The Gospel as Public Drama

Jesus was a master of the public drama. At the time when word-of-mouth communication was primary, Jesus faced the awesome task of becoming seen and known and understood by great numbers of widely scattered people in a very short period of time. And public drama was the mode of communication by which he accomplished that monumental task. No matter where we look into the life of Jesus we find him creating and controlling a profound public drama. It was the public drama in which he engaged that made him a spontaneous public figure that people were forced to react to, that made him highly visible to all segments of the public, that caused the whole world, then and now, to see him.

Drama is anything that contains within it core elements of conflict and crisis; the element of human risk, and to a strong degree, elements such as mystery and even victimage. Orrin E. Klapp, in his fine book, Symbolic Leaders (Minerva Press), has summed it up very well: "The very essence of drama -- the high point of its most important scenes -- is usually a confrontation in which parties are thrown on their mettle, reveal and expose themselves, drop their defenses, call on their personal resources to meet a crisis. Spontaneity is maximized. On stage, a script takes care of this, but in real life spontaneity means unexpected behavior and consequences; no one knows quite what will happen; mistakes, contretemps or foolish roles are likely ... A dramatic crisis is a turning point, a point of unpredictability and emergence. The 'hero' is the one to whom we turn as a vehicle to carry us through the crisis."

"News" is by definition human drama. The news media are interested in any event, happening, situation, group or individual that is somehow dramatic or made dramatic. The "newsworthiness" of any story, or the extent to which people want to read about it, depends on the degree of conflict and unpredictability in it, the degree of mystery it contains, or the degree of risk or danger incurred by those involved in it; the story is all the more newsworthy if it places our own lives in a position of risk or uncertainty or conflict. Jesus understood and utilized to a profound degree the dramatic root of human communication, and his communicative effectiveness can be traced to that key understanding and practice. Moreover, it is this focus on Jesus' use of public drama that opens up to us a study of the New Testament pattern for our communication of him to the world today. The miracles of Jesus need to be studied in terms of the dramatic. Jesus said on several occasions that the miracles were for the purpose of manifesting the glory of God (see, for example, John 2:11). But in our handling of that statement, we usually put the emphasis on the term "glory of God." My suggestion, however, is that we also emphasize the other side of that assertion: the term "manifest," or show. This is a term referring to the communicative nature of the miracles; the miracles were designed, as much as anything, else, to communicate. And they did that, I submit, largely because of their inherently dramatic dimensions and elements. The communicative power, the drawing power -- the "newsworthiness," if you will -- of the miracles cannot be understood without seeing at their root the mystery they contain; they represent a sharp and, from a human vantage point, unexplainable break in the ongoing nature of life and reality. They are the essence of unpredictability and uncertainty; the "intrusion" of some mysterious force breaking into the predictable affairs of humans. Quite simply, the miracles of Jesus contain all of the elements of public drama.

On one occasion, Jesus was preaching (John 6:1-13). The day was late and many people were getting hungry. A keen restlessness set in among the people. The disciples were becoming concerned and agitated. What was going to happen? Jesus, in effect, let the crisis develop; then he moved quickly and quietly. The boy was found. The disciples were told to distribute to the multitude the little lunch he had. Somehow, the food supply grew and grew. Everyone was fed, and the leftovers were gathered up. And the crowd became aware that, at the point of hunger and conflict and risk and unpredictability, Jesus had intervened in a mystifying way. The effect was electrifying. Jesus had quietly, subtly presided over the enactment of a stunning human drama. And the crowds took with them not only the preaching of the day, but the public drama that they had seen and participated in. Because of the drama the "news" of Jesus spread to every corner of the country. The drama that Christ created created the "news."

The story of the raising from the dead of Lazarus is as sharp and moving a public drama as is found in the ministry of Jesus (John 11:1-46). It seems that Jesus intentionally let Lazarus, his friend, die. The Jewish leaders, it seems to me, sensed that he did, and stayed close to him to see what he would do. It is as though that is what Jesus wanted them to do. Time passed, and one cannot fail to see the suspense growing as Lazarus' sisters want Jesus to perform a miracle; then, after several days, they do a turnabout, urging Jesus not to bother the body, because of the fear of embarrassment and risk if Jesus should fail or if something should go wrong. It is a story of crisis, of intrigue, unpredictability and uncertainty about the outcome. But Jesus -- four days after Lazarus' death -- makes his way to the tomb. Then he calls for Lazarus to come forth from the tomb. It seems that Jesus knowingly and deliberately orchestrated the entire drama that issued in the totally mysterious. The impact was in the drama. Jesus, the creator of and central figure in the drama became known throughout the world from top to bottom.

We could mention other miracles -- the turning, of water into wine, the feeding of the 5,000, the walking on the water, the casting out of devils, the giving of sight to the blind -- and in each the elements of public drama are crucial. And the communicative power of the miracles is in the drama. This may be part of the reason why Jesus did not heal every person who needed it. He did not use miracles to feed all of the hungry or raise all of his friends from the dead. He wanted the entire world to see him, to know of him; and, significantly, his use of drama -- inherent in his handling of the miracles -- was a major element in the accomplishment of that task.

Jesus and the Pharisees
The communication pattern of Christ can also be seen in the conflicts and confrontations that he engaged in. When we study the life of Jesus we find some remarkable conflicts with other people, conflicts that Jesus himself created, conflicts with people in positions of authority, people who have the power to make that confrontation extremely risky and potentially disastrous for Jesus, from a human point of view. But Jesus' confrontations are visible and highly dramatic; and in the drama of those public confrontations is the profound human communication that quickly turns Jesus, quite frankly, into a nationally known figure.

Read, for example, Matthew 23:1-36 to find Jesus engaging in a direct and vigorous public confrontation with the religious (and, indirectly, the political) leaders of the country. Jesus is emphatic and provocative: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees ... woe unto you, you hypocrites ... woe unto you, you blind guides, you fools." He lashes hard and long with them. Jesus is throwing down the gauntlet, daring them to respond, to do something to him if they wish. The air is tense and heavy with suspense. The crowds are watching. It is a dramatic, head-to-head encounter in a public place, bristling with risk, conflict and unpredictability. Jesus does this at numerous points throughout his ministry.

His language does not appease -- it is confrontational. It is not a language that seeks to minimize differences and keep things running smoothly -- it is a language that is sharp, biting, and deliberately baiting. It is not a language at all designed to make friends -- it is a language designed to create and to foment crisis. It is a language of risk and unpredictability, a language that openly invites a stern, even violent, response from those against whom it is aimed.

It is no wonder that the crowds stayed very close to Jesus whenever and as much as they could. He becomes identified with conflict and provocation and the threat of danger and retaliation. This is public drama in a very intense form; and it is word of the drama--with Jesus as its central creature and figure -- that spreads quickly and widely, and with a minimum of any formal communicative network.

Reflect, too, on the confrontation set up by Jesus when he "invaded" the temple. It is an open creation of conflict, again. Jesus was destroying or at least endangering property that did not belong to him, legally -- and he was not arguing the point. He was, in effect, asking for the merchants to call the temple guards. His action was a deep risk; it contained uncertainty and unpredictability. It was a public action, a confrontational public action, aimed at both religious and civic leaders. And word of Jesus, again, spread because the drama was intense and real, as real as the fury and growing determination of the religious leaders who were fast becoming willing to carry the conflict that Jesus asked for to its dramatic climax. But Jesus knew what he was doing -- the world was now watching him and hearing about him and, to a significant degree, hearing him.

There were many other confrontations in which Jesus engaged. For example, on a smaller scale, Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler was a sharp dramatic situation. The young man had much to offer, as the crowds standings about knew. He was expressing a willingness to pitch in with Jesus. But Jesus immediately set up a direct conflict between himself and the young man by telling him that to follow required his giving up everything...period. It was a crisis moment; Jesus created it. It was a moment of intense drama--would the young man, who had much, do it, or not? The young man chose to live without risk, without conflict, and he walked away from the Master.

One other important drama that Jesus openly created were the dramatic elements involved in his entry into Jerusalem and the events that led up to it.

John's Gospel account indicates that the rage of the Jewish leaders grew so intense against Jesus that Jesus fled and went into hiding: "From that day forth (the Jewish leaders) took counsel together to put him to death. Jesus therefore walked no more openly among the Jews; but went thence unto a country near the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples" (John 11:53, 54). Jesus, contended, in fact, that his time was not ready, that things were not quite right for a culmination of events. The fact is, however, that Jesus' hiding from the Jews contributed significantly to the building of the drama itself. He provoked the rage of the Jewish leaders to a peak of intensity, then he disappeared, becoming, as it were, a fugitive. They could not find him. That key element of mystery could only deepen their fury at him and cause the people of the country to wonder where he was hiding out. Instead of the public discussion of him diminishing, it no doubt increased and intensified.

Then, according to the Gospel writers, Jesus determined to come out of hiding and head back toward Jerusalem. He "set his face" in that direction, knowing full well that the drama was now such that the entire city would "see" him and be aware of him. He knew exactly what was ahead.

The journey back toward Jerusalem itself attracted crowds of people, most of them probably wondering where Jesus had been hiding, many of them wanting to see the "fugitive" who now seemed to be turning himself in. The news that he was coming spread rapidly to those back in the city, including the officials who were on the lookout for him, and who were, by now, probably worried about the way he would return to the city. Moreover, Jesus further amplified the drama by the way he arranged his entry into Jerusalem. He sent two of his disciples ahead with instructions to find a young colt that had never been ridden. It was, to say the least, unusual for a man to ride such a small, young animal. But the colt is dramatic in its symbolism. It is the opposite of the way a fugitive -- even a popular fugitive -- should return to face his accusers. There is great mystery embodied in the form of his return. And the word spreads like blown fire. There is also great risk in his return, and the people know it. The Pharisees are ready to have it out with Jesus, though they are probably thrown off-balance by the strange new twist that Jesus has given the drama with his lowly, offbeat entry into the city. The point is that Jesus, because of his masterful control of the drama--now with his totally unpredictable ride into Jerusalem, into the confrontation itself--has every eye in the country now firmly fixed on himself.

It is simply wrong to say, as many do, that Jesus did not go around calling attention to himself, or that he did not engage in confrontations and dramas. The fact is that he did -- and remarkably well. Out of the public dramas that he created and used, he communicated and was communicated in an amazing fashion; people were and still are forced to take sides either for him or against him. Public drama, by its very nature, always forces people to make that kind of identification and decision.

What may we conclude at this point? If we are going to talk about a pattern for Christian communication based on Jesus' own life and work, we are going to have to talk about the nature of the public drama that he understood and used so effectively. Public drama was, then, the most potent form of human communication, able to touch and move all people. What we must face, I think, is that public drama is still, today, the most potent form of human communication.

Secular news may be defined, virtually without exception, as public drama. If today's news media had existed in Jesus' day, I am convinced that he would have consistently been front page news, because of the scope and nature of the public dramas that he created and presided over. Not religious news, mind you, but political, economic and social news. This, quite frankly, leads me to believe that the church's central communicative task today is to learn how to create, openly and sharply, public drama. That is, we must learn how to engage in visible confrontation and provocative conflict with the forces of the world around us.

The creation of Christian conflict and confrontation is as risky and dangerous today as it was in Jesus' day. Engaging in conflict and confrontation today would make us -- just as it did Jesus -- mysterious figures, subject to danger and retaliation; we could, because of it, very well become victims of the world's forces. In other words, to engage in the same kinds of public dramas that Jesus engaged in is, more than likely, to be treated by the world in the same way that he was treated. Could that be what he meant when he invited us to "take up the cross and follow" ... ?

At present, we have no conflict or real confrontation with the world because we choose to hide behind church walls; it is safe there. But the real confrontations and crises and dramas must be created outside the church walls, in the public places where the world's officials and crowds are.

Since the secular news media are always attracted to public drama, for Christians to engage in public dramas of their faith is to automatically draw the secular news media to those dramas. Genuine Christian drama, enacted openly in public, with all of its conflict and risk intact, would, via the secular media, be seen and communicated to millions of people. The secular media would unwittingly become the communicative agent of the drama to the entire world.

Orrin Klapp contends that through the "inherent transcending power of drama ... people are refocused away from the ordinary structural facts of daily life. They are lifted out of their families, jobs, institutions, political parties, classes, nations and so on." It is that kind of "lifting" out of this world and toward himself that Christ sought and seeks for all people. It is little wonder that he relied so throughly on the. "transcending" communicative power of drama to accomplish his momentous task. Now it is for us to figure out how to get on with that communicative task drawing on the New Testament patterns for the creation of Christian public drama in today's world.

Dr. Joseph M. Webb was assistant professor of journalism and mass communications at California State University, Northridge, when this article appeared.