Church Skits & Plays
A Maundy Thursday monologueThirty and One1 actor · 5–6 min

Easter · 1 actor · 5–6 minutes · One adult man

Thirty and One

Minutes after he walks out of the upper room, Judas counts thirty pieces of silver onto a tray and explains why he did it, without once looking at the piece of bread still in his other hand. A serious Maundy Thursday monologue for one man.

$8USD, 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 time5–6 minutes
Cast1 role · One adult man
PrepMemorized, with two rehearsals at the table with the real coins. If he must read, tape large-type pages along the back edge of the table; a lectern won’t work.
Best forMaundy Thursday service, Tenebrae, Holy Week program
ScriptureMatthew 17:22; 26:14–16; John 6:10–15; 12:3–7; 13:4–8, 21–30; 18:1–2 (KJV)
ThemeJesus knew who would betray Him, and He still dipped the bread and handed it to Judas Himself.
FormatPrintable PDF

About the skit

Judas comes up the aisle fast, tips thirty coins onto a metal tray and counts them like the treasurer he is. Then he tells you why. He watched Jesus walk away from a crowd that wanted to make Him king. He heard Him talk about dying, and about Mary’s ointment kept for His burying. Tonight he watched the King of Israel wash feet. Every reason ends with a handful of silver crashing onto the tray.

All the while he holds something in his left hand and never looks at it, until he points back toward the room he left and sees it. It’s the piece of bread Jesus dipped in the dish and handed him at the table, from John 13:21–30, and he finds he can’t set it down. There’s no humor and no villain here: Judas believes every word he says, and admits the thieving himself.

It’s written for Maundy Thursday or Tenebrae, and the congregation sings “’Tis Midnight, and on Olive’s Brow” as he walks out. One man, a table, a pouch of coins and a piece of bread, with two rehearsals. The staging notes cover doing everything one-handed, how loud the coins should crash, and keeping the scene clearly apart from the Lord’s Supper.

Read the first page

(JUDAS comes in through the back doors and walks fast up the aisle, like a man who has just left a room and doesn't want to be followed. The pouch is in his right hand. In his left, held low at his side, is the piece of bread. He never looks at it. At the table he opens the pouch with one finger and tips the coins out onto the tray in one long rattle. Then, by habit, he counts them fast with one finger, two at a time, lips moving. The last four he counts aloud.)

JUDAS: Twenty-seven. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty.

(He looks up at the congregation.)

JUDAS: It's all there. I keep the bag. I count things. Somebody in that room had to.

(He scoops up a handful of coins and lets them drop. The crash is loud. It startles even him. He scoops up another handful and holds it.)

JUDAS: Don't look at me like that. You weren't there. I was. Three years I walked behind Him. I left everything to do it. I'd have died for— (His hand opens over the tray. Crash. He waits for the last coin to stop rolling.) For the man I thought He was.

JUDAS: I was on that hillside when He fed five thousand men with five loaves. That same afternoon they wanted to make Him king. (beat) And He walked away from them. Up the mountain. By Himself.

(Crash.)

JUDAS: After that, all He wanted to talk about was dying. "The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men." He told us that back in Galilee, months ago. We'd look at the road until He changed the subject. (beat) He never changed the subject.

The script continues in the full PDF.

Characters

  • Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who kept the money bag; quick, practical and sure he’s the only clear head in the group

Props

  • A small bare table with a rimmed metal tray
  • A stiff drawstring pouch with thirty large coins or washers
  • A ragged piece of flatbread, one edge dark where it was dipped

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.

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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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