Church Skits & Plays
A Palm Sunday skitWhere the Bench Stood4–5 actors · 5 min

Easter · 4–5 actors · 5 minutes · An adult and a child (8–11), plus two or three teens or adults

Where the Bench Stood

An hour after Jesus cleared the temple court, a dove seller comes back to his overturned bench and empty cages, and his daughter has been trying to tell him what happened next. A funny-then-warm Palm Sunday skit for all ages from Matthew 21.

$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 minutes
Cast4–5 roles · An adult and a child (8–11), plus two or three teens or adults
PrepOne walk-through, with lines learned ahead. Ezra has the most words and can tape a cue sheet inside the last cage he checks.
Best forPalm Sunday service, before a sermon on Matthew 21; a Holy Week program; children’s church
ScriptureMatthew 21:12–15 (KJV)
ThemeWhen Jesus came into Jerusalem, He cleared the temple court, and the blind and the lame came to Him there, and He healed them.
FormatPrintable PDF

About the skit

Ezra’s father put this bench in the temple court, and in thirty years it never moved, until this morning. Now it’s on its side, the cages are empty, and twelve pairs of doves are up on the roof, which in your church means somewhere over the congregation’s heads. His daughter, Miriam, has been trying to tell him something for an hour, and he won’t let her finish a sentence.

Then two strangers come through the court, and one of them stops right where the bench belongs. The other sat by the gate for ten years and knows Ezra by his voice. When Miriam finally gets to tell him what happened after the sellers were sent out, the skit lands on Matthew 21:14–15, and her “Hosanna to the Son of David” is the loudest line of the morning.

Written for Palm Sunday, before a sermon on Matthew 21, and it works in children’s church too. Four or five people of any age, with lines learned ahead and one walk-through; Miriam’s lines are all short. The staging notes cover playing Ezra as a working man and never a greedy merchant, never playing the healed for laughs, and the tape mark on the floor that makes the key moment work.

Read the first page

(EZRA walks in, stops and looks at the overturned bench. MIRIAM hurries in after him, bursting to talk.)

MIRIAM: Papa—

EZRA: Not now.

(He walks once around the bench, slowly, like a man looking at a wrecked cart.)

EZRA: (pointing at the empty spot) My father put this bench right there. Thirty years, it never moved. (beat) He tipped it over like a stool.

MIRIAM: Papa, after that—

EZRA: Hold this.

(He hands her a cage without looking. She holds it.)

MIRIAM: Papa, a man—

EZRA: (picking up a cage) Empty. (another) Empty. (He picks up the last one, peers inside and shakes it.) …Empty.

MIRIAM: They're on the roof.

EZRA: (looking up, over the congregation) I can see they're on the roof. (calling up) Come down! Come on! Nobody's buying you today!

(Nothing happens.)

EZRA: They used to come when I called. (He counts on his fingers.) Twelve pairs of doves. One good bench. And my dignity.

MIRIAM: Your dignity's fine, Papa.

EZRA: My dignity is on the roof with the doves.

(TOBIAS walks past, carrying one small cage.)

TOBIAS: I'm going home, Ezra.

EZRA: You found yours?

TOBIAS: Two. The rest are on the roof with yours.

EZRA: Tomorrow? Same as always?

TOBIAS: (looking back at the court) …We'll see.

(TOBIAS goes off the way he came.)

EZRA: (to MIRIAM) Tomorrow. Same as always. People need doves. A mother with a new baby. A man who can't afford a lamb. Two doves. It's in the Law. Somebody has to sell them.

The script continues in the full PDF.

Characters

  • Ezra, sells doves where his father sold them; proud, hardworking and the only one played for laughs
  • Miriam, his daughter (8–11), who saw everything and has been trying to tell him for an hour; can be Micah
  • The Man Who Was Lame, a teen or adult who walks as if every step were his first, and enjoys every one
  • The Woman Who Was Blind, a teen or adult who looks at everything as if she has never seen it before
  • Tobias, optional: sells doves at the next bench; three short lines

Props

  • A bench Ezra can lift alone, lying on its side
  • Four empty birdcages, baskets or crates
  • One small cage for Tobias
  • A piece of tape to mark the bench’s spot

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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