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The Night After
(in the darkness)
Woman: My name
Simon: My name
In Unison: My name is Sinful Woman/Simon the
Pharisee.
(light shines on Simon)
Simon: Born Simon Magus Josephus the third
Raised within the temple walls
Worked up to sit in the courts of Law
My list of merits
Runs almost as long
As the line of righteous men
I descend from.
Walk every inch of this holy city
And you see my face,
You hear my name
After countless years
Of hard work and striving
I have finally built my domain.
I’ve done all that I’m supposed to do
And I am
Simon the Pharisee.
(light shines on woman)
Sinful Woman: They call me “sinful-”
Stripped naked of my birth name,
Slapped with this title
I am defined by
The number of men I’ve slept with.
They call me woman,
In this society where women
Are property,
A set of hands
Used around the house,
A set of lips
Praised only when silent,
An empty womb
Bearing your illegitimate children.
And every morning, I fight to restore
My body
Broken
Like the standards and rules
I wish I didn’t have to defy.
I’ve done all I could do to survive
And I’ve become
Sinful
Woman.
(In Darkness) Simon: A few days ago
Woman: I heard
In Unison: This man Jesus was coming.
(shine on Simon)
Simon: I was walking to the temple
To study and preach
When suddenly a team
Of breathless priests
Came running,
murmuring about Jesus.
They said
Jesus-
this great prophet
curious miracle maker,
The provocative teacher
Law breaker
(maybe even rebellious faker?) – was coming
To our town.
And with the rising volume of the crowd
I grew hungry
To be part of this traveling story
Became thirsty
To host a celebrity
Started dreaming
Of the moment
When I would uncover
Jesus’ true identity.
(shine on woman):
Woman: I was walking toward the market
Taking alleys, cutting corners
When I crashed into
A wall of rumors
About Jesus.
I heard
Jesus- who touched and healed the lepers
Jesus- who honored and sat alongside women
Jesus – who talked and ministered to Samaritans
Talk of Jesus-
coming
To our town.
And with the echo of his name,
The sound of their stories
Suddenly,
I grew hungry
For a face
That would see beyond judgment;
Grew thirsty
For a touch
Unlike eager gropes,
Dreamed only of drinking
The sweet nectar of Grace— Straight from the source.
(In Darkness) Simon: And I knew
Woman: I just knew
In Unison: I had to see
him.
(shine on Simon)
Simon: So I did as any good Pharisee would do
And threw a huge banquet!
Invited Jesus
Along with the prominent men in town
Gathered my servants
To prepare for the crowds
Went into my warehouse
Filled with choicest meat and wine
To prepare a feast-
That would impress.
And when he came over
I laid out all my best,
Welcomed Him in
And gave him
A seat at the end
Of my table
At the place of honor— Right next to me.
(shine on woman):
Woman: So I went straight home to search for
My most prized possession-
The alabaster jar
Filled with perfume
Worth years of wages.
And with hope in my heart
jar in my hand
I ran-
Past the gossiping women on the corner
Past the temple I was unable to enter
Past gates I’d never neared before
Past the servants yelling “Stop” at the door
And straight through
The sea of straining faces,
In search of His.
(In Darkness) Simon: Then suddenly there was
Woman: And I just know that I was
In Unison: An interruption
(shine on Simon)
Simon: All intelligent conversation
And honorable company
Interrupted
By the commotion
Of this woman
Who somehow entered my house-
The stench of her sin
The trains of her hair
Dragging and fuming behind her.
My opportunity was wasted,
Like the contents of her expensive jar
Spilled out and ravaged
Upon the ground.
My reputation now tainted
Like my pristine floors now covered
With the dirty stains
Of this sinner.
And all I could wonder
Was how this man called prophet
Would allow himself to be humiliated
By this single, sinful woman.
(shine on woman):
Woman: I knew all their eyes
Were on me as I ran
I knew what they were thinking-
A whore, touching this holy man
But when He looked at me-
With those eyes-
All their rumors, their judgments
Were silenced.
And against the sounds
Of my own weeping
I released perfume
From my alabaster jar,
Released dirty water
From the dams of my heart
Rolled down all my hair
In a scandalous sight-
I anointed the feet of the Christ.
And as tears streamed
Down my dirty face
Jesus poured out streams
From His goblet of grace
So I drank-
Until the stains of mercy
Coursed down like purple wine
Upon my chin
My neck
My trembling chest
Washing away every trace
Of shame.
(In Darkness) Simon: And I couldn’t believe
Woman: I couldn’t believe
In Unison: What he said
(shine on Simon)
Simon: He turned to me
Said he had something to tell
Tried to trick me
With a question
About debtors,
I couldn’t answer so weel
And in front of the crowd,
In my very own house,
He began to accuse me
Of not giving Him water for his feet,
Though I’d given him expensive food and drink
Of not greeting Him with a kiss on the cheek
While I had greeted him with an honored seat
Of not pouring oil on His head
When I’d poured out the oil of duty
Instead.
And then
He even had the nerve to say
That this woman’s sins
Were forgiven?
(shine on woman): Sinful Woman: He turned to me
In the midst of a callous crowd
And said
My sins
Were forgiven.
He looked at me
In a sea of averted eyes
And said
My faith
Had saved me.
He touched me with His hand
In a crowd full of angry fists
And said
To go
In peace.
(All lights on, looking straight at audience): Simon: And it couldn’t be
true- (slowly)
The Woman: What Jesus was saying
(slowly)
(pause) In Unison: Could
it?
(All lights off)
Simon: Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five
hundred denarii, and the other
fifty.
Woman: Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the
debts of both.
In Unison: Now which of them will love him more?
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