Friday, November 26, 2021

Maranatha! Dramatic Christmas Reading for Children and Adults

Maranatha! Dramatic Christmas Reading

Characters: Jesus, Mary, Gabriel, Elizabeth, Joseph

Jesus: Hello, everyone. Do you know my name?... No, tonight I’m Jesus. And I want to tell you the story of how I was born.

Mary: Are you sure you’re the right person to tell the story, Jesus? Maybe I should tell it. I was there, after all.

Jesus: That’s My mother Mary. You might hear me call her Ima, because that’s how you say Mom in my language. Abba is Father, or Dad. Can you say Ima? Can you say Abba? Another word you’ll want to know is Maranatha. It means “Come, Lord.” Okay, Ima, you can start the story.

Mary: Thank You. And do remember that word Maranatha, “Come, Lord.” When someone in the story says, “Maranatha!” everyone is going to respond by saying, “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!” Let’s practice. Maranatha! (everyone responds, “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!”) So, the story starts when I was a young woman, and the angel Gabriel appeared to me while I was saying my prayers. I can still hear him now.

Gabriel: Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.

Mary: At first, I was afraid. I had never seen an angel before.

Jesus: Raise your hand if any of you have seen an angel. Angels are My servants to help people. Go, ahead, Ima.

Mary: I was afraid, but Gabriel said:

Gabriel: Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.

Mary: And do you know what I thought then? I thought Maranatha! (Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!) The angel also told me that my cousin Elizabeth was pregnant with the boy… Well, Elizabeth, why don’t you tell this part?

Elizabeth: Hi, everyone, I’m Elizabeth. Yes, my younger cousin Mary was pregnant with Jesus, but I was going to have a son soon too. Does anyone know who my son would grow up to be?... My son would grow up to be John the Baptist.

Jesus: Yes, and My cousin John’s job was to get people ready to believe in Me.

Elizabeth: It was almost like he was saying, “Maranatha!” (Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!) I just wish he didn’t eat locusts all the time. I told him I would cook him some food and bring it to him while he was preaching in the desert, but he wouldn’t let me.

Mary: Right. So, after Gabriel talked to me, I went to visit Elizabeth. I stayed with her for a few months.

Elizabeth: I was an old woman when I became pregnant, so Mary came to help me. Then she went home.

Mary: Right. And I was again a little afraid. Because I was pledged to be married to a righteous and gentle man named Joseph. And I had to tell him I was pregnant. I didn’t know if he would believe that my pregnancy was a miracle or not. The angel Gabriel had told me:

Gabriel: The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.

Jesus: My earthly father, Abba Joseph, told me one time:

Joseph: At first, I didn’t believe Your mother. I thought she was lying, so I was going to call off the marriage. But that night, God sent me a dream in which the angel Gabriel told me:

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

Joseph: When I woke up, all I could think was, Maranatha! (Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!)

Jesus: Because He will save His people from their sins. That’s what my name means: The Lord saves. And I will save people from their sins, all My people, anyone who asks Me to.

Mary: Right before it was time for me to give birth, the Roman Emperor made all the men go to their family’s hometown and register so that he could count how many men were in his kingdom. So, Joseph took me with him to Bethlehem.

Jesus: And that’s important, because the prophets said I would be born in Bethlehem. My Heavenly Abba planned for it to happen this way.

Mary: While we were in Bethlehem, it came time for me to give birth, but the city was so crowded with all the men and their families coming to be counted that we couldn’t find a place to stay. I had to give birth in an animal stable! And while I was giving birth, I was worshiping God and praying Maranatha! (Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!)

 

 

 

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