Melito on the Crucifixion


He who hung the earth in its place is hanged, he who fixed the heavens is fixed upon the cross, he who made all things fast is made fast upon the tree, the Master has been insulted, God has been murdered, the King of Israel has been slain by an Israelitish hand. Of strange murder, strange crime! The Master has been treated in unseemly wise, with his body naked, and has not even been deemed worthy of a covering, that he might not be seen. For this reason the lights of heaven turned away, and the day darkened, that it might hide him who was stripped upon the cross, shrouding not the body of the Lord, but the eyes of men.
Melito (second cent AD), Homily on the Passion

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