Christian symbols in Ephesus reveal the presence of early Christianity in this ancient metropolis. 

The fish symbol derives from the Greek word for fish, ICHTHYS, which consists of the first letters of the Greek words Iēsous Christos theou hyios sōtēr: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour. God’s son Jesus Christ had come to save those who put their trust in him. 

Another symbol found in Ephesus is a circle divided by eight equidistant lines, like a cake sliced into eight equal pieces. As it turns out, the lines are the same letters, I-CH-T-HY-S, drawn on top of each other.

Christians appear to have used these codes to indicate their presence to fellow believers and recognise each other in times of persecution. Being a believer in Jesus could be dangerous, as the Apostle Paul found out when people in Ephesus turned against him.

When great persecution breaks out against the early Church, Luke records that ‘all were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria’. But a few verses later he writes. ‘those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went’. Surely the threats, intimidation, and death of loved ones would have been enough to quash this small movement? 

But the same Spirit that raised Jesus now lived in his followers and was using the scattering of believers for kingdom growth. They could no longer rely on the apostles and leaders of the Church. The scattering took their faith to a new level of trust and boldness. As Roland Allen puts it, this ‘spontaneous expansion of the church … follows the unexhorted and unorganized activity of individual members of the Church explaining to others the Gospel which they have found for themselves’ (The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church).  

Unexhorted, unorganised, ordinary followers, consumed and captivated by the good news, went about sharing it whatever the cost. May we long for a similar movement as the same Spirit that empowered them empowers us today!

Read on, to find out more about the persecution of believers in New Testament times.

The cost of discipleship Matthew 10.16–25
The first Christian martyr Acts 7
Persecution and mission Acts 11.19–20