| | THE SIGN OF THE FISH
Author: Donald P. Shoemaker
Submitted by: Jim Fox
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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,
attached 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 equality 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
decision 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).
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