V.3597
| 3597 By Melito, bishop
of Attica. [Of this epigraph, which becomes Ittica below, I have
never seen a sufficient explanation.] |
This is He who took a bodily form in the Virgin,
and was hanged upon the tree, and was buried within the earth, and
suffered not dissolution; He who rose from the place of the dead, and
raised up men from the earth—from the grave below to the height
of heaven. This is the Lamb that was slain; this is the Lamb that
opened not His mouth.3598
| 3598 Lit. “the
Lamb without voice.” |
This is
He who was
born of
Mary, fair
sheep of the fold. This is
He that was taken from the
flock, and was led to the
slaughter, and was
slain in the evening, and was buried at
night; He who had no
bone of
Him broken on the
tree; He who
suffered not dissolution within the
earth; He who rose from the place of the dead, and
raised up the race
of
Adam from the
grave below, This is He who was put to
death.
And where was He put to
death? In the midst of
Jerusalem.
By whom? By
Israel: because He
cured their
lame, and
cleansed their
lepers, and gave
light to their
blind, and
raised their
dead! This was the cause of His
death. Thou,
O
Israel, wast giving commands, and He was being crucified; thou wast
rejoicing, and He was being buried; thou wast reclining on a soft
couch, and He was watching in the
grave and the shroud.
3599
| 3599 The Greek
γλωσσόκομον. |
O
Israel,
transgressor of the
law,
why hast thou
committed this new
iniquity, subjecting the
Lord to new
sufferings—thine own
Lord, Him who fashioned thee, Him who made
thee, Him who honoured thee, who called thee
Israel? But thou
hast not been found to be
Israel: for thou hast not seen
God, nor
understood the
Lord. Thou hast not known, O
Israel, that this was
the first-
born of
God, who was begotten before the sun, who made the
light to shine forth, who lighted up the day, who separated the
darkness, who
fixed the first
foundations, who poised the
earth, who
collected the ocean, who stretched out the firmament, who
adorned the
world.
Bitter were thy
nails, and sharp;
bitter thy
tongue, which thou didst whet;
bitter was Judas, to whom thou
gavest
hire;
bitter thy false witnesses, whom thou stirredst up;
bitter
thy
gall, which thou preparedst;
bitter thy
vinegar, which thou madest;
bitter thy
hands, filled with
blood. Thou slewest thy
Lord, and
He was lifted up upon the
tree; and an
inscription was
fixed
above, to show who He was that was slain. And who was
this? (that which we shall not say is
too shocking
to
hear, and that which we shall say is very dreadful:
nevertheless hearken, and tremble.)
It was He because of
whom the
earth quaked. He that hung up the
earth in space
was
Himself hanged up; He that
fixed the heavens was
fixed
with nails; He that bore up the
earth was borne up on a
tree;
the
Lord of all was subjected to ignominy in a
naked
body—
God put to
death! the King of
Israel slain with
Israel’s right
hand! Alas for the new
wickedness of the new
murder! The
Lord was exposed with
naked body: He was not
deemed worthy even of covering; and, in order that He might not be
seen, the luminaries turned away, and the day became darkened
3600
| 3600 [For
Phlegon’s testimony, see references, vol. vii. p. 257. But
note Lightfoot, Ap. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 512; his remark on
Origen, Celsus, vol. iv. p. 437, this series.] |
because they slew
God, who hung
naked on
the
tree. It was not the body of our
Lord that the luminaries
covered with
darkness when they set,
3601
| 3601 This is the
rendering of ***; but Cureton has “fled,” as though he read
***. |
but the
eyes
of men. For, because
the people quaked not, the
earth quaked; because they were not
affrighted, the
earth was
affrighted. Thou smotest thy
Lord: thou also hast been smitten upon the
earth. And thou
indeed liest dead; but He is risen from the place of the dead, and
ascended to the height of
heaven, having
suffered for the sake of those
who
suffer, and having been bound for the sake of
Adam’s race
which was
imprisoned, and having been judged for the sake of him who
was
condemned, and having been buried for the sake of him who was
buried.
And further on:—This is He who made the
heaven and the earth, and in the beginning, together with the Father,
fashioned man; who was announced by means of the law and the prophets;
who put on a bodily form in the Virgin; who was hanged upon the tree;
who was buried in the earth; who rose from the place of the dead, and
ascended to the height of heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the
Father.
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