THE MYSTERIOUS SATOR SQUARE

Discovered in the ruins of a Pompeii house covered in the ash of Mount Vesuvius' eruption in 79 AD, this was found etched into the wall of a home:

R O T A S
O P E R A
T E N E T
A P E R O
S A T O R

These are five words in Latin which roughly translate to: "The sower/farmer with his eye on the plough turns the wheel with care."

Essentially a veiled reference [some argue] to the sower parable told by Jesus, with references to the "plough" as a nod to discipleship and keeping our eye [and our hands] to the plough [which is yet another metaphor used by Jesus in terms of discipleship].

But that's not all.

Notice that the first word "ROTAS" runs left and right at the top of the square, but also runs north and south at the far left of the square.

Now, notice that "ROTAS" at the top and "SATOR" at the bottom are the same word written backwards and forwards.

Notice also that "OPERA" and "APERO" in the next rows are mirrors of each other.

Now, notice that the center word "TENET" is itself a palindrome [meaning it's the same spelled forward or backwards].

Also note that "TENET" runs left and right and north and south which forms a cross in the center of the square.

And please also notice that the letter "T" is fixed at the center top and bottom, and the center left and right. [The letter "T" was synonymous with the symbol for the cross].

So...what's the big deal?

Well, if you take those letters and scramble them - keeping the letter "N" at the dead center - you end up with the phrase "PATER NOSTER" which, in Latin is the beginning of the Lord's Prayer: "Our Father".

And also, there are two sets of "Our Father" which form the shape of the cross with the two letters "A" and "O" left over.

Why are those significant? Because "A" and "O" map to the words "Alpha" and "Omega".

For a more detailed explanation, watch this video:




Essentially, this First Century word puzzle was an early Christian way of sharing their faith in an interesting and creative way.

What do you think?

Leave your comments below.

-kg

IRONIC CHRISTIANITY

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Anabaptists: An Introduction

Who were the Anabaptists? Why did Luther and the Reformers oppose them so violently?

Untamed Christianity

Our faith defies the status quo.

Our Savior calls for a complete revolution of the human heart. 

Our Gospel is designed to ignite a total regime change within the soul of every living person.

Our Messiah was executed for defying the Empire - both the Church and the State.

He encouraged his followers to lay down their lives and die for Him - not as suicidal martyrs, but as radical agents of love who would rather die than resort to hatred or violence.

The majority of our Scriptures were written by a former terrorist who helped to imprison and murder numerous disciples of Christ.

He was radically transformed by a supernatural encounter with our Jesus and that day became an ambassador of the Prince of Peace.

After that day he left his violence behind and instead embraced the way of the cross, seeking not to destroy his enemies, but to love them and to share in the sufferings of Christ as he boasted all the more in his own weakness.

Many of those early disciples and saints were led like lambs to the slaughter, much like our Lord. By the hundreds they submitted to the governing authorities and were burned, boiled and skinned alive, beheaded, and even crucified upside down, never once reaching out to do violence to their oppressors, but declaring their love for Jesus and even praying for those who put them to death.

These subversive missionaries of light understood that their struggle was not against flesh and blood. They knew that the weapons of their warfare were not of this world, but spiritual, and far more powerful - able to transform hearts and minds alike.

They knew that they were sent as lambs and doves, not wolves and serpents, into a world dominated by power and lust. Yet they refused to participate in the things that make for war or death. 

Instead, they devoted themselves to the way of life, and light, and peace, and mercy, and most of all to love.

Oh, blood was shed, to be sure. But the blood that was shed was their own. 

What happened to those Christians? Where did those sorts of believers in the message of Christ go?

Why, today, is it so rare to find anyone who claims the name "Christian" and still embraces the Gospel of Christ?

Instead of resisting the Empire, many Christians today embrace it, salute it, pledge their allegiance to it, and even kill others to protect the honor of their Empire.

Instead of seeing everyone alive as someone Christ loved dearly enough to die for, many of them openly express their hate for people of other faiths, and make no attempt to veil their contempt for those who oppose them, or their Nation, or even their Political ideology.

Instead of laying down their lives and their rights so that those who are without Christ might see a living example of His radical love, many who claim to follow Jesus attempt to cut people off from God's grace simply because they are "sinners"; forgetting that Jesus was a friend of sinners and spent most of his time among them in fellowship.

Many Christians today are deeply and profoundly offended by the idea that Jesus loves terrorists, and homosexuals, and communists, and transgender people, and those who simply think differently than they do about God, or Politics, or Theology.

If those early Christians were like the people who wear His Name today, they would have tortured or killed someone like Saul of Tarsus before he ever had an opportunity to be changed, or to write most of our New Testament.

I'm so glad they weren't like us. I just wish that we were more like them.

The truth is, we cannot say we love God if we do not love others. 

That means, I love God as much as I love the poor.

I love God as much as I love the homosexual.

I love God as much as I love my enemy.

What if, at the final judgment, Jesus identified you as a sheep or a goat based on how well you had loved your enemy?

Is there any reason to think that He won't? He warns us that on that day He will divide us by groups into those who showed mercy and love to the outcast, and those who did not.

Jesus also said that not everyone who called him "Lord", would enter His Kingdom. Only those who do what He said to do. 

Loving our enemies is one of the clearest and most unmistakable commands Jesus gave us.

"Why do you call me ‘Lord, lord’ and do not do what I say?"

Are we so sure that our attitudes about others are justified? Are we certain that Jesus won't expect us to have embraced His call to love others as He has loved us?

The Gospel of the Kingdom is simply about submission to Christ as Lord. If He is truly Lord, then we can love as He commanded and not worry about the outcomes. 

It's time we untamed our Christianity. 

Let us return to a wild, unbridled pursuit of the radical Messiah who challenged us to live outside our comfort zones.

Let us defy the status quo and begin to love with more audacity and abandonment than anyone would consider feasible.

Let us resolve to hate no one - to condemn no one - to shame no one.

Let us take up our crosses, set our eyes on the One who would rather die than live without us, and follow in His footsteps towards a Kingdom that is already in the making.

"Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Rev. 11:15) 

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Didache: Ch. 14-16

We finish up the Didache study in this podcast with a look at "The Lord's Day", "The Appointing of Overseers and Servants", and instructions about "Watching over your life".

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Didache: Ch. 11-13: Teachers and Prophets

The early Christian church had very strict guidelines for who was to be considered a prophet and who was not. Did they ask for money? Then they are a false prophet.

These teachings and more are explored in this podcast on the Didache.

[Subversive Radio Podcast] The Didache: Ch. 5 - Ch. 7

This study covers The Didache, Ch.5-7: The Way of Death; False Teachers; Baptism Instructions.

INTERVIEW: Justo Gonzalez on Subversive Radio Podcast

Check Out Religion Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with Subversive Radio on BlogTalkRadio

Join us as we speak with Justo Gonzalez, author of "Faith and Wealth" and "The Story of Christianity" about the early Christian church and what they can teach us about faith, worship, fellowship, service, and following Jesus.