A fishy story
‘Jesus…Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.’
Acts 4:11, 12 (NIVUK)
Recently I was driving behind a car that had a symbol of a fish on it. It didn’t mean that the driver was interested in fishing, rather it was there to indicate that he was a Christian.
This symbol arose because of the intense persecution of believers in the early church. When a Christian met a stranger on the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of a simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger was a Christian, he drew the other arc, and so both believers knew they were in good company.
Often, they would then take it in turns to write five Greek letters inside the fish symbol, IXOUS, which is pronounced ‘ichthus’ and means ‘fish’. In fact, it is the usual word for fish in the gospels.
However, the early Christians gave the word for ‘fish’ an even greater meaning than just identifying a stranger as a Christian. It became the acronym for the great truth of Christianity:
- I represents Iesous, which is the Greek word for ‘Jesus’.
- X represents Xristos, meaning ‘Christ’.
- O represents Theou (Θεοῦ), meaning ‘of God’.
- U represents Uios translated ‘Son’.
- S represents Soter, meaning ‘Saviour’.
When all this is put together, we have the great affirmation of the Christian faith: ‘Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour.’
So, the next time you see the sign of the fish and the letters IXOUS be reminded that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God, and our Saviour. He is:
- The perfect man, incarnate of God among men, fully human and fully God.
- The Christ, the Anointed One of God, the Messiah.
- The unique, only begotten, eternal Son of God.
- Our Saviour who voluntarily went to the cross and died in our place to save us from our sins.
This is one fishy story that’s not too good to be true.
Prayer
Loving Father, thank you for Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Saviour, who gives us eternal life through the power of his shed blood. In his name, we pray, Amen.
Study by Barry Robinson
Barry Robinson is a minister in Grace Communion International and Regional Pastor for Southern England.
Local congregation:
Grace Communion International Camberwell
The Salvation Army Hall
105 Lomond Grove
Camberwell
London SE5 7HN
Local congregational contact:
Barry Robinson
Email: camberwell@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church