Easter comes alive with this dramatic reading, a monologue portraying John at midnight after the Last Supper. He relates how the Master invited him to sit next to Him for the meal, how he wanted to remember seeing Jesus pray in the moonlight, and finally how He stopped the bleeding from the guard's severed ear. But now the soldiers have taken Him, and in his heart John is afraid. He is a weak man, and he fears for Jesus.
Joseph, fearful and overwhelmed, struggles to get Mary to Bethlehem safely. There, his faith is renewed. He says, "I didn't know why His real Father chose for Him to be born in such a humble manner, but I knew it was my responsibility to take care of Him. At that moment, I knew that I would be able to do the job. It would be difficult, but I would never be doing it alone."
Mary says Jesus talked to her many times about his death, trying to prepare her for it. But she always pushed the thoughts away. It would happen later, some time in the distance. And she admits she even started to believe that He wouldn't have to die, that the prophecies were wrong. But now He is on the cross, dying, and she can do nothing about it, except be there for Him.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, feels the pain only a mother can feel when she sees Jesus carrying his own cross. Blood from His torture, blood dripping into His eyes from a crown of thorns. She recalls his birth, his special childhood, and the miracles he's accomplished in his adulthood. Suddenly the noise of the crowds, soldiers and other prisoners fades as she looks into His eyes one last time and knows. He is the one. He is the Messiah. And though He belongs to another world, He yet suffers and bleeds in this one in order to fulfill a thousand-year prophesy. And she, the mother of the So...