An Easter Sermon of St Melito of Sardis

May 6, 2020

  

From the Easter Sermon of St Melito, Bishop of Sardis, AD 170

“…the Lord Christ arose from the dead and mounted the heights of Heaven. After the Lord had taken our humanity upon Himself, had suffered for the sake of the sufferer, had been bound for the sake of the imprisoned, had been judged for the sake of the condemned, and buried for the sake of the all who were buried, He rose from the dead, and cried aloud with this voice: ‘Who is he who contends with me? Let him stand in opposition to me. I set the condemned man free; I gave the dead man life; I raised up those who had been entombed. 

“ ‘Who is my opponent? I,’ He says, ‘am the Christ. I am the One Who destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled Hades under foot, bound the strong one, and carried man to the heights of Heaven. I,’ He says, ‘am the Christ. Therefore, come, all families of men, you who have been befouled with sins, and receive forgiveness for your sins. I am your forgiveness, I am the Passover of your salvation, I am the Lamb which was sacrificed for you, I am your ransom, I am your light, I am your Savior, I am your resurrection, I am your king, I am leading you up to the heights of Heaven. I will show you the eternal Father and I will raise you up by my right hand.’ ” 

“This is the one who made the heavens and the earth, and Who in the beginning created man, Who was proclaimed through the law and prophets, Who became human through the Virgin, Who was hanged upon a tree, Who was buried in the earth, Who was resurrected from the dead, and Who ascended to the heights of Heaven. He sits at the right hand of the Father, having authority to judge and to save everything, through Whom the Father created everything from the beginning of the world to the end of the age.

“This is the Alpha and the Omega: the beginning and the end – an indescribable beginning and an incomprehensible end. This is the Christ, the king. This is Jesus, to Whom be the glory and the power world without end. Amen.”