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FISH.TXT
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1991-06-30
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EXP:The sign of the Fish by Donald P. Shoemaker
Have you been asking, "What's it all about?" A symbol nearly as old
as Christianity has come out of the history books in recent years.
Whether worn as jewelry, attatched to a car window, or placed on a
front door, this symbol probably has caught your attention; and what
the person displaying it was trying to communicate.
The symbol is that of a fish. It is the earliest of Christian
symbols and was the most common representation of Jesus Christ from the
second through the fourth centuries. It appeared in many forms very
meaningful to the followers of Jesus.
Why was the fish meaningful to Christians? The Biblical account of
Christ's days on earth relates an interesting event which followed His
resurrection. On one occasion (John 21:9-13) the resurrected Lord
served a meal of fish and bread to His disciples. Fish was a common
food shared in the community meals of the early Christians.
It was easy then for the fish to become to early Christians a
constant symbol of continuing fellowship with their resurrected Lord.
To them He was more than a philosophical memory and moral ideal. He was
a living, present reality!
The living faith of early Christians soon brought organized
opposition from the pagan world. Frequently Christians were forced to
worship secretly. The fish symbol served them well in the difficult
times because it generally would go unnoticed by a foe of Christianity
when Christians used it to communicate. Placed outside a Christian's
home, this symbol would announce silently that Christian Communion was
to be observed secretly there that night. Artistic forms of the fish
frequently decorated the Roman catacombs where Christians were forced
to meet during persecution.
Soon Christians began to attach meaning to the word "fish" itself.
The Greek letters for "ichtus" (fish) became an acronym: I - Jesus, X -
Christ, O-God's, Y - Son, E - Saviour. Christians picked these titles
because they gave the Christian response to the question Who is Jesus?
To them, He was no mere social or political hero, no misguided master
of a misguided cult. They declared that the Son of God had laid aside
the lories of His eqaulity with God and entered human history as a man.
This God-man lived sinnlessly and died as a substitute for the humanity
He loved in spite of man's rebellion against God's moral law (see
Romans 3:10-11, 23; 5:6-8; and John 1:14; 3:16).
The person who displays the fish symbol today has accepted the same
New Testament teaching that these early Christians accepted - that
Jesus Christ is Lord and Saviour. By a descision of faith, he has
entered into a new relationship with God and knows the reality of God's
forgiveness and the joy of Christian living.
This same reality is yours through your simple recognition of Jesus
Christ as God's Son and your Saviour. "If you confess with your mouth
Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the
dead, you shall be saved" (Romans 10:9).