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Introductory game »Born again on the cemetery«

An introductory game text: Mark 5,1-20 (Luke 8,26-39 / Matthew 8,28-34)

Schuster:	The dress will be finished tomorrow, the coat will maybe take a day longer but my assistants have done enough overtime recently to meet the Roman’s personal needs. However they do come from overseas especially – where should I send these to you? Are you just passing by?
Customer:	No, no I come from around here. I will fetch them myself because I don’t have may own fixed address yet.
Schuster:	Ah so, I understand. You have come back from your travels and want to settle down here again. But you were born here?
Customer:	Yes, I was born here twice!
Schuster:	Excuse me?
Customer:	You heard right: I was born in Gerasa twice.
Schuster:	Brilliant, a new joke! Tell me it the joke please. They are always a hit with the customers...
Customer:	No, it isn’t a joke. It’s the truth.
Schuster:	What?
Customer:	Yes, it's true. The first I was born was many years ago in the house next to the hostel at the well. I am no longer sure when that was. The second time was yesterday, down at the lake.
Schuster:	Yes, I understand now. You don't mean literally born again. Yesterday during the storm, you sailed across the lake and had an accident - that explains the scratches and bruises. That is like being born again - I know, I know.
Customer:	No, It hasn’t got anything to do with the storm.
Schuster:	No? Were you a slave then? Your wrists look a bit sore as if you’ve been wearing chains.
Customer:	Yes, I was a slave. The devil’s slave!
Schuster:	Pst! Not so loud! They aren’t in the same league as Herod around here, but Philippus isn’t exactly an angel and if he wants to butter up to his brother, he simply banishes you because of royal slander. Both of them are devils!
Customer:	No, I mean Satan himself. Two thousand demons tortured my friend and I.
Schuster:	Well, two thousand seems a bit exaggerated! Tiberias is a very large garrison town but there aren't two thousand Romans - any anyway, you shouldn't talk so loudly!
Customer:	No, quite the opposite. I want to shout it out loudly for everyone to hear – I am free! Free! Free!
Schuster:	Who set you free then?
Customer:	Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth!
Schuster:	What, now he starts off like that? Then the Jews have a reason to jail him straight away. How did that happen then?
Customer:	My friend, or rather my fellow sufferer, and I saw a ship moving directly underneath the graves on the beach, and suddenly it back to us again. We tried it, but we could not reach them, we reflected before them accurately -, and then it threw itself towards us and cried out: "Jesus, you son of God, what is the meaning of all of this? I please, I swear to you, do not torment us not before the time!"...
Schuster:	Torture? Jesus does not torture anyone! You are talking crazy there and I think you have imagined this whole thing! You tell me that you were down at the lake? No one goes down there! The street cannot be crossed at all. Everyone has to take the uncomfortable route through the town, and all of that because of two wild ones!
Customer:	There aren’t any wild ones anymore!
Schuster:	Are they finally dead?
Customer:	No, only the pigs are dead.
Schuster:	Yes! They are finally dead! At last!
Customer:	Who, the pigs? Are you a Jew?
Schuster:	Me? No. I have a few pigs of my own in the fields, the Romans count them well. I mean the crazy ones!
Customer:	Yes, they are still alive. They move freely around the town.
Schuster:	No! That can’t be true!
Customer:	Stop, stop, listen carefully to what I am saying: they walk freely around the town. FREE!!!
Schuster:	That is the point!
Customer:	Yes, that is the point. That is a wonder!
Schuster:	Wonder?
Customer:	Yes, a wonder! The two wild ones were wild before but now they are tame. They even eat out of your hand!
Schuster:	And who managed to do that?
Customer:	Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth!
Schuster:	And how?
Customer:	Like I told you before: As the demon shouted to Jesus, Jesus asked him his name and he said »Legion«, because there were so many of him. And then Jesus fought them out of the two wild ones.
Schuster:	Jesus has banished the demons?
Customer:	That’s what I’m saying – two thousand of them.
Schuster:	Where were they then?
Customer:	In two whole men.
Schuster:	And where are they now?
Customer:	In the lake, yes: in the lake - Jesus chased the demons away and they started to beg not to be sent to hell. They would rather be banished into the pigs. And Jesus accepted this and allowed them to do so.
Schuster:	Possessed pigs? If the Romans hear about that, we’ll be out of business.
Customer:	It is already ruined. The pigs are dead – the demons pushed them into the water.
Schuster:	All of them?
Customer:	The whole herd – two thousand of them.
Schuster:	We are ruined. Our whole business is wrecked! If Jesus shows up around here – he’ll get a good talking to!
Customer:	Rubbish! We have peace, serenity and life!
Schuster:	Life? All of the pigs are supposedly dead.
Customer:	Pigs, pigs. All I hear is pigs! – I – I am alive! And my friend is alive as well!
Schuster:	So what?
Customer:	So what! We are alive, alive, alive!!! Man, you still don’t understand? I was one of the possessed from the graves! Me!!!
Schuster:	Mercy!
Customer:	Yes, mercy! God's mercy has freed me! I was dead inside before, damned to the grave, forced to torture and hit myself and others, a simple bloody monster - and now I am free! I am alive! No more chains, no more attacks and no more self destruction!
Schuster:	And Jesus did that?
Customer:	Yes, Jesus of Nazareth!
Schuster:	And how?
Customer:	Quite simply: he threw the demons out.
Schuster:	As simple as that?
Customer:	Yes, quite simply.
Schuster:	The boy knows some tricks!
Customer:	Tricks? What tricks? Jesus doesn’t have tricks, Jesus has authority – divine authority!
Schuster:	How do you know that?
Customer:	For one thing – the demons inside me screamed loudly enough and apart from thing, I experienced it with my own soul.
Schuster:	Where is Jesus? I have to see him!
Customer:	Gone.
Schuster:	Gone?
Customer:	Because he let the pigs drown. Your masterful colleagues in animal breeding and Roman trade got a little fright as they saw that the two of them were dealing two thousand possessed pigs. There are enough possessed people around here and if both of them have a thousand pigs, that ruins the business.
Schuster:	So what?
Customer:	That’s why they asked him to go.
Schuster:	Are they mad? If what you have told is really true, then we need this Jesus urgently! – Yes, but why didn’t you go with Jesus?
Customer:	I wanted to but he said that I should stay here and tell everyone what God did to me.
Schuster:	God? I thought...
Customer:	You still don’t understand? - Jesus is God!
Schuster:	Jesus himself is God?
Customer:	Yes, Jesus is God! That is why he has power over demons and can fight them away and that is why I have a new life now! – And now I need another Schuster, I have a long journey in front of me.

Autor: Peter Blöcher

Source/Copyright: This article was translated from German into English language by Praxis-Jugendarbeit.de. This article originates from the online Christian MAGAZINE, a magazine for members of staff of the “Christlichen Jugendpflege e.V”. Copying the material is allowed for group sessions. The use – also in part – for other publications, particularly internet use, or for commercial use must be agreed/permitted by the editor! Contact us at: www.christ-online.de