This drama relates to Christmas explained lesson plan.
Also see: Christmas and Easter simply explained. RE resources
The Christmas Nativity drama is printer friendly.
SCENE 1
[MARY ON STAGE]
Narrator: Mary was just an ordinary young woman who was engaged to a man called Joseph. Suddenly an angel appeared to Mary and said:
Angel: [ENTER STAGE] Greetings, God is pleased with you!
Narrator: Mary was pppp-petrified!
Angel: Don’t be afraid Mary, God is pleased with you. You are going to have a baby, and you must give him the name ‘Jesus’. God will be the father, so he will be called the Son of God!
Mary: How come?! I can’t have a baby, I’m not married!
Angel: God’s Spirit will make this happen, don’t worry. [EXIT STAGE]
Narrator: Mary believed what the angel had told her. But she had a problem – how was she going to tell Joseph!
[EXIT STAGE SHAKING HEAD]
SCENE 2
Joseph: [STOMP ON TO STAGE. ANGRY] What do you mean, you’re pregnant! I haven’t touched you!
Mary: [ENTER STAGE. HEAD DOWN]
Joseph: Our wedding can’t go ahead! I’ll cancel all the arrangements!
Mary: But an angel appeared to me! You’ve got to believe me! God is going to be the father of this baby! It’s true Joseph, you’ll have to believe me! [RUN OFF STAGE]
Joseph: What am I going to do? This is bringing shame upon me! [PUT HEAD IN HANDS]
Narrator: While Joseph was in despair, an angel appeared and said:
Angel: Joseph! Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife! God is the father of this baby. Mary will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus. He will save his people from their sins. [EXIT STAGE]
Narrator: Now all this happened according to a prophesy which was spoken 700 years earlier. The prophet had said: “See, a virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and he will be known as Immanuel, which means, ‘God with us’.”
Joseph: [EXIT STAGE PUZZLED]
Narrator: There was another prophecy, relating to where this child was going to be born, and that place was Bethlehem. But Mary and Joseph lived in a little village called Nazareth, which was 90 miles [145 km] from Bethlehem! So did they remember the prophecy and go to Bethlehem just to have the baby? No! This is what happened:
As the time got nearer to the baby being born, the Roman authority, who ruled Israel, did an amazing thing. They decided that everyone in the whole Roman empire should be counted, but they didn’t issue forms to be filled in. They ordered that every family was to go back to the town where the head of their household was born. So for Joseph, that meant travelling to Bethlehem!
When Joseph and Mary got to Bethlehem they found the town heaving with people, and all the guest houses and hotels were full. But because Mary was so pregnant someone had pity on her. He took them to a stable where there was at least some dry straw to sleep on. Mary gave birth to a son and she laid him in a straw lined feeding trough – known as a ‘manger’.
SCENE 3
[THREE OR MORE SHEPHERDS SITTING AROUND A FIRE. 3 speaking parts]
Narrator: Meanwhile out on a hillside nearby, a group of shepherds were huddled around a camp fire.
Angel: [ENTER STAGE]
Narrator: Suddenly an angel appeared to them and said:
Angel: Don’t be afraid! I bring you great news – not just for you, but for everyone! Today in the town of Bethlehem a Saviour has been born. He is God’s Son, the One that all the prophesies point to. Go and look! This will be the sign to you that you’ve found the right child: You will find a baby wrapped in small strips of cloth and lying in a manger.
Group of Angels: [ENTER STAGE]
Narrator: Then a whole group of angels appeared and said:
Group of angels: May everyone adore and worship God, and may His peace be upon those who please Him.
Shepherds: [FALL TO GROUND IN FEAR]
Group of angels: [EXIT STAGE]
Shepherd 1: They’ve all gone!
Shepherd 2: Amazing! This is something special to tell the family!
Shepherd 3: Let’s go down to Bethlehem and see the baby! Come on!
[ALL SHEPHERDS EXIT STAGE]
Narrator: So the shepherds found Joseph, Mary and the baby lying in a manger, just as the angels had told them. They then returned to their hillside, praising and worshipping God, and whoever they met they told them what they had seen.
SCENE 4
[KING HEROD SITTING UPON HIS THRONE]
Narrator: Later, when Mary and Joseph had moved to a rented house in Bethlehem, some magi from the east saw a very bright star and they believed that it was telling them about the birth of a great King in Israel. So they travelled to that land to meet this newly born King. But the trouble was, they didn’t know where he was, so they went to the capital – Jerusalem, and met king Herod.
Magi: [ENTER STAGE AND BOW BEFORE KING HEROD]
Magi 1: Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?
Magi 2: We saw his star, showing that an important king has been born in Israel.
Magi 3: So we have come to worship him and give him gifts.
King Herod: [ANGRY] What! A king has been born! Where? I haven’t heard about this! I am the king around here! I want to know more about this – get my advisors!
Advisors: [ENTER STAGE AND BOW TO KING]
King Herod: This king that these wise men from the east are looking for, does the Scripture tell us where he will be born?
Advisor 1: Yes king Herod. The Scripture tells us that he will be born in Bethlehem.
Advisor 2: And that he will be a Ruler who will shepherd his people.
King Herod: [WORRIED] You magi, go and find this newly born king. Then come back to tell me where he is. [SLY LOOK] I want to worship him as well!
Magi: [BOW AND EXIT STAGE]
Narrator: The magi left king Herod and the star reappeared which led them to where Joseph, Mary and Jesus were, which was much more comfortable than the stable!
King Herod: Hmm. [PONDER THESE THINGS AND THEN EXIT STAGE]
SCENE 5
[ON STAGE: MARY, JOSEPH AND BABY JESUS]
Joseph: That’s a knock on the door. Who can that be at this time of the night? [EXIT STAGE AND THEN LEAD IN THE MAGI – LOOKING BAFFLED]
These men are from a far away country. They have followed a bright star to here, and they want to give some gifts to the newly born King!
Mary: You are welcome. Come and give your gifts.
Magi: [EACH IN TURN GO TO JESUS, KNEEL DOWN ON ONE KNEE, PUT THEIR GIFT NEXT TO THE BABY AND SAY THEIR WORDS (see below) THEN REJOIN THE OTHERS]
Magi 1: I bring you gold, to show that you are indeed a King.
Magi 2: I bring you incense, to show that you are God.
Magi 3: I bring you myrrh, to show that you will die.
Magi: [ALL BOW HEADS AND EXIT STAGE]
Narrator: The magi get warned by an angel not to go back to king Herod, but to go home by a different route. King Herod wasn’t interested in worshipping Jesus, he just wanted Jesus killed, so that there was no threat to himself being king. When king Herod realised that the magi hadn’t come back to say where Jesus was, he ordered his troops to kill all the boys under 2 years old in that area. That would guarantee that Jesus would be killed! But God sent an angel to Joseph and Mary:
Angel: [QUICKLY ENTER STAGE] Get out of here! Quick! Escape to Egypt, because king Herod’s troops are coming to kill the child!
Mary and Joseph: [GATHER SOME THINGS TOGETHER AND BABY AND EXIT STAGE]
Narrator: So they left that very night and went to Egypt.
SCENE 6
[JOSEPH ASLEEP IN A CHAIR]
Narrator: When king Herod died, an angel appeared to Joseph and said:
Angel: [ENTER STAGE] Get up! Take Jesus and Mary to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are now dead. [EXIT STAGE]
Joseph: [EXCITED] Mary! We’re going to go home! Let’s pack right away! [EXIT STAGE]
Narrator: They then went back to Nazareth, and in doing this they fulfilled another prophecy which said: ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’
Jesus grew into a young man. He taught many people about God – calling Him ‘Father’, and he performed many miracles proving that what He had said was the truth.
THE END.