Matt. 4, Luke 4-5, and John 1:15-51

I knew the Jesus fish had something to do with being "fishers of men". I knew this because my brother once had it tattooed on his wrist. The Jesus fish with a verse about being fishers of men, that is. But I went looking for a better explanation of the ever popular Jesus fish (insert Seinfeld quote)

I found 2 that pleased me.

A. Most symbols that people use have a story behind them and are used to make a statement. Some of the most famous are the so-called Christian symbols such as the cross and the fish. Whilst they provide a useful mean of identification, all of these are carnal and nowadays used promiscuously by everybody, thus it is best for us to avoid using them. Moreover they all have a precedent story of paganism, a thing we Christian must avoid, even if some says the pagan origins have now been lost in history. The wearing or keeping such symbols has the tendency to bring veneration to them and thus returning to paganism. Besides, what saith the Word of God: God is a spirit, and the ones worshiping Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)

Here are some tidbits concerning this ancient symbol:

When threatened by Romans in the first centuries after Christ, Christians used the fish mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good company.

Greeks, Romans, and many other pagans used the fish symbol before Christians. Hence the fish, unlike, say, the cross, attracted little suspicion, making it a perfect secret symbol for persecuted believers. So the early Christians made practical use of this symbol for practical convenience. It is somewhat similar to the use in our days of bumper-sticker and business-card practice to be recognised by strangers, although we are not yet under persecution.

As early as the first century, Christians made an acrostic from this word: Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, (ICTYS) i.e. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, using the Greek word for fish "ichthys." The Greek word Ichthus (Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma), pronounced ich-thoos, upper case: and lower case: , is the word used throughout the New Testament for the English word fish.

The fish has plenty of other theological overtones as well, for Christ fed the 5,000 with 2 fishes and 5 loaves (a meal recapitulated in Christian love-feasts) and called his disciples "fishers of men." So that was an easy association: "fishers of men" and the acronym for the word fish in Greek, and thus the symbol resembling a fish.

B. The use of the Ichthys symbol by early Christians appears to date from the end of the 1st century AD. Ichthus (ΙΧΘΥΣ, Greek for fish) is an acronym, a word formed from the first letters of several words. It compiles to "Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour", in ancient Greek "Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ"

* Iota is the first letter of Iesous (Ἰησοῦς), Greek for Jesus.
* Chi is the first letter of Christos (Χριστóς), Greek for "anointed".
* Theta is the first letter of Theou (Θεοῦ), that means "of God", genitive case of Θεóς "God".
* Upsilon is the first letter of Huios (Υἱός), Greek for Son.
* Sigma is the first letter of Soter (Σωτήρ), Greek for Saviour.

Historically, twentieth century use of the ichthys motif is an adaptation based on an Early Christian symbol which included a small cross for the eye or the Greek letters "ΙΧΘΥΣ". Catholic theology has elaborated on the five words of the acronym into the "Jesus prayer", or, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."


And now to today's readings.... There's a lot in today's readings. Its jam packed with good stuff, and by jam I mean of coarse , strawberry. First Jesus is eating and drinking with sinners (tax collectors, including Matthew), when the big wig Pharisees see this they are appalled. Judaism we must remember is alllll about avoiding sinners at all costs. Jesus replies that, it is the sick that need help, not the healthy. AH HA. This is already looking a little different....like a new garment or new wine, one might say......and by One I mean Jesus.

He shares a couple of parables with these people. Through these stories he basically says. "this is new, it's all new. Out with the old, you cant mix the old with the new....it doesn't work. The new is where its at! oh, I know you like the old....who doesn't like the old? We find comfort in the old....but the old isn't really working. The old is familiar, the new is scary. The old is warm and comfortable, like a soft worn in sackcloth, the new is like a camel hair sheath which is terribly itchy."

Jesus also has a little run in with Satan.