The following is a skit which was designed for a youth devotional. (In the Knox County Area some of the smaller congregations are trying to get their youth together at least once a month)
The skit is based off the hit series CSI "Las Vegas." Using the same characters I developed the following story concerning the crucifixion of Christ. I went to the web and found pictures for overhead projector which would assist in better visualization. I have included
them in the attachments. I realize we in the church do not promote such dramatics as what you will be reading. However we do use such methods during VBS. Feel free to use this material in any way that may encourage your youth to come closer to Jesus. ~Kirk
The CSI unit has been teleported backward through time. Not knowing what else to do, they begin doing their job of Crime Scene Investigators. Brass is looking over a body (covered up). The M.E. is on the scene knelt down by body with a probe in the body. Gill walks up to Brass.
Gill: What do you have for me tonight Brass? (Katherine comes upon the scene looking around and taking pictures)
Brass: (lifting the covering) Gill, you will never believe the severity of this crime. This guy has been beaten almost beyond recognition. From the wounds on his hands, his feet and his back, I would suggest torture of some kind.
M.E. (no name): I would estimate the time of death between 4-5 p.m. Lividity is fixed, rigamortius set in. This seems to be about right.
Katherine: (Looking at Gill) Well there’s no real loss of blood at the scene...... The body has been moved.
Brass: Several of our guys were on patrol when they spotted this small crowd carrying the body, apparently to bury it in the nearby tombs. When our guys saw the condition of the body they called me and most of the crowd dispersed. (pointing to a group of women) There’s a few of them over there waiting for us to finish up so they can bury the body before dark.
Nick: (Walks over to the crowd) I’m sorry for your loss ‘Mam. Uh, we are going to have to take the body for a brief examination then we will release it to you so you can complete the burial.
Gill: Katherine, take Sarah and talk to the ladies. Nick, you and Warrick retrace the victim’s final movements. Lets get the body back to the Coroner so we can examine it. Time’s a wasting. We have a murder to solve.
SONG: # 141 “More about Jesus” 1 & 2nd v.
David and Grissom are standing behind a table where the body lies.
David: Considering the body has been washed and prepped for burying, there are still a lot of details for us to examine.
(Greg steps into the room)
Greg: You call for me boss?
Gill: Yes, (handing him several plastic bags) take these samples over to trace and tell me what you come up with.
Greg: Right on it boss. Will have the results back before you can say, “how much wood can a chuck wood... I mean, how much wood does a chuck of wood... ah...
Gill: Just GO Greg.
Greg: Right! (Exits scene to hall).
Gill: What can you tell me about the body David?
David: First, notice the bruising around the face and eyes. The dotted bruising would suggest someone striking the face with their bare knuckles. We found some fibers around the corners of the eyes.
Gill: So the subject was blindfolded.
David: That seems to be the case.
Gill: What can you tell me about those puncture wounds in his forehead.
David: As you can see, the impressions encircle the whole head. I removed some woody material to have it analyzed for a more accurate rendering. Now here is something you do not find everyday - holes in the subject’s hands and feet. I gathered some metal fragments, mostly rust, from inside the incisions. Also I extracted some wood splinters from the back of the
hands and heels of the feet.
Gill: You mean someone attached the victim to a wooden beam by driving nails into the wrists and feet.
PICTURE #1
David: Apparently so. Notice the positioning of the nails. They were driven through the wrist next to the median nerve. When pressure applied to this nerve it sends a burning sensation down the arm through the neck.
Gill: So the subject would feel like his arms were on fire?
David: Yes. See the shoulders, how they are protruding.
Gill: So the subject was dragged while nailed?
David: I don’t think so. If I am right, the body was nailed then positioned upright.
Gill: How can you tell?
David: See how the holes in the wrists are wallowed out. Look at the shoulders. X-rays show they have been dislocated. I found a tremendous amount of wood splinters on the victim’s back suggesting the victim had to move himself in an upward and downward motion against a wooden platform.
Gill: Are you saying crucifixion? PICTURE # 2
David: That is my best opinion for the moment. With his arms extended in such manner, with the muscles stretched applying pressure to the lungs, he would have to push with his feet and pull with his arms to be able to breathe. One amazing thing I discovered in the x-rays - I did not find one broken bone in the subjects body.
Gill: How do you account for that?
David: I don’t know seeing the massive trauma the body suffered.
Gill: Tell me about these marks on his back and buttocks and thighs.
David: The preliminary report suggests a floging of some kind. I extracted some pieces of glass, leather, and metal fragments out of some of the lacerations.
COLOR PICTURE - BACK # 3
SONG 249 “Tell me the story of Jesus”
Gill: I’ve never seen such mutilation.....Is this what I think it is? After all this man went through, they stabbed him?
PICTURE - SIDE # 4
David: More like speared him. The direction of the penetration indicates the victim was suspended above the assailants, where they thrust the broadhead of a spear, approximately five inches wide, through the abdomen, below the ribcage piercing completely through till it reached
the heart.
Gill: I’ve seen enough. (putting his hand on David’s shoulder) Release the body for burial. We have all the evidence we need for now.
SONG: “They hung him on the cross” pt. 1
PICTURE - JESUS CARRYING CROSS #5
(The team has reassembled around the conference table).
Gill: Katherine, what did you find out from the ladies?
Katherine: Well we have a name for the victim, His name is Jesus of Nazareth.
Sarah: The story is, he grew up as a carpenter, then began working miracles.
Warrick: Miracles? Like healing folk and making blind see and stuff like that. We all have seen the likes of these guys.
Katherine: Well there are some amazing stories about calming stormy seas and even bringing some who had died back to life.
Gill: All right, let’s stick with the evidence. What does the evidencetell us about the crime. Greg, have you gotten the results back from trace?
Greg: First, It’s how much wood can a wood chuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood.......... (everyone looks at Greg as he has lost his mind, Greg is smiling as if he has broken the sequence to human DNA).
Gill: Very good Greg, now for the results...
Greg: Oh, Yeah, The pieces of wood from the victim’s head comes from a plant, which was transplanted to the area of Palestine called,
PICTURE - CROWN OF THORNS # 6
“U- forb-bee-ah mil-i ” You see, Euphorbus was the Greek physician of King Juba II (about 50 BC to 19 AD) of Nu-mid-ia (which is of course, present day Algeria). King Juba II was the first person to find a succulent-type Euphorbia, and he named it after his physician. The Milii name was added for Baron Milius, once governor of the island of Bourbon, who introduced the species into cultivation in France in 1821. Anyway, The locals weave them together to make fences for
their sheep to keep predators away at night.
Nick: So the vic had a crown of thorns pressed down upon his head?
Greg: Yeah. And that’s not all, the pieces of metal and glass and leather which came from the lacerations on his back came from a whip called “The Cat of Nine Tails.”
Sofia: What kind of cat?
PICTURE - BACK, LICTOR, WHIP #7
Gill: A scourge. A whip which contained pieces of glass, metal balls, bones, and other serrated objects which were woven in the ends of the whip having smaller tails in order to make the beating more violent.
Sarah: So that would explain why the flesh was literally torn off the victims back.
Gill: But why would someone go through the trouble in torturing someone who did good?
SONG: 279 Why did my savior come to earth?
Nick: Well, to answer your question, “Why did they torture someone for being so good?” From what we found out, the common people liked the man, Jesus. The religious leaders thought he was a threat to their power and tried many times to trick him into disproving his claim.
Gill: And what was that?
Warrick: That he was the Son of God.
Katherine: Woah. You mean we just had the Son of God laid out on our examination table? Give me a break!
Nick: Well, according to ancient scrolls which some of the converted religious rulers read from, they said that he not only was the Son of God but that he would die for the sins of the people.
Sarah: Oh, so now you are telling me that this man, Jesus, died this kind of death just so I may receive atonement for my sins?
Warrick: We’re just repeating what we heard.
Gill: Well let’s get back to the evidence.
Sofia: Speaking of which, Warrick, after I heard what you and Nick were discussing in the locker room, I went to the local library and found some persuasive evidence for this man’s claims.
Gill: Oh, a believer walks among us... Go ahead Sofia. Tell us what you found.
Sofia: There are two separate texts which tell about the manner of his death and the purpose of his death. The first one was written over 900 years before it happened (She reads Psalm. 22:14-18). Doesn’t this sound like a crucifixion? The subject is dehydrated, bones are dislocated, the hands and feet are pierced...
Sarah: Oh yeah, and the women said when he was hanging on the cross, soldiers were gambling for his garments. Hummm...
Sofia: And this was written hundreds of years before the invention of crucifixion. Also there is another text that was written nearly 700 years before now which says this, (she reads Isa. 53:4-11).
Katherine: The ladies did say when he died there were two others who died with him, thieves, I believe. And a rich man had donated his tomb for them to use.
Nick: And that would explain why this man was beaten so severely and crucified?
Sarah: While we were out we found a place where poles were stationed in some rocky area outside the city, the town people called it Golgatha. There was a mess of blood on and all around the poles. I took some samples and gave them to Greg. - How did they turn out?
Greg: Two of the samples were not a match, however, the third was a match to our vic.
PICTURE - GOLGATHA
SONG: The Old Rugged Cross
Gill: Well now we know the history, where the crime occurred, the how, and the reason, One more question we need to solve - Who killed Jesus?
Katherine: Well, the ladies told us that a crowd of the villagers got together with the officials of the land and started chanting, “Crucify him.”
Warrick: Don’t forget that the religious leaders hated him because he threatened their authority.
Sarah: Well, there’s the crucifixion itself, the scourging, the spear to the side. That alone would identify the official government for they use this kind of punishment for offenders of the law.
Sofia: You also have to include the sacred text which said, “He was wounded for OUR transgressions” and “for he shall bear their sins.”
Gill: So now you’re telling me that I killed the man Sofia? I wasn’t there. I didn’t beat him or torture him.
Sofia: Gill, if the prophecies are right, which they have proven accurate so far, anyone who has sins had a part in this crime. I’m guilty, we all are guilty.
Gill: Well I’m not about to get into a religious debate with you. Some of this seems to be a matter of faith. We’ve been working non stop on this for the last three days, I think we need a break.
(They all get up to leave)
Katherine: Three days? Didn’t those ladies mention something about him telling them he would rise again.
Sarah: No, no. They said that he preached that all would rise again some day.
Unnamed announcer: (comes running into the room) Hey guys! You will not believe this. There’s a group of people out there saying that the tomb of Jesus is empty and that he has risen from the dead!
Gill: It appears that this investigation is not over. Now there’s a missing body to find.
Sofia: Well, its like you said Gill, some of this does seems to be a matter of faith.
SONG: “Hung him on the cross” pt. 2 He rose up from the grave.
PICTURE - RESURRECTION, RETURN
The skit is based off the hit series CSI "Las Vegas." Using the same characters I developed the following story concerning the crucifixion of Christ. I went to the web and found pictures for overhead projector which would assist in better visualization. I have included
them in the attachments. I realize we in the church do not promote such dramatics as what you will be reading. However we do use such methods during VBS. Feel free to use this material in any way that may encourage your youth to come closer to Jesus. ~Kirk
The CSI unit has been teleported backward through time. Not knowing what else to do, they begin doing their job of Crime Scene Investigators. Brass is looking over a body (covered up). The M.E. is on the scene knelt down by body with a probe in the body. Gill walks up to Brass.
Gill: What do you have for me tonight Brass? (Katherine comes upon the scene looking around and taking pictures)
Brass: (lifting the covering) Gill, you will never believe the severity of this crime. This guy has been beaten almost beyond recognition. From the wounds on his hands, his feet and his back, I would suggest torture of some kind.
M.E. (no name): I would estimate the time of death between 4-5 p.m. Lividity is fixed, rigamortius set in. This seems to be about right.
Katherine: (Looking at Gill) Well there’s no real loss of blood at the scene...... The body has been moved.
Brass: Several of our guys were on patrol when they spotted this small crowd carrying the body, apparently to bury it in the nearby tombs. When our guys saw the condition of the body they called me and most of the crowd dispersed. (pointing to a group of women) There’s a few of them over there waiting for us to finish up so they can bury the body before dark.
Nick: (Walks over to the crowd) I’m sorry for your loss ‘Mam. Uh, we are going to have to take the body for a brief examination then we will release it to you so you can complete the burial.
Gill: Katherine, take Sarah and talk to the ladies. Nick, you and Warrick retrace the victim’s final movements. Lets get the body back to the Coroner so we can examine it. Time’s a wasting. We have a murder to solve.
SONG: # 141 “More about Jesus” 1 & 2nd v.
David and Grissom are standing behind a table where the body lies.
David: Considering the body has been washed and prepped for burying, there are still a lot of details for us to examine.
(Greg steps into the room)
Greg: You call for me boss?
Gill: Yes, (handing him several plastic bags) take these samples over to trace and tell me what you come up with.
Greg: Right on it boss. Will have the results back before you can say, “how much wood can a chuck wood... I mean, how much wood does a chuck of wood... ah...
Gill: Just GO Greg.
Greg: Right! (Exits scene to hall).
Gill: What can you tell me about the body David?
David: First, notice the bruising around the face and eyes. The dotted bruising would suggest someone striking the face with their bare knuckles. We found some fibers around the corners of the eyes.
Gill: So the subject was blindfolded.
David: That seems to be the case.
Gill: What can you tell me about those puncture wounds in his forehead.
David: As you can see, the impressions encircle the whole head. I removed some woody material to have it analyzed for a more accurate rendering. Now here is something you do not find everyday - holes in the subject’s hands and feet. I gathered some metal fragments, mostly rust, from inside the incisions. Also I extracted some wood splinters from the back of the
hands and heels of the feet.
Gill: You mean someone attached the victim to a wooden beam by driving nails into the wrists and feet.
PICTURE #1
David: Apparently so. Notice the positioning of the nails. They were driven through the wrist next to the median nerve. When pressure applied to this nerve it sends a burning sensation down the arm through the neck.
Gill: So the subject would feel like his arms were on fire?
David: Yes. See the shoulders, how they are protruding.
Gill: So the subject was dragged while nailed?
David: I don’t think so. If I am right, the body was nailed then positioned upright.
Gill: How can you tell?
David: See how the holes in the wrists are wallowed out. Look at the shoulders. X-rays show they have been dislocated. I found a tremendous amount of wood splinters on the victim’s back suggesting the victim had to move himself in an upward and downward motion against a wooden platform.
Gill: Are you saying crucifixion? PICTURE # 2
David: That is my best opinion for the moment. With his arms extended in such manner, with the muscles stretched applying pressure to the lungs, he would have to push with his feet and pull with his arms to be able to breathe. One amazing thing I discovered in the x-rays - I did not find one broken bone in the subjects body.
Gill: How do you account for that?
David: I don’t know seeing the massive trauma the body suffered.
Gill: Tell me about these marks on his back and buttocks and thighs.
David: The preliminary report suggests a floging of some kind. I extracted some pieces of glass, leather, and metal fragments out of some of the lacerations.
COLOR PICTURE - BACK # 3
SONG 249 “Tell me the story of Jesus”
Gill: I’ve never seen such mutilation.....Is this what I think it is? After all this man went through, they stabbed him?
PICTURE - SIDE # 4
David: More like speared him. The direction of the penetration indicates the victim was suspended above the assailants, where they thrust the broadhead of a spear, approximately five inches wide, through the abdomen, below the ribcage piercing completely through till it reached
the heart.
Gill: I’ve seen enough. (putting his hand on David’s shoulder) Release the body for burial. We have all the evidence we need for now.
SONG: “They hung him on the cross” pt. 1
PICTURE - JESUS CARRYING CROSS #5
(The team has reassembled around the conference table).
Gill: Katherine, what did you find out from the ladies?
Katherine: Well we have a name for the victim, His name is Jesus of Nazareth.
Sarah: The story is, he grew up as a carpenter, then began working miracles.
Warrick: Miracles? Like healing folk and making blind see and stuff like that. We all have seen the likes of these guys.
Katherine: Well there are some amazing stories about calming stormy seas and even bringing some who had died back to life.
Gill: All right, let’s stick with the evidence. What does the evidencetell us about the crime. Greg, have you gotten the results back from trace?
Greg: First, It’s how much wood can a wood chuck chuck, if a wood chuck could chuck wood.......... (everyone looks at Greg as he has lost his mind, Greg is smiling as if he has broken the sequence to human DNA).
Gill: Very good Greg, now for the results...
Greg: Oh, Yeah, The pieces of wood from the victim’s head comes from a plant, which was transplanted to the area of Palestine called,
PICTURE - CROWN OF THORNS # 6
“U- forb-bee-ah mil-i ” You see, Euphorbus was the Greek physician of King Juba II (about 50 BC to 19 AD) of Nu-mid-ia (which is of course, present day Algeria). King Juba II was the first person to find a succulent-type Euphorbia, and he named it after his physician. The Milii name was added for Baron Milius, once governor of the island of Bourbon, who introduced the species into cultivation in France in 1821. Anyway, The locals weave them together to make fences for
their sheep to keep predators away at night.
Nick: So the vic had a crown of thorns pressed down upon his head?
Greg: Yeah. And that’s not all, the pieces of metal and glass and leather which came from the lacerations on his back came from a whip called “The Cat of Nine Tails.”
Sofia: What kind of cat?
PICTURE - BACK, LICTOR, WHIP #7
Gill: A scourge. A whip which contained pieces of glass, metal balls, bones, and other serrated objects which were woven in the ends of the whip having smaller tails in order to make the beating more violent.
Sarah: So that would explain why the flesh was literally torn off the victims back.
Gill: But why would someone go through the trouble in torturing someone who did good?
SONG: 279 Why did my savior come to earth?
Nick: Well, to answer your question, “Why did they torture someone for being so good?” From what we found out, the common people liked the man, Jesus. The religious leaders thought he was a threat to their power and tried many times to trick him into disproving his claim.
Gill: And what was that?
Warrick: That he was the Son of God.
Katherine: Woah. You mean we just had the Son of God laid out on our examination table? Give me a break!
Nick: Well, according to ancient scrolls which some of the converted religious rulers read from, they said that he not only was the Son of God but that he would die for the sins of the people.
Sarah: Oh, so now you are telling me that this man, Jesus, died this kind of death just so I may receive atonement for my sins?
Warrick: We’re just repeating what we heard.
Gill: Well let’s get back to the evidence.
Sofia: Speaking of which, Warrick, after I heard what you and Nick were discussing in the locker room, I went to the local library and found some persuasive evidence for this man’s claims.
Gill: Oh, a believer walks among us... Go ahead Sofia. Tell us what you found.
Sofia: There are two separate texts which tell about the manner of his death and the purpose of his death. The first one was written over 900 years before it happened (She reads Psalm. 22:14-18). Doesn’t this sound like a crucifixion? The subject is dehydrated, bones are dislocated, the hands and feet are pierced...
Sarah: Oh yeah, and the women said when he was hanging on the cross, soldiers were gambling for his garments. Hummm...
Sofia: And this was written hundreds of years before the invention of crucifixion. Also there is another text that was written nearly 700 years before now which says this, (she reads Isa. 53:4-11).
Katherine: The ladies did say when he died there were two others who died with him, thieves, I believe. And a rich man had donated his tomb for them to use.
Nick: And that would explain why this man was beaten so severely and crucified?
Sarah: While we were out we found a place where poles were stationed in some rocky area outside the city, the town people called it Golgatha. There was a mess of blood on and all around the poles. I took some samples and gave them to Greg. - How did they turn out?
Greg: Two of the samples were not a match, however, the third was a match to our vic.
PICTURE - GOLGATHA
SONG: The Old Rugged Cross
Gill: Well now we know the history, where the crime occurred, the how, and the reason, One more question we need to solve - Who killed Jesus?
Katherine: Well, the ladies told us that a crowd of the villagers got together with the officials of the land and started chanting, “Crucify him.”
Warrick: Don’t forget that the religious leaders hated him because he threatened their authority.
Sarah: Well, there’s the crucifixion itself, the scourging, the spear to the side. That alone would identify the official government for they use this kind of punishment for offenders of the law.
Sofia: You also have to include the sacred text which said, “He was wounded for OUR transgressions” and “for he shall bear their sins.”
Gill: So now you’re telling me that I killed the man Sofia? I wasn’t there. I didn’t beat him or torture him.
Sofia: Gill, if the prophecies are right, which they have proven accurate so far, anyone who has sins had a part in this crime. I’m guilty, we all are guilty.
Gill: Well I’m not about to get into a religious debate with you. Some of this seems to be a matter of faith. We’ve been working non stop on this for the last three days, I think we need a break.
(They all get up to leave)
Katherine: Three days? Didn’t those ladies mention something about him telling them he would rise again.
Sarah: No, no. They said that he preached that all would rise again some day.
Unnamed announcer: (comes running into the room) Hey guys! You will not believe this. There’s a group of people out there saying that the tomb of Jesus is empty and that he has risen from the dead!
Gill: It appears that this investigation is not over. Now there’s a missing body to find.
Sofia: Well, its like you said Gill, some of this does seems to be a matter of faith.
SONG: “Hung him on the cross” pt. 2 He rose up from the grave.
PICTURE - RESURRECTION, RETURN