The PLAY

On the morning of April 5th, 33 AD, Pontius Pilate wakes to news from his First Centurion that the body of Jesus Christ whom he crucified a few days earlier is missing from the tomb his soldiers were guarding.   There is a general alarm at Pilate’s residence and within the Jewish Temple, both in Jerusalem.   Pilate is visited by Chief Priest Caiaphas to whom he commits to finding the body.   Pilate commissions his tax collectors and other informants who were welcomed associates of Jesus to find out what happened to the body.  He proceeds to question the Centurion at the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea, the guards at the tomb and others to confirm the death and burial of Jesus, but the body remains missing.  Complaints about Pilate’s management of the province have already reached Rome.   Pilate’s loyalty to Emperor Tiberius is being reviewed by the new imperial administration.

 

Unable to locate the body, Pilate is faced with the further news that Jesus has appeared before His followers in a locked room within the city, an event also confirmed by the Temple Authority.  He is concerned that Jesus might appear within the Temple as He has done many times before, perhaps before his own soldiers as well, and that his control of the province will be compromised.    Even at present there are followers of Jesus among his own soldiers.   Pilate cannot report back to Rome that someone has risen from the dead and that public order is at risk without raising further questions about his appointment as Prefect of Judea. 

 

He must recover the body.