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18/04/2014

BBC Radio 4 - Good Friday Meditation

Archbishop John Sentamu meditates upon the crucifixion from the historic city of York.

Archbishop John Sentamu meditates upon the crucifixion of Christ through the sounds, stories and situations he finds as he walks around the historic city of York.

Archbishop John Sentamu offers a personal meditation upon the crucifixion of Christ through the sounds, stories and situations he finds as he walks around the historic city of York, on this the most solemn day of the Christian year. As well as the people he encounters, prayer, and readings from the passion narrative with powerful music for Good Friday, all help to tell the story.

His focus is to see the events of that day through the power of the mob, both then and now. Throughout Jesus' final hours, crowds play a significant role in the story. A crowd is led by Judas to the Garden of Gethsemane to arrest his friend. Hours later, given the opportunity to release Jesus, a crowd instead bays for his blood. And, as Jesus journeys through the streets with his cross, the Roman guard is there to hold the people back as emotions soar.
An angry crowd needs a victim, one who is different, somehow deficient or offensive, untouchable. Such situations resonate with the victimised and marginalised around the world today, including some whom the Archbishop himself has sought to defend here in the UK, and in parts of Africa.

Crowds have always had the power to draw bystanders into a maelstrom of destructive behaviour. As he travels around York, Archbishop Sentamu explores the story of Clifford's Tower which, in 1190, was the scene of one of the medieval period's most notorious pogroms in the UK when 150 Jews were massacred.

Producer: Simon Vivian.

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