Don’t Forget About Easter
Good Friday and Easter Sunday services are usually our largest services of the year. With the Church closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year will be very different. We may not be able to meet, but that doesn’t mean we should forget about Easter.
I read about an interesting medieval legal concept known as “the right of sanctuary.” In 1070AD, William the Conqueror specified that if someone had committed a capital offence and could get themselves to a Church, they would receive 40 days of sanctuary during which they couldn’t be harmed, while they tried to reach a settlement with the injured party. If they couldn’t reach agreement, they could leave the country and never return, or take their chances. If they chose exile, they had nine days to leave the country and were safe as long as they stayed on the king’s highway. Durham Cathedral actually had two small rooms above its door with windows where monks would keep watch 24 hours a day to let sanctuary seekers in quickly if they arrived with an angry mob close behind.
How did medieval criminals find their way to their nearest Church? There were stone crosses along the highways, inscribed with the latin word, Sancturarium. These were like signposts that pointed people to a place of safety.
Obviously, none of this fits with our modern concept of justice. As the recent Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in institutions has shown, we consider it morally abhorrent if the Church does anything to prevent criminals from facing the justice they deserve. But in its own time, the Sanctuary system offered people hope, a chance to make things right, and the possibility of a fresh start.
And that is the message of Good Friday. The cross of Jesus, like the sanctuary crosses on medieval highways, is a sign that points us to a place of safety, forgiveness, and a fresh start with God. It is a message of hope. Like the monks of Durham Cathedral, God is awake, 24 hours a day, waiting for us and ready to open the doors and let us into his presence. Whatever wrongs we might have committed, no matter however many times we’ve failed, God’s sanctuary doesn’t distinguish. He will forgive us.
“God forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).
Neil Percival
I read about an interesting medieval legal concept known as “the right of sanctuary.” In 1070AD, William the Conqueror specified that if someone had committed a capital offence and could get themselves to a Church, they would receive 40 days of sanctuary during which they couldn’t be harmed, while they tried to reach a settlement with the injured party. If they couldn’t reach agreement, they could leave the country and never return, or take their chances. If they chose exile, they had nine days to leave the country and were safe as long as they stayed on the king’s highway. Durham Cathedral actually had two small rooms above its door with windows where monks would keep watch 24 hours a day to let sanctuary seekers in quickly if they arrived with an angry mob close behind.
How did medieval criminals find their way to their nearest Church? There were stone crosses along the highways, inscribed with the latin word, Sancturarium. These were like signposts that pointed people to a place of safety.
Obviously, none of this fits with our modern concept of justice. As the recent Royal Commission into child sexual abuse in institutions has shown, we consider it morally abhorrent if the Church does anything to prevent criminals from facing the justice they deserve. But in its own time, the Sanctuary system offered people hope, a chance to make things right, and the possibility of a fresh start.
And that is the message of Good Friday. The cross of Jesus, like the sanctuary crosses on medieval highways, is a sign that points us to a place of safety, forgiveness, and a fresh start with God. It is a message of hope. Like the monks of Durham Cathedral, God is awake, 24 hours a day, waiting for us and ready to open the doors and let us into his presence. Whatever wrongs we might have committed, no matter however many times we’ve failed, God’s sanctuary doesn’t distinguish. He will forgive us.
“God forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13-14).
Neil Percival