He it is, who came from heaven to earth
for the sake of suffering man;
he clothed himself in man’s flesh
in the womb of a Virgin from whom he came forth as man
and took upon himself the sufferings of him who suffered,
by means of a body capable of suffering,
and destroyed the sufferings of the flesh
and slew death-dealing death
by his spirit which cannot die….
It is he who became incarnate in a Virgin,
who was hung upon the wood,
who was buried in the earth,
who was raised from among the dead,
who was lifted up to the heights of heaven.
He is the mute lamb,
he is the slain lamb,
he is born of Mary, the fair ewe,
he is taken from the flock
and delivered over to immolation
and slain in the evening
and buried in the night;
who was broken on the wood,
was not corrupted in the earth,
he rose from the dead,
and raised man from the depths of the tomb….
He it is who made heaven and earth,
who formed man in the beginning,
who was announced by the law and the prophets,
who became incarnate in a Virgin,
who was hung upon the wood,
who in the earth was buried,
who rose from the dead
and ascended into the heights of the heavens.
— St. Melito of Sardis, Easter Homily, (SC 123).