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    The Diaries of St. Matthew: A Drama Based on His Gospel
    The Diaries of St. Matthew: A Drama Based on His Gospel
    The Diaries of St. Matthew: A Drama Based on His Gospel
    Ebook112 pages1 hour

    The Diaries of St. Matthew: A Drama Based on His Gospel

    By Mano Govindaraj

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    About this ebook

    This is a drama about how the gospel of St. Matthew may have been written by Matthew, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ. One day Jesus went to the tax office at Capernaum without any notice whatsoever and called Matthew. Matthew saw something so special in Jesus that he honored him with a family feast that same day and humbled himself to become a disciple of Jesus. Matthew was a tax collector of the Roman government and was therefore well trained in writing records and diaries. The diaries began with the call of Matthew and ended a few days after the resurrection.

    The drama presents a scenario for the origin of the synoptic puzzle and considers why these diaries remained unknown to the early Christians for two generations. The only assumption we need to make is that those devout people who put together the original Greek Bible acted in good faith and knew what they were doing when they placed it as the first book of their new scripture.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateNov 19, 2013
    ISBN9781490812571
    The Diaries of St. Matthew: A Drama Based on His Gospel
    Author

    Mano Govindaraj

    Manoharan Govindaraj comes from an originally Hindu ethnic group of South India. His family had converted to Christianity in the nineteenth century and migrated to Sri Lanka. His Hindu heritage and the Buddhist environment in which he grew up gave him a unique view of Christian spirituality. He is an accountant by profession. His writings display these various influences of his life. Mano later migrated to the United States and became naturalized as a US citizen. He lives with his family in Washington, DC, where he pursues his twin professions of public accountancy and information systems assurance.

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      Book preview

      The Diaries of St. Matthew - Mano Govindaraj

      Copyright © 2013 Mano Govindaraj.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1 (866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-1256-4 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4908-1257-1 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013918636

      WestBow Press rev. date: 11/18/2013

      THE STRUCTURE OF THE DRAMA

      ACT 1:   THE KING CALLS HIS BIOGRAPHER

      And Matthew honors Jesus with a feast at home

      ACT 2:   THE FAMILY OF THE KING

      The parents of Jesus, His birth and infancy

      ACT 3:   THE TALE OF THE SAGES & SCIENTISTS

      Scientists visit the infant Jesus

      ACT: 4   FOUNDATIONS OF THE KINGDOM

      The Sermon on the Mount,

      ACT 5:   THE KING SERVES HIS FLOCK

      Three miracles and His management style

      ACT 6:   THE KINGSHIP IN DISPUTE

      Interaction with Jewish leaders in the Temple

      ACT 7:   A GOVERNOR ON TRIAL

      Pontius Pilate saves his conscience by washing his hands

      ACT 8:   THE KING COMPLETES HIS MISSION

      Crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of The King

      ACT 9:   THE SYNOPTIC PUZZLE BEGINS

      Luke visits Matthew, accompanied by Mark

      ACT 10:   THE DIARIES RETURN TO THEIR MESSIAH

      Christians—the body of Christ retrieve the diaries

      PREFACE

      One day Jesus Christ was going past the Roman Tax Office in Capernaum when he saw a young tax official named Matthew at work. Jesus walked up to him and said Follow me. Matthew did so. Their first conversation evoked such joy in Matthew that he threw a fest in honor of Jesus that very same day in his own house, to which he invited his entire community. Thus a special relationship arose between the two of them immediately.

      Writing diaries was a common practice in the ancient world. Taxation involves a great deal of record keeping. Thus Matthew was well trained in keeping records before Jesus called him.

      The events of the first eight chapters of the Gospel of St. Matthew happened before Jesus called Matthew. Therefore they are hearsay in the hands of Matthew. Who or what was the source of data from which Matthew wrote them? From whom did Matthew hear about the marriage of Joseph to the pregnant Mary? Why did Matthew write a glorious eulogy about Joseph in the very first diary? The best explanation is that Jesus told Matthew of his admiration for his earthly father Joseph and Matthew wrote it faithfully.

      From a social point of view, it is most unlikely that the orthodox Jewish disciples treated Matthew genuinely as an equal. The Diaries end abruptly a few days after the crucifixion; they do not record the appearances of Jesus in the Disciples’ lodgings in Jerusalem; they do not record the Ascension of Jesus to Heaven. If the Gospel of Matthew had been written any time afterwards, the writer could not have ended it without the Ascension which became the most significant fact about Jesus to the Sect of the Nazarenes, and was preached to new converts ever afterwards.

      The events recorded in the Gospel of St. Mathew have an orderly arrangement very much like a diary. They contain a great deal of drama. Each miracle performed by Jesus was dramatic by itself. Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor was about to start the trial of Jesus when he receives a message from his wife to spare Jesus. How did she know about Jesus? Facing a civil disturbance that may ruin his reputation and career in Rome, Pilate saves his conscience by washing his hands with water publicly in Court before signing the crucifixion decree. Finally the greatest mystery of all - why would Roman soldiers compel an innocent bystander named Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross of Jesus, a condemned prisoner, contrary to Roman Criminal Law? Perhaps Pilate and his counselors were honoring Jesus as a King by relieving him from the indignity of carrying his own cross, the only matter now left in their hands.

      How did these facts come exclusively into the knowledge of Matthew unless he was a witness of them? Finally, how did similar texts appear in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke?

      This Drama is constructed in the belief that those persons who put together the original Christian Bible had examined the facts thoroughly and acted in good faith when they recognized the diaries of the tax collector, Matthew, as a Gospel, and placed the Gospel of St. Matthew as the first book of the New Testament.

      Mano Govindaraj

      Washington D.C.

      April 2013

      AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT

      I acknowledge with gratitude my debt to:

      ESSENTIALS OF SCREENWRITING

      The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing,

      By: Professor Robert Walker,

      Professor and Screenwriting Chairman, UCLA

      © 2010

      (The reader is sure to enjoy its wit, philosophy, numbered Principles, and technical expertise even if one is not aspiring to enter that profession.)

      CONVENTIONS USED IN THIS DRAMA

      1.   A new scene is indicated by INT or EXT

            INT means the scene takes place indoors

            EXT means the scene takes place outdoors

      2.   When a character first appears, his or her name is shown in UPPER CASE

      3.   The page has four columns:

            Directions about the scene begin at Column 1

            (INT and EXT always appear in Column 1)

            The Dialogue begins

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