The Christian Sign of the Fish:
Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior
As mentioned elsewhere on this site,
the sign of the fish is an ancient symbol used by Christian
believers to mark their gathering places for worship, fellowship
and prayer. As the sign of the cross represents what God
has done for us in and through His Son (our sins were taken away
in the death of Christ on the cross), so the fish reminds
Christians of exactly who Jesus is.
The mystery of why an image of a
fish might be meaningful to Christian believers is cleared up
when we think back to the time and place where the Christian
faith first began to spread beyond the original Jewish
disciples. The most common language of the region in the
first century was Greek, a fact dating back to Alexander the
Great. Even in Palestine many of the people spoke and
wrote in Greek. This was true of Jews as well as Gentiles.
While many of more traditionally religious Jews spoke in Hebrew
or Aramaic, most of them also had to speak in Greek. And
many of the Jews from outside Jerusalem and Judah were unable to
speak or read the original language of the Law and Prophets.
As the message of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ spread among Jewish believers, and then spilled
over into non-Jewish believers (this transition is recorded in
the New Testament book of Acts), trouble came to the early
church in the form of persecution. Religious leaders in
the Jewish community and political leaders in Roman occupied
cities began to imprison, torment and even kill the followers of
Jesus Christ. It became necessary, under such
circumstances, for Christians to meet secretly for fellowship,
prayer and worship.
The sign of the cross soon became
too widely recognized, since the cross is a central element in
the preaching of the Gospel message. Other signs and
signals had to be utilized. The fish soon gained
acceptance because the letters in the Greek word for fish form
an acrostic for words that describe what all Christians believe
about Jesus Christ:
Jesus
Christ, God's
Son,
Savior.
Today, Christian believers in many
societies (but not in all) enjoy freedom from religious or
political persecution for their faith and worship. Even
so, the sign of the fish and it's meaning in Greek is still
valuable, well beyond its place in history. When a
Christian wears or utilizes this ancient symbol, he or she is
testifying to a living faith in Jesus Christ as the eternal Son
of God, our one and only Savior from sin and its consequences.
The above graphic may be used by Christian believers in various kinds of
personal witness, for church programs, and other Christian
activities. There is no charge for this use, so long as
the copyright/credit info remains visible in the image. An
excellent graphic for many Christian uses, including greeting
cards, as invitations, bulletin board notices for plays, skits,
retreats, parties and other activities.
©2008 GospelGifs |
