In the first centuries after Jesus died, rose and ascended into heaven, his followers were persecuted. Part of their underground communication (still popular today ICYMI) was an acronym: ICTHUS.
“Icthus” is the Greek word for fish. The Greek words Iesous Christos THeou Uios Soter mean Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. And the acronym formed by the first letters of those words is ICTHUS.
So Christians threatened by persecution used a simple drawing of a fish to mark meeting places and tombs, and even to tell the difference between friend and foe. Some historians say that when a Christian met a stranger on the road or welcomed a group of people to their home, the Christian would draw in the dirt one arc of the simple fish symbol. If the stranger drew the other intersecting arc, making a fish, both believers knew they were in good company.
The fish symbol gained prominence in Christian teaching by leaders such as Tertullian who wrote that just as water sustains fish, “We, little fishes, after the image of our Ichthys, Jesus Christ, are born in the water.” That’s talking about the life-giving promise of God that sinners are born again in baptism. Augustine of Hippo taught that the fish symbol represents Jesus, fully God and fully human, because “he was able to live … without sin in the abyss of this mortality as in the depth of waters.”
Other fish references in the Bible include Jesus feeding the 5,000 with a few loaves of bread and two fish, calling his disciples “fishers of people,” and announcing the “sign of Jonah” (who spent 3 days in the belly of a fish and came out alive) as a preview of Jesus rising alive 3 days after he died.
As popular as the fish symbol became to early century Christians, it was replaced by the cross as the most universal symbol of Jesus. That happened during the reign of Emperor Constantine, who converted to Christianity.
Keep an eye out for these Christian symbols. Treasure them. Tattoo them. Take them with you and display or give them to others.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, the symbols of the fish and the cross remind me who you are and what you’ve done. Teach me to treasure you more in images like these, and to see them pointing to your saving work. Allow me to share them with others who need you. Amen.
EVANGELISM ACTION: Ask a friend who needs Jesus if they want to hear a fish story about Jesus, then share this blog with them.
