Common Reasons Given for the Christian Fish
It is said that early Christians used the fish to distinguish their bretheren from others on the road. By drawing one half of the fish in the dirt with their finger or a stick the Christian could test if a stranger was friend or foe. If the party in question knew the "secret handshake" he would finish the other half of the Christian fish to identify himself as a fellow believer.
Some toss this aside as fable but it makes perfect sense to an early Church who was persecuted without cause and could never be too cautious. This idea has seemed to develop a modern day offshoot. It can be observed through email and discussion boards, it's the use of text characters to create a Christian fish like so: <><
Another common reason given for the use of the Christian fish is found in an acrostic for the word "fish" in Greek. An acrostic is another name for an acronym, a phrase derived from the letters of a word. The Greek word for fish, ichthys, provided early Christians an opportunity for creative wordplay to form the phrase "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior". See the diagram below for clarification.
A Deeper Look at the Symbolic Significance of the Christian Fish
While it is true that the fish was used in ancient pagan cultures to symbolize fertility, that is not how it is commonly recognized today. But like most Christian truths, the Christian fish has been twisted into every self serving purpose imaginable [1]. So while there are many cultures and religions who got to the fish first, that is not the focus of this study.
Why did this symbol first come into use by Christians, even well before the cross? There are several available answers. All of which hold a great deal of importance in their own right. Let's take a look.
Fishing In Analogy:
- While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
- And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
- "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.
- When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.
Fish to provide sustenance for many through miracles (three seperate occasions):
- But Jesus said, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat."
- They said to him, "We have only five loaves here and two fish."
- And he said, "Bring them here to me."
- Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
- And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
- And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
- And he asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" They said, "Seven."
- And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.
- And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them.
- And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.
- And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.
- And Simon answered, "Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets."
- And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.
- They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
- But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
Living Water
The verses above show fish, as well as the act of fishing, used in analogy several times by Jesus. He refers to men as fish as well. Now we know for a fact that no matter what some claim fish have "evolved" into, they still need water to survive. Let's see what the book of John has to say about baptism and living water:
- They asked him, "Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?"
- John answered them, "I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know,
- even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."
- These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
- The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
- This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.'
- I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel."
- And John bore witness: "I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.
- I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'
- And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God."
- This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him."
- Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
- Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
- Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
- That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
- Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'
- The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" ( For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
- Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
- The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?
- Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock."
- Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again,
- but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
- The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."
- On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
- Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.' "
- Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
- But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
- He who saw it has borne witness- his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth- that you also may believe.
In John, which is often referred to as "The Water", we see a very interesting parallel between water, baptism, and The Holy Spirit begin to emerge. Also interesting is the last verse in which Jesus' side is pierced releasing both blood and water. During the time of Jesus, sacrifice of animals was commonplace in order to appease God through the release of blood [2]. But before we get into that, let's explore the symbolism of baptizing with water.
Spiritual Rebirth
What is the purpose of baptism? It is really quite simple. Baptism symbolizes the death of the old man (Adam) and rebirth into the new man (Jesus) through the repentance of sin [3]. While the physical rebirth is symbolized with the cleansing of water, the spirit (or soul) is seen as cleansed through the Holy Spirit; which is described as living water that provides everlasting life. Hence the term "Born Again" Christian. Of course all of these seemingly abstract ideas mature in a Christian through faith, by the Grace of God.
- Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
- More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
- and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
- and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Back to the piercing in Jesus' side. Most importantly is the fact that this incident fulfills several prophesies of the Old Testament. But let's look at the imagery itself. The release of blood and water is highly symbolic of the physical birth. So here we are back to the symbol of the fish used as a fertility symbol, but in the Christian sense it is related not to the first natural birth of the mother but to the spiritual rebirth of the Father. So, just as fish need water in order to survive, let us not forget that Christians need the Holy Spirit to live as God desires!
Verses of note in the Old Testament:
- Exodus 7:18,21
- Psalms 8
- Ecclesiastes 9:12
- Isaiah 19:8
- Jeremiah 16:16
- Ezekial 29:1-6
- Ezekiel 47:8-10
- Jonah 1:17
- Zephaniah 1:3
Verses referenced in this study:
- Matthew 4:18-19; 13:47-48; 14:16-21
- Mark 8:5-9
- Luke 5:5-8
- John 1:25-34; 3:2-7; 4:9-15; 7:37-39; 19:34-35
- Romans 5:1-5
Links referenced in this study:
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German Royal Monarch royal number 1190
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