The most enjoyable part of this play to write was the confrontation by John and James with the “unauthorized” healer using Jesus’ name to cast out demons, because it seemed to me that in this situation, the tables were turned on the disciples, who suddenly found themselves in a position with respect to the healer that the scribes and Pharisees usually took against Jesus. Suddenly, they were the authority figures doubting and opposing the miracle worker, courting the disfavor of the crowd. So I piled on by having the healer echo Jesus as much as possible, in both his attitude and his words, and that was pretty fun.
The rest of the story was more routine. It’s always hard to portray these long speeches of Jesus, which often exhibit strange logic, odd jumps in subject, and surprisingly harsh rants. I did my best to turn it into an emotionally coherent scene that included participation by other characters.