Church Skits & Plays
A full Easter programBetween the Cross and the Empty Tomb12–14 actors · 25 min

Easter · 12–14 actors · 25 minutes · All ages: teens and adults, one child (8–11), and younger children with palms

Between the Cross and the Empty Tomb

The Saturday after the crucifixion, five groups of people wait: two guards at a sealed tomb, a pilgrim family, a widow, two disciples behind a barred door and three women with their spices. A full 25-minute Easter program with a narrator and four hymns, ending on the first day of the week.

$16USD, tax included
  • Instant PDF download, yours to keep
  • Performance rights for your whole church
  • 30-day refund if it doesn’t fit your church
Running time25 minutes
Cast12–14 roles · All ages: teens and adults, one child (8–11), and younger children with palms
PrepThree rehearsals, the last one with the musicians. The narrator reads from a binder, and the widow has the most to learn, about 215 words.
Best forEaster program, Saturday-evening or Easter Sunday service; Good Friday evening, if your church tells the whole story in one night
ScripturePsalm 118:25; Matthew 21:8–9; 27:62–66; 28:2–4; Mark 12:41–44; Luke 23:55–56; 24:1–11; John 12:12–13; 16:16–22; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 (KJV)
ThemeOn the Saturday when nothing seemed to happen, God’s word still stood: on the third day Christ rose, as He had said.
FormatPrintable PDF

About the skit

It’s the Sabbath after the crucifixion, and five groups of people share one stage: two guards at a sealed tomb, a pilgrim family from Galilee whose child holds a palm branch gone dry and brown, an old widow with an empty purse, two disciples behind a barred door, and three women whose spices are ready. Each remembers one day of that week. After every scene the narrator says, “And nothing happened,” and the guard repeats his orders: “Until the third day.”

Each group ends its Saturday with a question nobody can answer: why He didn’t save them, how long “a little while” is, who will roll the stone away. Then the first day of the week comes, the pattern breaks, and every one of those questions gets its answer, down to the dry branch. The women’s morning is told from Luke 24, and the program closes on 1 Corinthians 15:3–4 and goes straight into “Christ Arose.”

About 25 minutes, 16 of drama and 9 of singing, with four congregational hymns; the short version without the widow runs about 20. Thirteen or fourteen speaking parts, most of them good for teens, plus one child (8–11) and as many younger children with palms as you like. Three rehearsals, the last with your musicians. The staging notes cover how the four parts run, a seal that breaks when the stone rolls, safe falls for the guards and the short version line by line.

Read the first page

(Hymn 1 · "All Glory, Laud and Honor")

(The congregation stands and sings verses 1 and 2 of "All Glory, Laud and Honor" (Theodulf of Orléans, about 820; English by John Mason Neale, 1854). During the hymn, the CHILDREN WITH PALM BRANCHES come down the center aisle waving green branches, wave them once more at the front, and go back to their seats by the side aisles. The pianist keeps playing, repeating the refrain or the last verse, until the last child is seated. On stage, the CHILD in the pilgrim family watches them pass, holding a branch that has gone dry and brown. The congregation sits. The narrator doesn't begin until the room is still.)

Part One · Saturday Morning

NARRATOR: That was the beginning of the week. Coats spread in the road. Branches cut from the trees. And a crowd that wouldn't stop shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."

NARRATOR: This is the end of that week. The Sabbath. The day after Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and laid in a new tomb in a garden. Jerusalem was still full of pilgrims for the feast, but on the Sabbath nobody worked, nobody traveled, nobody bought or sold. Everybody waited. (beat) And nothing happened.

(The GUARD and the SECOND GUARD march in and stop at the tomb. The GUARD stretches the cord across the stone and presses the lump of clay over it with his thumb.)

GUARD: Orders. "Make it as sure as ye can." (He presses the seal flat.) Stone sealed. Watch set. Nobody goes near it. (He takes his post beside the stone.) Until the third day.

SECOND GUARD: The third day from when?

GUARD: Yesterday was the first day. Today's the second. (beat) Until the third day.

NARRATOR: In a borrowed courtyard in the lower city, a family from Galilee who had come up for the Passover sat on their mat and waited for the Sabbath to end.

(The FAMILY sits on the mat with a small bowl of figs. The CHILD picks at the dry palm branch. The leaves crackle.)

CHILD: It's all crunchy.

MOTHER: It's been almost a week.

CHILD: When He rode in, it was green. (The CHILD gives it a small wave. It rattles.) Hosanna.

FATHER: Not today.

CHILD: Why not?

(The FATHER doesn't answer.)

MOTHER: Your father's tired.

CHILD: He shouted it the loudest. I was on his shoulders.

FATHER: I remember.

MOTHER: He took off his coat and threw it down in the road for the donkey to walk on. I'd never seen him do anything like that.

FATHER: Everybody did.

The script continues in the full PDF.

Characters

  • Narrator, tells the story from a lectern; calm, unhurried, and keeps coming back to “And nothing happened”
  • The Guard, in charge of the watch at the tomb; plain and by the book
  • Second Guard, younger and restless; asks too many questions
  • Father, a pilgrim from Galilee who shouted himself hoarse when Jesus rode in; now he hardly speaks
  • Mother, his wife, steady, who keeps the family going
  • The Child, a boy or a girl (8–11) with a palm branch gone dry and brown; many lines, all short
  • The Widow, old, poor and sharp-eyed; earlier that week she put two small coins in the temple treasury
  • First Disciple, one of the Eleven, hiding behind a barred door; can’t stop going to the door
  • Second Disciple, one of the Eleven; can’t stop remembering what Jesus said
  • Mary Magdalene, followed Jesus from Galilee and saw where He was laid
  • Joanna, another of the women from Galilee, whose husband manages Herod’s household
  • The Other Mary, Mary the mother of James; her spices are ready
  • First Man in White, one of the two men in shining garments at the empty tomb; speaks only Scripture
  • Second Man in White, the other; one person can play both
  • Children with Palm Branches, optional: as many as you like, for the opening hymn only
  • The Congregation, sings four hymns

Props

  • A lectern and a binder for the narrator
  • Green palm branches for the procession, and one dry, brown branch for the Child
  • A tomb opening with a cardboard stone, and a cord and clay for the seal
  • Two staffs and a cloak for the guards
  • A mat and a small bowl of dried figs for the family
  • An empty cloth purse and a low stool for the widow
  • A door, or a bench, that the disciples can bar
  • Three covered clay jars for the women

What you get

  • The full script with stage directions
  • Cast list, props list and simple staging notes
  • Four discussion questions for a small group, youth group or Sunday school class
  • Performance rights for your church: perform it as often as you like and print copies for your cast

Performance rights

One purchase covers one church or ministry. Perform it as many times as you like, make copies for everyone in the cast and crew, adapt the lines and include it in your livestream. Please don’t resell the script or share the file publicly. Read the full license.

More for your Easter program

Questions

Can I change the names or lines?

Yes. Change names and genders, trim lines for time or adapt a joke for your church. The script is yours to fit to your people.

Can we record and stream the performance?

Yes. You can include it in your livestream and post the recording on your church’s own channels.

How do I get the file after I buy?

Right after checkout you get a download link on the confirmation page and by email. It works for up to 20 downloads, and each copy is marked with your order so it stays licensed to your church.

Who is the seller on my receipt?

Payments are processed by Link, Stripe’s checkout, which acts as the reseller. Your card statement shows LINK.COM* CHURCHSKITS. Questions about the script itself come to us at hello@churchskits.org.

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