Jesus’s Power to Heal	aee
	Accessible EasyEnglish

 

An EasyEnglish Drama Unit (Accessible Easy English) on
Matthew 8:28 to 9:8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26

www.easyenglish.bible

Frances Jones

About this unit

This unit, ‘Jesus’s Power to Heal’ has five parts.

1. Background

2. English word study

          A teaching unit on new vocabulary

3. A story

4. A speaking play – including Script in AEE

English speakers do not say each word clearly. They run words together. These words are contractions. This play has contractions in it. That’s so it will sound right when speaking English.

Sometimes English speakers do not use contractions. That is when they are angry, or when they want to be sure that a person understands them.

5. Word list

 

1. Background

 

‘Jesus’s Power to Heal’ is three stories in one. The first story tells about Jesus’s power over demons. The second story tells about Jesus’s power over disease.

The third story tells about Jesus’s power over sin. This time Jesus tells the scribes and Pharisees plainly that he has the power of God.

The scribes and Pharisees hate Jesus. They want him to do something wrong so they can arrest him. That’s why they are there.

It was against the law for Jews to take care of pigs. It was against the law to say anything against God. Those are things the scribes and Pharisees are looking for. If Jesus does any of them the scribes and Pharisees will arrest Jesus.

If the speaking play is acted out, the audience is in the play. The lame man must be carried in on a mat, not let down from a roof.

The speaking play can be read as a choral reading.

There are new words in the speaking play that readers may have to learn.

 

References:

John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, Clarke’s Commentary, New Revised Version of the Bible, Contemporary English Version of the Bible, New English Bible.

 

2. English word study

 

Teaching new vocabulary

 

 

Some new Bible words are in this lesson. Here are three of them:

 

1. blasphemy (blă s fě mē) - blasphemy is saying something against God.

                                      To say, ‘God is a bad spirit’ is blasphemy.

                                      To say, ‘God does not live’ is blasphemy.

 

Do you see something that does not look right in the word blasphemy?

The ph in blasphemy sounds like f.

You know other English words with ph that sounds like f:

          phone

          photo

          Pharisee

 

2. leprosy (lĕp rō sē) – leprosy is a disease.

Most of the time we see leprosy on the skin.

Leprosy comes from germs.

In Bible times anyone with leprosy

   had to live outside the city.

 

3. demon (dē mŭn) – a demon is an evil spirit.

                                      Two men with demons yelled at Jesus.

                                      Some people say demons live in the world today.

 

Read these sentences:

 

1.       The Pharisees said Jesus talked blasphemy.

 

2.       It is blasphemy to say, ‘I am better than God.’

 

3.       Cursing with God’s name is blasphemy.

 

4.       A man with leprosy can be healed.

 

5.       Leprosy comes from germs.

 

6.       In the past a person with leprosy lived away from other people.

 

7.       A demon is an evil spirit.

 

8.       Demons were said to take over a person’s life.

 

Put in the right word:

 

1.       A ______________________ is an evil spirit.

2.       To say, ‘I am better than God’ is _________________________.

3.       A person with _______________________ is sick.

 

Some kn words with no k sound:

 

know – to understand

          I know the way to London.

 

knife – a cutting tool

          This knife will not cut hot butter!

 

knight – the queen says this man has done good things.

          Sir Walter Scott was a knight.

 

knee – where your leg bends

          My knee hurts when I bend it.

 

kneel – to bend your knees to the floor

          I kneel to the queen.

 

knelt – past tense of kneel

          A man with leprosy knelt in front of Jesus.

 

Today             Yesterday

  run                         ran

  see                         saw

  heal                        healed

 

Read this paragraph:

Spot’s Hurt Knee

 

          Sam’s dog, Spot, had a hurt knee.

          Sam said, ‘I think Spot has leprosy. His knee hurts. I am going to take Spot to the dog doctor. I know the doctor can heal Spot’s knee’.

          Sam tried to get his dog, but Spot ran into his doghouse. Sam got Spot out of the doghouse. But then Spot jumped out of Sam’s arms. Spot ran down the street.

          Sam knelt on the pavement. He saw Spot running away. Sam yelled, ‘Spot! Come back! Your hurt knee cannot be healed if you do not come back.’

          Then Sam said, ‘Spot runs very fast for a dog with a hurt knee.’

 

Do you think Spot had leprosy?  Yes              No

Do you think Spot had a hurt knee?      Yes              No

 

Words that sound alike

 

A Man’s Friend

Is a friend with money to lend

Better than a friend

With money to spend?

 

The Dancing Pig

Did you see that pig

With the big pink wig

Dancing a jig?

Dancing a jig

And eating a fig

All at the same time?

 

Piling Up the Tiles

Go with me and smile

While I take off this tile

And pile it in a pile.

A pile of tiles

Makes a hole in the roof.

So go with me and smile

While I pile up the tiles

And make a hole in the roof.

 

Fred’s Bed

Dad said, ‘Go to bed, Fred.

Go to your little red bed, Fred.’

Then Dad led sleepy Fred

To his little red bed.

3. Story

 

Jesus’s Power to Heal

by Frances Jones

 

Matthew 8:28 to 9:8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26

 

Jesus healed many people.

Matthew, Mark and Luke in the Bible tell about people Jesus healed.

Matthew tells about two men that had demons in them.

The demons were mean and angry.

When the men with demons saw Jesus, they yelled at him.

They yelled, ‘What do you have to do with us, Son of God?

          Are you going to hurt us?

          Are you ready to destroy us?’

The demons said, ‘Oh, Son of God, do not make us go away.’

Then they saw some pigs a little way off.

The demons said, ‘If you make us go away, Son of God,

          let us go into the pigs.’

Jesus said to the demons, ‘Go.’

So the demons went out of the two men. They went into the pigs.

When that happened, the pigs started to run.

They ran and ran. The pigs ran right down into the sea.

The pigs died in the sea.

 

Mark and Luke tell about Jesus healing a man with leprosy.

A man with leprosy knelt in front of Jesus.

He said, ‘Jesus, if you want to, you can heal me.’

 

Jesus said, ‘Yes. I will heal you.’

He touched the man.

‘Your leprosy is healed’, he said

Then Jesus said, ‘Do not tell anyone I healed you.’

But the man was so happy, he ran,

          yelling, ‘Look at me! I am healed!’

So crowds of people came to see Jesus. They wanted to be healed.

          More crowds came to listen and see the healing.

Scribes and Pharisees were there, too.

 

Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell

          about the lame man that was healed that day.

This lame man had four friends.

These friends carried the lame man to Jesus.

They wanted Jesus to heal him.

They tried to take the lame man into the house,

          but there were too many people.

So they carried the lame man up to the roof.

In those days houses had flat roofs.

Many houses had tile roofs.

The lame man’s friends put the roof tiles to one side.

They made a hole in the roof.

Then they let the lame man down right in front of Jesus.

Jesus looked at the lame man and said, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’

The scribes and Pharisees heard Jesus.

They started asking, ‘Who is this man that talks blasphemy?

          No one can forgive sins but God.’

 

Jesus heard the scribes and Pharisees.

He asked them, ‘Why do you have questions in your hearts?

          Is it easy to say, “Your sins are forgiven” and then sins are forgiven?

          Is it easy to say, “Stand up and walk” and then a man walks?’

Jesus said to the scribes and Pharisees,

          ‘So that you know I am Son of Man,

          and I have the power to forgive sins,

          I say to this man, ‘Stand up. Take up your bed and go home”.’

The lame man got up. He got his bed and started home.

The lame man and the people in the crowd said,

          ‘Praise God!  Praise God!  We have seen nothing like this!’

 

4. A Speaking Play

 

English speakers do not say each word clearly. They run words together. These words are contractions. This speaking play has contractions in it. That’s so it will sound right when speaking English.

 

 

Jesus’s Power to Heal

by Frances Jones

 

Matthew 8:28 to 9:8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26

 

 

CHARACTERS

Jesus

Pharisee from Jerusalem

Pharisee from Judea

Pharisee from Galilee

The lame man

Four friends

Scribes

Shepherd

Audience

 

SETTING

 

Outside

 

PROPS

Cloth for carrying the lame man

Clothes for Pharisees and Scribes

 

 

Stage directions are on the actor’s right and left.

 

The people in the audience are in this play. They all sit or stand near Jesus to see the healing.

About half the audience are Pharisees and Scribes. The Pharisees wear scarves with a fringe. They have small scrolls tied to their left arms and on their foreheads. Scribes wear brightly coloured clothes. The others in the audience wear grey, brown or white.

A shepherd is in the audience.

 

SCENE ONE

 

Pharisees and Scribes:  We’re from everywhere!

 

Pharisee from Jerusalem:  From Jerusalem!

 

Pharisee from Judea:  Judea!

 

Pharisee from Galilee:  And all of Galilee!

 

Pharisee from Judea:  We’re here to see

 

                                      if what we’ve heard is true.

 

Pharisees and Scribes:  If what we’ve heard is true.

 

Pharisee from Judea:  I heard he sent pigs into the sea.

 

Pharisees and Scribes:  Working with pigs is blasphemy!

 

Shepherd:  No, no, you have it wrong. Two men with demons came.

 

                                      The demons yelled to Jesus,

 

                                      ‘Son of God! Do not destroy us.

 

                                      Do not destroy us!

 

                                      Look!  Look at the pigs in the grass.

 

                                      Send us to the pigs.

 

                                      Do not destroy us and we will let you pass.’

 

Pharisees and Scribes:  Demons? They said ‘Son of God’?  Blasphemy!

 

Shepherd:  Jesus said, ‘Go, then, into the pigs.’

 

                                      The demons went out of the men

 

                                      and into the pigs.

 

                                      And the pigs ran into the sea.

 

                                      They’re dead now.

 

Pharisee from Judea:  I heard he healed a man with leprosy.

 

Pharisee from Galilee:  Can a man cure leprosy?

 

                                      Can a man make lepers clean?

 

Pharisee from Jerusalem:  That’s blasphemy.

 

Pharisee from Galilee:  But if he can — if he can —

 

                                      Can a man do what God can do?

 

                                      What does it mean when a man heals leprosy?

 

Pharisee from Jerusalem:  It means he is a fake.

 

Scribes:  He is a fake.

 

Pharisee from Jerusalem:  Yes, a fake. No man can make

 

                                      a leper clean.

 

Shepherd:  A man was blind but today he sees.

 

Pharisee from Jerusalem: No. It cannot be.

 

Scribes:  It cannot be!

 

Shepherd:  Yes, a man was blind but today he sees.

 

Pharisee from Judea:  It did not happen. We all agree

 

                                      the blind can never see.

 

Pharisees and Scribes:  We all agree. The blind can never see.

 

All:  Jesus comes!  He’s at the door.

 

Pharisee from Galilee:  We will wait and watch. Speak no more.

 

                                      We will wait and watch,

 

                                      and catch this fake before

 

                                      these men are taken in

 

                                      by his lies.

 

All:  What’s that sound?  That sound above?

 

Shepherd:  It’s just a dove or two.

 

All:  No, it’s men, and more than two.

 

                                      They’re taking off the tiles.

 

                                      They’re coming in the roof.

 

                                      They’re piling up the tiles

 

                                      and coming in the roof.

 

Shepherd:  Wait. Here they come.

 

                                      Look, they’re carrying in a man,

 

                                      a man who cannot walk.

 

All:  He cannot walk!

 

Friend of Lame Man:  Master, the men at the door

 

                                      did not let us in.

 

                                      Master, we pushed off the tiles

 

                                      and came in the roof.

 

                                      Master, please heal my friend.

 

                                      He is weak and lame.

 

                                      See how thin he is.

 

Jesus:  Yes, I see your friend.

 

                                      Lame man, your sins are forgiven. Be at peace.

 

Pharisee from Galilee:  What? He forgives his sins?

 

                                      It cannot be!  It’s blasphemy!

 

                                      God, not man, forgives a sin.

 

Pharisees:  God, not man, forgives a sin!

 

Pharisee from Jerusalem:  I said he is a fake. Yes, he is a fake.

 

Jesus:  I turn to you, men of law,

 

                                      I ask you this:

 

                                      Is it easy to forgive sin?

 

                                      Or is it easy to say, ‘Stand up, walk’?

 

                                      Which is easy to do?

 

                                      I, Son of Man, say to this lame friend,

 

                                      ‘Your sins are forgiven.

 

                                      Stand up. Walk.

 

                                      Take your bed and go.’

 

Lame Man:  Praise God, I can walk!

 

                                      Praise God, I am healed!

 

                                      Listen, you people,

 

                                      Praise God with me!

 

                                      My sins are forgiven.

 

                                      Praise God, for my life again.

 

                                      Praise God, I’m forgiven of sin.

 

                                      See, I can walk!

 

                                      Praise, oh, give praise to God!

 

Shepherd:  What we have seen today

 

                                      is more wonderful than we can say.

 

Pharisee from Jerusalem:  He’s a fake.

 

Shepherd:  Silence. A lame man walked today.

 

                                      A man’s sins were forgiven today.

 

                                      Praise God for what we’ve seen today,

 

                                      It is more wonderful than we can say.

5. Word List

A list of words in the speaking play

 

 

© 1997-2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in Accessible EasyEnglish.

September 2006

Visit our website: www.easyenglish.bible