He who hung the earth in its place hangs there, he who fixed the heavens is fixed there, 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 Israelite hand. O strange murder, strange crime! The Master has been treated in unseemly fashion, his body naked; not even deemed worthy of covering that his nakedness might not be seen. There the lights of heaven turned away, and the day darkened, that it might hide him who was stripped upon the cross.

Melito of Sardis, second century pastor and theologian