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A Sample of Bibliodrama

Memorial Lutheran Church
Afton Minnesota
Reverend John Matthews, Pastor
April 2, 2000
8:30 a.m. Service

Thank you for inviting me to this unique opportunity to be with you this morning and of letting me fill the slot in this service that is usually your Pastor’s. He has very graciously, daringly perhaps, allowed me to have a little bit of your attention this morning.

My name is Peter Pitzele, I am from New York and was brought here by the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning to share with a number of different communities, a particular way of studying Scripture that I have developed and made into my vocation. And I am here also to invite you to experience it. So let me begin by giving you a little bit of background of this particular way of addressing Scripture.

I am Jewish, though you may not see me as a typical Jewish person. I don’t think many Jewish people would stand here in a Lutheran Church accepting your very generous offer, (laughter) so already you know I am a little different. But I think of myself as a Jewish person and I have for the last half dozen years, even more than that, really become a student. I am not a rabbi; I am not even a synagogue attending Jewish person. I don’t go to services on Shabbat, on the Sabbath. But there are many ways of being Jewish, just as there are many ways of being Christian. One of the ways you can feel yourself to be Jewish is by studying the Jewish tradition, by delving into Jewish scholarship, and in particular, by studying the Jewish Scripture—the first five books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The first five books of your Bible are the first five books of the Jewish Bible, the Torah. Over the past number of years I have been a Torah-studying Jew.

One of the things I have come to understand as a latecomer to the Jewish world, to Jewish study, is that Jews have a particular attitude toward their Scripture. First of all, Jews don’t really use the word Scripture, but I use it, and I think it is adequate. But their Torah is something that Jews are constantly reinterpreting. If you go to a Jewish service, the sermon is as much going to be about studying the particular text, and its words and its interpretations, as it is likely to be about giving you a message to take home with you that will lift up your hearts and give you a sense of support and strength for the week to come. So this homiletic, this inspirational aspect of the sermon, and you are very familiar with that (well maybe not, I don’t know how inspired John is, [laughter] but he will attempt, I am sure, to be inspiring).

In the Jewish tradition then, there is this interest in what the text has to say and how it’s written and how it addresses itself. And over the centuries there has developed something the Jews call midrash. It is a Hebrew word meaning, "to explore." This tradition of studying as midrash comes about because, when the Jews read their stories carefully, they are aware that there are things that are left out.

I will give you an example. It is an example that I have been using all week, because it’s my favorite example. In the Garden of Eden story, which I trust all of you know, we have the serpent’s conversation with Eve. You recall the Serpent asks Eve, "Who told you that the tree isn’t any good?" "It’s good," she says, "but we shouldn’t eat or else we’ll die." And the serpent says, "You should eat…it’s quite possible to eat…nothing will happen to you if you eat…God’s crazy…your eyes will be opened…you’ll become like the gods. That’s the gist of the story, and you are all familiar with it. Yes? Make little nods if you know this. Good. So we get this long conversation, and then at the end of this we read: "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight for the eyes, and that the tree was be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate." You know this scene, you have heard it over and over, you have seen pictures of it. The next line in the story is: "and she also gave some to her husband and he ate."

When Jewish people read this story—not all of them—we cannot generalize about anything, but when many Jewish people read this story, they ask themselves: How did that happen? Did Eve just sort of toss that piece of fruit to Adam? Did she wait until he was hungry and sitting down for dinner and chop it up real fine and put it into his food so that he didn’t even know he was eating? Did she offer it to him and tell him, "Adam this is from the tree in the garden, in the middle of the garden. I have eaten it." And Adam looks at it, and what has happened? What is Adam thinking? These questions are not in the Bible. But if you read between the lines, if you slow down and recognize that there are things left out, then you are aware of the gaps, that the midrash—the commentary—fills in its own interpretations.

So when Jewish people read the Bible, they read and they ask these kinds of questions. Now the problem, the big problem with these kinds of questions, is that there is no right answer. If you are looking for the right answer, you would expect to find it here (in the Bible), and you could say if they wanted us to ask questions, if they wanted us to have the information they would have put it in. But we have the stories, we have gaps—things left out of stories—and in midrash, this particular Jewish way of studying, Jews were/are likely to ask questions and they got answers.

Some of you may be a little surprised at making up answers to questions about Scripture. I would like to invite you this morning to see what it is like to do that. That is to say, I would like to approach Scripture with you in a Jewish way. I would like to pose a story for us from Scripture, in which we might discover that some things have been left out. I would like you to help me imagine what we might do with the things that are left out. Raise your hand if you are willing to give it a try. Those of you aren’t…you can go to the cry room. (Laughter) You can sit there, you can gnash your teeth, you can cry, we won’t hear you, but you can hear us. I like the cry room. I am going to recommend it to every architect in the Jewish tradition that I meet, that when they create their next synagogue, they make sure they have a cry room. I think it’s a great idea. You were all kind enough to raise your hands and I appreciate it. But what we do may make you cry.

So here we go. The Scripture for today, from the Gospel, comes form the book of John, and we had it, we read it, we heard it, and what’s interesting is…no need to look at it…it won’t help you (laughter). I’m sorry, it will help you, it’s essential, but it won’t help you for what we are about to do right now. It will help you next Sunday when John gets you back again. (John: "We’re going to talk about what’s between the lines.") Yes…we’re actually going to talk about what’s before the lines.

My Bible has red and black writing. The words Jesus speaks are in red; everything else is in black. It makes it real easy when you open it to know who’s talking. It’s very useful. What we have today, in the Gospel, is all in red. And if you only read it from your weekly bulletin, you wouldn’t have known that there was a context for this. There was a story with which this particular passage is embedded. I’m interested in looking with you at the story, the context, in which these statements of Jesus are to be found. And we get this context in the beginning of John. The first thing that happens in the Gospel of John, apart from "In the beginning was the Word and the word was God" (that wonderful prologue) is the calling of the disciples in various ways, the gathering of the twelve, the wedding of Cana—a miracle. Then we have an amazing story in chapter 2 of John. I didn’t realize it was in chapter 2, it is later in the Gospel of Mark, namely, the story of Jesus cleansing the Temple. Now you know in Mark, this happens after the whole ministry of Jesus. He goes into Jerusalem, it is Passover time, he cleanses the Temple, gets himself in big trouble, which leads up to being arrested and crucified. In John, the cleansing of the Temple comes at the very beginning. It is Passover time; he drives the moneylenders out. It is great. I love this scene. And then just after that, here is Jesus in chapter 3:

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi [rabbi means my teacher in Hebrew], we know you are a good teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’

Now this is all in black, these are not yet the words of Jesus.

But…what are the things that Jesus does? We are interested in the deeds of Jesus. Let us recreate those deeds, or at least the passion in them. Think for a moment with me. You are Jesus. You walk in the Temple. You have this fiery zeal to clean things up. After all, this is supposed to be the house of God and it is being treated like a marketplace! Nobody, says Nicodemus, nobody could do these things unless they were filled with the spirit of God. So here’s my first question—first, I want to say that Nicodemus says what he says and then Jesus answers him, and Jesus says to him: "Truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without begin born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?"

So they have this conversation. But here’s my question: I want you to imagine that you are Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Greek name; it literally means the victor of the Jews. You’re Nicodemus and you come to Jesus and it says you come at night. That is what interests me. Why do you come to Jesus? And why do you come to him at night? I want you to be Nicodemus, and I want you to tell me in your own words why you come when you do.

(Congregants responses in italics.)

I don’t want anyone to see me. I don’t want anyone to know. I come at night because I don’t want anyone to know I am here. If that’s the case, then, why Nicodemus don’t you want anyone to know.

It might be dangerous. I might be in danger here…I wonder how safe it is…what might the danger be?

These are new ideas; this is a new wave that Jesus brings. Who can believe this stuff? He is upsetting the apple cart…he can get into trouble. I can get in trouble for associating with him. So why are you there, Nicodemus? Why do you go to Jesus? Why do you care?

We have to be careful of the authorities. Maybe you say to Jesus, "You better be careful, you’re messing with the powers." Now Nicodemus doesn’t actually get a chance to say that, but that may be one of the reasons he comes.

"I am Nicodemus, leader of the Jews, I take care of Jews, we live in Roman times!" We are here to look after you. I am here to look after you. What else might you be here, Nicodemus?

I am getting old. Even though I might be an old guy, I hear what everyone is saying about you and we know you are a teacher that has come from God. So we come back to Nicodemus…who is this "we?"

Peter: I belong to a special group. I am Nicodemus and I have a certain people that I talk to and teach. I am Nicodemus and I am a leader of people. I have influence on people. And I have been sent, been encouraged to go to you—check you out—ask you some questions, because we know. We have made up our minds, that you are the real you. We’re not doubters. We just want to know more, but I am coming at night, I don’t want to go public about this. We have some questions…we haven’t really heard you teach…we just heard about you.

So far so good. This is a slightly different way of studying the story. Notice what you have been doing. You have been speaking; we have been speaking as if we were there. And I want to know Nicodemus, how do you make your way…how do you plan your way, as a part of this group…how do make this journey…come at night…gain entrance into the presence of this man, Jesus. What kinds of feelings do you have as you approach him? You are Nicodemus, you are on your way to see him, you stand at the door and you knock. As you stand at the door, it opened. What do you feel in your heart?

Anticipation. I just feel a little anticipation. Anticipation is an interesting word. It can mean ooh goody, or it can mean oh-oh, so part of me can feel apprehensive…anticipation with a little fear in it.

Guilt. Part of me feels guilt. I’m not sure I should be here. Why?

I don’t know why I’m here. I don’t know what my mission is exactly, but I’m going to check it out. But suppose someone sees me…yet it’s dark. I don’t know why I’m here but I also feel excited. What is there to be excited about?

This man is real. This man is fresh and exciting as a thunder bolt. It’s me. It’s real. And what could it mean to me as Nicodemus contemplates this?

I might join him. Who knows, I might sign on the dotted line! I might join the guy. I don’t know what this guy has going here…I don’t know whether he has a group that lives here, but I’m going to reach out and I’m going to get close to this fire. And I hope I don’t get burnt.

Now, the door opens…and you see him. And you greet him respectfully. "Rabbi we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." (Nicodemus may say) Jesus, I’m here to tell you, I’m not one of the skeptics. I’m a Pharisee and I know that the Pharisees—some of the Pharisees—are giving you a hard time, always asking you these questions, getting on your case all of the time, right? You know about the Pharisees, how tough they are. I am a Pharisee, but I want you to know right up front, that I know that you are not a criminal, you are not a false teacher, you are a man of God. I want you know that right up front.

Does Jesus say thank you? Welcome? He lays right into him. You bet, he says, you bet… "I tell you no one can see the things from God without being the one from above." Now this is very interesting. First of all, let me ask you to do something really unusual. Let me ask you to be Jesus. Right now. Jesus, you open the door. Standing before you is a man who identifies himself to you as you see him and he says he is a Pharisee and he says: "Rabbi, you are a teacher, you are truly full of knowledge." What is your reaction to this man—as Jesus? There could be a full range…what reaction could you have?

As a Norwegian, I will welcome him (laughter). OK…as a Norwegian, as someone who comes from the north country in Galilee, I will welcome him. What I like about this is though we don’t get anything about sitting down and being comfortable, the midrash that we have here is that Jesus welcomes the man in. They don’t just stand at the door and have this conversation. But your Jesus says, come in, sit, let me make you something warm to drink, relax, you’ve come a long way. Good, I like that.

What else, Jesus, might be going on when you greet Nicodemus at the door?

I wonder what this guy wants. Heh…almost everybody that comes to my door wants something…heal me…teach me…get out of here. And it’s late…it’s after my bedtime. So I’m a little…you know, I want to check it out.

So Nicodemus says what he says. And we need to hear again what he says. "For no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God. God is with you." Jesus answered him: "Truly, I tell you no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." What does this mean? I am an old man. How can anyone be born again having grown old? So Nicodemus, Jesus speaks to you and then you give him this answer: "How can anyone be born again having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb?" And Jesus, you hear this answer from Nicodemus, and what do you say?

This guy doesn’t get it. You know, I’m talking Spirit here, talking in metaphors, I’m talking about spiritual truths, and this guy is saying to me…wait a second here…"how can you be born a second time? That’s impossible. We’re only born once."

You’re Nicodemus, Jesus is telling you something, and you don’t get it. Explain this to me. I don’t get it. And then Jesus says: "Verily I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh and what is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished." And Nicodemus wonders. Jesus continues: "Do not be astonished that I said to you that you must be born from above. The wind blows where it chooses and you hear the sound of it but do not know where it comes from or where it goes, so it is with everyone who is born of the spirit," Nicodemus says. "How could these things be?" You’re Nicodemus. You say how? How can these things be?

(Someone indicates a sigh of frustration.) Gee, I’m pretty smart, I studied my Torah, we have incredible study sessions, read the prophets, read the Abraham stories, but nobody, nobody has ever talked to me like this! Say more Nicodemus. What’s this like for you?

It’s confusing. It’s confusing! This goes against my all of my knowledge…something of understanding…my understanding. It’s confusing.

It’s a whole new idea. It is a whole new idea. It’s an idea that I have never really addressed directly. I never had to really deal with the subject. It’s upsetting to be confronted by a man who not only does amazing things, but says these amazing things.

So this is the predicament of Nicodemus, the Jew, who comes with a kind of open hearted interest and respect for this person of Jesus and he is confronted with something that is really beyond him. Those are the last words of Nicodemus.

Jesus goes on for another ten verses. And we don’t even get the line: "And then Nicodemus left." All we know is that Nicodemus left. We can think about this for Jewish-Christian dialogue. What goes on Nicodemus, as you are leaving? What goes on in your mind as you go back?

I have tough choices to make. Boy, it feels like in some way I have been offered something. I feel there is a choice here. I went in a spirit of reverence and appreciation, then this guy told me things that were really beyond me. He said that if I was going to understand these things, I was going to have to take off on a different path, a path that the people who sent me might not understand.

Nicodemus, you never appear again in the Gospels. What choice do you make?

I go back where I came from. It seems that Nicodemus made the choice to go back and be within the framework out of which he came. You’re a teacher…you’re a great rabbi…you are respected among your people…you don’t understand about being born again…this whole thing about a serpent being raised up…all this stuff that Jesus says is so confusing. It’s beyond me. And for whatever reasons, out of your allegiance to your tradition, out of your fear of stepping into the space that you are being called to step into by this man, Jesus, you go back.

Now this is he end of our bibliodrama. Thank you for taking part. This is the way I study the Bible. These are the kinds of questions I ask. This is a difficult story, because of what could happen to Nicodemus. (Peter selects a chair and places it in view before the congregation. The chair represents Nicodemus.) What are some of the ways Christians could view Nicodemus, judge him? Not here in Afton, of course, but in certain places in history. What are some of the ways that you think Nicodemus could be looked at? How could Christian writers present him? What would missionaries teach? What would they say about Nicodemus? What could they say about him?

He didn’t get it. He didn’t get it. What else could they say if they wanted to be mean-spirited and really touch on Nicodemus, what would they say?

He’s a wimp. He’s a wimp…he’s chicken…he was too scared to take that step.

He was stupid. They could say that he was stupid, that he was so literal-minded. That one could only be born from a womb. He doesn’t get it.

He’s scared. And he’s now bewildered, he’s such a literal-minded idiot. And what else could they say? And this is the kicker. They could say he is a Jew. They could say he is a Jew…he’s a Pharisee…he met up with the real thing…shuts down…gets scared…gets literal-minded…doesn’t have anything to say…walks away. And you know he’s going to be right there on Calvary throwing stones and reviling this guy he was afraid of. He is going to end up a Jesus hater.

I don’t for a moment say that anyone in this sanctuary would say this. But I do believe it’s true in the tradition. The tradition, and not necessarily the Lutheran tradition, but there are certainly threads and themes in the Christian tradition, which will take Nicodemus and see him as an example of the faint-hearted, small-minded antagonistic JEW. We see him as a man who might have come with an open heart—who sees this "real" thing, who gets into this dialogue with Jesus, and he discovers it’s more than he wants to do. "I’m not signing onto the whole pledge," he says. "I just wanted to come and see you." But there is an element in the Christian tradition that is going to say to the Jews that you are either for him or against him. And there is no middle ground. If you are for him, convert. Sign up. Declare Jesus as your Lord and Master and your Savior. If you are against him, then that means you’re one of those who killed him. And there is no middle ground. That is one of the things that, historically, Christianity has done. And I feel, I, Peter Pitzele, really identify with Nicodemus. I really appreciate the teachings—not all of the teachings—because as Peter Pitzele, I think that some of the things that Jesus said were added as people had different agendas, but I see Jesus in the Gospels a sweet, dear, brave, brilliant, foxy, wonderful teacher. The same guy that Nicodemus might have responded to. He might not have wanted to be a follower, but he might have been in love with his heart, his amazing healings and gestures, and the miracle at a wedding. He might have respected the man who went into the temple and said: "This is not right. This is the house of God, it is not a bazaar." That Jesus…I’d be there in a heartbeat, just like Nicodemus.

What I’d like to leave you with is a kind of hope: The Pope’s recent visit to the Holy Land. This act of "visiting" touches me. Nicodemus visits Jesus. The Pope visits the Holy Land. I visit Afton. You visit a Jewish way of looking at the Bible. We are visiting one another here. And when someone comes to visit, we don’t necessarily have him or her fill out a subscription form. That is not the point. The point is: Welcome to my house. And the Pope’s visit, in part, is a visit of apology. We have not entirely done you right. And this is true.

Thank you very much for being such a great audience. God bless you.

Dr. Pitzele presented a bibliodrama on Jesus and his Disciples at the Sea of Galilee
to the faculty, staff and students at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, March 2000.   
A mural in the apse of  St. Mary's Chapel, where the session took place, depicts the scene.

Testimonies on Bibliodrama

Rev. Peter Sethre, director of the Kairos Center for Continuing Education at Luther Seminary, announced that the Annual Jewish-Christian Seminar, held at Luther Seminary in 2000, and co-sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center, “was possibly the best in the 15-year history of the annual seminar.”  More than 30 participants expressed a desire to do an in-depth training session with Peter Pitzele, and consequently the Annual Bibliodrama Training Intensive was created.  Peter was also invited to return as the presenter for the 2001 Jewish-Christian Seminar. 

Following a session with the faculty, staff and students of The Saint Paul Seminary, Fr. David Kohner, director of spiritual formation, commented that he was “pleased about the active participation of the students, especially students who are generally not as interactive.”  Both Fr. Phillip Rask, rector of the seminary at the time, and Fr. Jim Motl*, who was director of homiletics, were equally grateful for the experience.  

*Fr. Motl was a participant in the first Bibliodrama Training Intensive 
sponsored by the center and was an active member of the Bibliodrama 
Guild until he  retired in 2002.

The tangible results of Bibliodrama continue to surface as new groups and organizations enter the dialogue through this experiential medium.  Many more testimonials could convey how Jews and Christians alike are continuing to examine their own and each other’s texts through this contemporary form of Midrash.  For some, it is a first encounter with the text.  For others, it offers a method and an opportunity to go deeper into the text.  As individuals gather to examine biblical narratives on an experiential level, and to discover and release the silences in the texts, they become aware that silence can be discovered and released between people of different faith traditions.  By approaching the texts with this premise, participants are able to hear each other’s voices in ways that transcend dogma and theology.  However, it is theology in its purest form: Faith seeking understanding.  Through this method, empathy and compassion emerge; tension, distrust and discord fade away.