Early Christianity used various symbols to identify a building or tomb as Christian. One symbol was a cross, of course, but it might surprise you that the other most common symbol was a rooster.
Depictions of roosters have been found in the Roman catacombs where Christians gathered for worship and on Christian tombs in various cities. By the ninth century many churches mounted the image atop weathervanes on their church steeples. The oldest one that we know of is a 1200-year-old church weathervane now on display in a museum in Italy. The tradition wasn’t confined to Italy: Roosters on steeple weathervanes spread throughout churches in Europe, and as immigrants moved to the New World, they took this tradition with them. That’s why many weathervanes today still bear the image of a rooster.
What did the image symbolize? When Jesus tried to prepare his disciples for his upcoming arrest and crucifixion, Simon Peter declared he’d die in defense of Jesus. The Lord predicted his commitment wouldn’t last the night: “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” (John 13:38.) After Jesus was arrested a few hours later, Simon Peter repeatedly denied any allegiance to Jesus and “at that moment a rooster began to crow” (John 18:27).
I think it’s fascinating that early Christians wanted to identify their churches with an image from Peter’s biggest failure. Do you know what that means? It means that we’re not the heroes of our story. Our testimony isn’t about how wonderful we are but about how wonderful Jesus is.
I still prefer the cross rather than the rooster as the central symbol of Christianity. But we could benefit from reflecting on both symbols. The rooster reminds us that we’re not too good to need saving; the cross reminds us that we’re never beyond God’s awesome ability to save us.
Read the story of Simon Peter’s biggest failure, and then study the passage with us this weekend. We’ll begin our worship service online and on campus at 10am.
--Tom
Tom Goodman serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter. If someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, sign up here to receive Tom’s weekly devotional in your email inbox.