Melito Of Sardis: A Homily On The Passover

Melito of Sardis is thought to have penned a homily called “A Homily on the Passover,” or Peri Pascha. This piece elucidates a christology with several important facets. First, Melito centers Christ as both fully human and fully divine. He writes at length that Jesus, in his christological role, was both temporal and atemporal, finite and infinite, the embodiment of the Father [sic] and the Son [sic]. Further, Jesus, as the Christ, is understood to be a mold-breaker. The mold was the Law to Melito (or, more accurately, the teaching found in Torah). Under that teaching, sacrifice was good and necessary, but became an empty shell, powerless and lifeless, after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus, in effect, shattered the mold of Temple …show more content…
God had preordained the time when Jesus, in his christological character, would come into the world and right the cosmic wrong of Adam’s fall. Because humanity had become so broken, the gap between God and and people was too wide for humans to bridge toward salvation. Thus, God, being wholly good, determined that Jesus, wholly perfect, would be born of a virgin and die on a tree to atone for humanity’s sin. Jesus experienced every human suffering, including crucifixion, and he genuinely rose from the dead on the third …show more content…
Most importantly, they both believe Jesus to be the Logos, the pre-existent force that called the world into being. Both theologians emphasize the importance of Jesus having embodied truly human flesh, and having suffered in that flesh, but retaining the divine character while doing so. Irenaeus expounds this particular point multiple times, as it is the threat that weaves throughout his christological tapestry. Melito, on the other hand, chooses to hang his argument on the idea that Jesus was the Paschal Lamb, sacrificed by blood so God’s (deserved) wrath would “pass over”