sounds fishy

I have the joy at the moment of spending time with four people who are considering being baptised as believers in our church. The service will be at 1030 on 7th November, if you fancy coming along.

One thing we considered last night has stuck with me this morning. We considered why it is that the early Christians chose the cross as the symbol of our faith. Today we might use an electric chair, a hangman’s noose, (and a guillotine was suggested last night too!) because they are implements of execution. Christians are identified by a macabre symbol – the method of executing the one we follow.

We also considered another symbol. This is the fish symbol. It was a secret sign that early Christians adopted to identify one another. But it also reveals the depths of Christian belief. They used a fish because in Greek the word for fish, Ichthus, is an acronym for a statement of faith about Jesus. In Greek the word ‘Jesus’ begins with an I. So we have Jesus (I) Christ (ch) God’s (th) Son (u) Saviour (s). There’s so much contained in that simple sentence.

Jesus was a common enough name in New Testament days. It is the Greek form of ‘Joshua’ and means, ‘The Lord saves’.

Christ is the Greek word for ‘Messiah’, which was the word used in the Bible to describe the special One sent by God into the world to bring about a new order of relationship with God and people.

God’s Son is a remarkable way of describing someone. It does not literally mean that Jesus is God’s offspring, but that he is ‘of God’. I believe that in some languages (possibly Hebrew) the word ‘key’ literally means ‘son of the lock’. It is distinct from the lock, but the lock is incomplete without the key.

Saviour. This is the word that has captured me today. It’s inherent within Jesus’ name and it is what he has done for us. He is our saviour. He has saved us from the consequences of our rebellion against God and selfishness. He has also saved us for a new relationship with God. There are so many metaphors in the Bible to try to explain the mystery of how Jesus dying on the cross has saved us – perhaps I should blog about some of them soon. But they are all metaphors. They are all ultimately inadequate descriptions of what happened when Jesus died. Even putting them all together does not do it justice.

Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Saviour.

It reminds me of the depth of God’s love for me and you. It reminds me of the need for all to have the opportunity to make their own minds up about who Jesus is. Is he IChThUS?

A fishing inspector is called in to a small fishing village after complaints that one fisherman is catching all the fish. He decides to go out fishing with the man so arrives early in the morning at the place where the man’s boat is moored.

He waited and waited. The rest of the fishermen had gone and the inspector was considering leaving when a shabbily-dressed man ambled down to the boat carrying a small metal box. The inspector introduced himself and the man identified himself as the owner of the boat. The inspector asked if he could come and watch the man fish and he agreed.

They got into the boat, put out to sea and chugged gently for a while. Finally the fisherman stopped the engine and they drifted. The inspector was curious and spoke to the fisherman: “I don’t see any nets or lines. How are you going to catch any fish?”

The fisherman said nothing, but reached into his metal box. He pulled out a stick of dynamite, lit the fuse and threw it into the water. There was an almighty BOOM! and when the water settled down hundreds of stunned fish floated to the surface. The fishermen scooped them up and put them into his boat.

The inspector was apoplectic. He spluttered, “You can’t do that!”

The fishermen said nothing. He reached into his metal box, took out another stick of dynamite and lit the fuse. Then he handed the dynamite to the inspector and said, “Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to go fishing?”