, and
my faith is not in human beings, but in God.
I don't want to justify myself to you or anybody. I'm the high
priest. I don't know if you know exactly what that is.
Each year, on the Day of Atonement, I alone enter the holy of
holies and sprinkle the blood of the sin offerings on the mercy
seat.
You can make whatever claims you want to for your Jesus. You
can call him the Savior of the world if you like. I'm the one who
wears the breastplate with the names of the tribes of Israel on
it. I'm the one who represents the people.
There was a time when I thought we wouldn't have to kill this
Jesus. The world is full of what you'd call small-time messiahs.
The world is full of miracle workers and people who gather little
groups of followers around them.
We have to deal with that once in a while. As chairman of the
Sanhedrin, the body which negotiates relations with the Romans, I
sometimes have to deal with pretenders to messiahship.
Most of the time they just go away by themselves. Their
followers just fall away. But that's not what happened here.
Don't make too big a thing of that. There have been others
whom we've had to deal with.
You might look at me and say, "Before he called the Sanhedrin
to pronounce judgment, he tore his clothes, so somehow he must
have understood."
I understood, all right. I understood he was claiming for
himself the promise of the psalms. "The Lord says to my lord:
'Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool,' "
it says in Psalm 110.
And I understood he was claiming for himself the promise of
Daniel 7. Daniel's vision is at the heart of what I believe. Look
it up -- Daniel 7.
"As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of
days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair
of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its
wheels were burning fire.
"A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a
thousand thousands severed him, and then a thousand times ten
thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the
books were opened."
That's holy scripture! Read it. Daniel goes on to say, "I saw
in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there
came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
"And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all
peoples, nations and languages should serve him; his dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
I don't have to apologize for what I did. When your Jesus
looked me in the eye and told me, "But I tell you hereafter you
will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and
coming on the clouds of heaven," he was claiming to be the
Messiah.
"He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to
death," the scripture tells us (Leviticus 24:16), and that
scripture clearly applied to him.
You can talk all you want about God having raised him from the
dead. If he's been raised, where's his kingdom? If he's been
raised, where's the throne he sits on? If he's been raised, why
hasn't he come on clouds of glory?
I have no doubt I was right. Well, maybe I have just one small
doubt, nothing that really matters, I guess. The one thing that
might cause me to doubt is that a few of you Christians are
willing to die for this Jesus.
Herod, Nero and Domitian, they've all killed Christians. I'm
an old, old man now. I've lived way longer than I ever thought
I'd live, and I'm still surprised that people will give up their
lives for Jesus.
I know that letter they passed around, the letter from John
who was exiled on Patmos. He claims to have seen one like "a son
of man." His head and hair "were white as wool," the letter says.
Ha! I guess your John of Patmos reads Daniel too! What does
all that prove?
But there are some people willing to die for your Jesus,
willing to be burned on crosses in the emperor's garden, and that
makes me wonder.
Let me tell you something. I'll never live to see this, but
there will come a time when you can tell whether your Jesus is
really the one he claimed to be.
If Jesus is the one he claimed to be, 1,000 years from now, or
maybe two, the whole world will worship him. If Jesus is really
the one he claimed to be, 1,000 years from now, or maybe two,
people will give up all they own and all they value just to
follow him.
No money, no security, no worldly position or success will
matter. Only Jesus will matter.
If Jesus is the one he claimed to be, people will give up
their whole lives to follow him. Oh, that'll happen probably
1,000 or 2,000 years after I am dead, but if Jesus is the one he
claims to be, that's what will happen.
You see, he didn't rise again unless he lives in people's
hearts. It can't be any other way. You say he rose; I say he
didn't. I say he was a pretender. What good's a risen Savior if
he doesn't live in people's hearts? What good's a risen Savior if
people aren't willing to die for him every day and every day.
I've dealt with a lot of so-called messiahs, and after a
while, all their followers just fall away. Oh, they may still say
they follow them. They may still use the name and all that, but
their Savior just doesn't really make a difference in the way
they live or in the world they live in.
If it weren't for those few who are dying, that would already
be happening to Jesus.
So it's like I told you at the first. In some ways, only time
will tell, but still there's very little question in my mind that
I was right.
Your Jesus, your Jesus was just another pretender, just
another would-be-messiah from whom all his so-called faithful
followers will fall away.
________
According to the scripture, Caiaphas continued to persecute
Christians after the death of Jesus. Acts 4 tells of the arrest
of Peter and John, and then it says, "On the morrow their rulers
and elders and scribes were gathered in Jerusalem [to judge
them], with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and
Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family." Amen.
Prelude
Call To Worship (Responsive)
Leader: Dear Lord, so often we are short-sighted.
People: So often we, like Caiaphas, do what we think are the
right things, but they are wrong because we do them for the wrong
reasons.
Leader: As we listen to Caiaphas tonight, give us your
wisdom and your insight ...
People: ... that we might see your will for all of history and
the world.
Opening Hymn -- "To God Be The Glory"
Invocation (Unison)
We acknowledge, Loving God, that our belief in Jesus is a matter
of faith. Help our faith to be stronger than the faith of those
who work against him, and through this worship, make us more
committed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Scripture -- Matthew 26:47-68
Introduction Of Character -- Prefaces the monologue
Dramatic Monologue -- "Coming On The Clouds Of Glory"
Final Comments About Caiaphas -- At the end of the monologue
Pastoral Prayer
Hymn Of Commitment -- "How Great Thou Art"
Benediction
A lot of time has gone by, Lord, and there are still people who
don't believe. Help us believe, and help us lead others to
belief. As we leave this worship here today, give us the strength
to tell others of the Savior. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
Matthew 26:47-68
Coming On The
Clouds Of Glory
"Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, 'He has
uttered blasphemy. Why do we still need witnesses? You have now
heard his blasphemy.' " That's what the scripture says.
Have you ever wondered what it must have been like to be the
high priest Caiaphas, the one to whom Jesus was brought from the
Garden of Gethsemane? Here's one way he might have seen these
events.
The High Priest, Caiaphas
There's no question in my mind that I was right. You might
expect me to be sorry that we killed this man named Jesus, but
I'm not.
Oh, I've heard the claims that he rose again from the dead.
Claims, that's what they are. And he's not the first one they've
said that about.
It all comes down to faith, doesn't it? There's not one of you
who can prove he's risen either. It all comes down to faith, and
my faith is not in human beings, but in God.
I don't want to justify myself to you or anybody. I'm the high
priest. I don't know if you know exactly what that is.
Each year, on the Day of Atonement, I alone enter the holy of
holies and sprinkle the blood of the sin offerings on the mercy
seat.
You can make whatever claims you want to for your Jesus. You
can call him the Savior of the world if you like. I'm the one who
wears the breastplate with the names of the tribes of Israel on
it. I'm the one who represents the people.
There was a time when I thought we wouldn't have to kill this
Jesus. The world is full of what you'd call small-time messiahs.
The world is full of miracle workers and people who gather little
groups of followers around them.
We have to deal with that once in a while. As chairman of the
Sanhedrin, the body which negotiates relations with the Romans, I
sometimes have to deal with pretenders to messiahship.
Most of the time they just go away by themselves. Their
followers just fall away. But that's not what happened here.
Don't make too big a thing of that. There have been others
whom we've had to deal with.
You might look at me and say, "Before he called the Sanhedrin
to pronounce judgment, he tore his clothes, so somehow he must
have understood."
I understood, all right. I understood he was claiming for
himself the promise of the psalms. "The Lord says to my lord:
'Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a footstool,' "
it says in Psalm 110.
And I understood he was claiming for himself the promise of
Daniel 7. Daniel's vision is at the heart of what I believe. Look
it up -- Daniel 7.
"As I looked, thrones were placed and one that was ancient of
days took his seat; his raiment was white as snow, and the hair
of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, its
wheels were burning fire.
"A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; a
thousand thousands severed him, and then a thousand times ten
thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the
books were opened."
That's holy scripture! Read it. Daniel goes on to say, "I saw
in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there
came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
"And to him was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all
peoples, nations and languages should serve him; his dominion is
an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
I don't have to apologize for what I did. When your Jesus
looked me in the eye and told me, "But I tell you hereafter you
will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and
coming on the clouds of heaven," he was claiming to be the
Messiah.
"He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to
death," the scripture tells us (Leviticus 24:16), and that
scripture clearly applied to him.
You can talk all you want about God having raised him from the
dead. If he's been raised, where's his kingdom? If he's been
raised, where's the throne he sits on? If he's been raised, why
hasn't he come on clouds of glory?
I have no doubt I was right. Well, maybe I have just one small
doubt, nothing that really matters, I guess. The one thing that
might cause me to doubt is that a few of you Christians are
willing to die for this Jesus.
Herod, Nero and Domitian, they've all killed Christians. I'm
an old, old man now. I've lived way longer than I ever thought
I'd live, and I'm still surprised that people will give up their
lives for Jesus.
I know that letter they passed around, the letter from John
who was exiled on Patmos. He claims to have seen one like "a son
of man." His head and hair "were white as wool," the letter says.
Ha! I guess your John of Patmos reads Daniel too! What does
all that prove?
But there are some people willing to die for your Jesus,
willing to be burned on crosses in the emperor's garden, and that
makes me wonder.
Let me tell you something. I'll never live to see this, but
there will come a time when you can tell whether your Jesus is
really the one he claimed to be.
If Jesus is the one he claimed to be, 1,000 years from now, or
maybe two, the whole world will worship him. If Jesus is really
the one he claimed to be, 1,000 years from now, or maybe two,
people will give up all they own and all they value just to
follow him.
No money, no security, no worldly position or success will
matter. Only Jesus will matter.
If Jesus is the one he claimed to be, people will give up
their whole lives to follow him. Oh, that'll happen probably
1,000 or 2,000 years after I am dead, but if Jesus is the one he
claims to be, that's what will happen.
You see, he didn't rise again unless he lives in people's
hearts. It can't be any other way. You say he rose; I say he
didn't. I say he was a pretender. What good's a risen Savior if
he doesn't live in people's hearts? What good's a risen Savior if
people aren't willing to die for him every day and every day.
I've dealt with a lot of so-called messiahs, and after a
while, all their followers just fall away. Oh, they may still say
they follow them. They may still use the name and all that, but
their Savior just doesn't really make a difference in the way
they live or in the world they live in.
If it weren't for those few who are dying, that would already
be happening to Jesus.
So it's like I told you at the first. In some ways, only time
will tell, but still there's very little question in my mind that
I was right.
Your Jesus, your Jesus was just another pretender, just
another would-be-messiah from whom all his so-called faithful
followers will fall away.
________
According to the scripture, Caiaphas continued to persecute
Christians after the death of Jesus. Acts 4 tells of the arrest
of Peter and John, and then it says, "On the morrow their rulers
and elders and scribes were gathered in Jerusalem [to judge
them], with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and
Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family." Amen.
