*J*J*J* Why we have candy canes *J*J*J*
Most people know that we have Christmas because we celebrate the birth of Christ. But not so many know the significance of some of the symbols of Christmas.
Take, for example, the candy cane. It was invented by a candy maker who made it with a special message in mind...
The candy cane actually represents Jesus and tells of what he has done for us.
It is a hard candy, because Jesus is known as the Rock of Ages – a solid foundation upon which you can build your life.
The candy cane is shaped as a J for Jesus, as well as the shape of a shepherd’s staff, because Jesus is known as the Good Shepherd, someone who cares for you just as a shepherd cares for his sheep.
The candy cane is white to represent the purity of Jesus – that is, he never did anything wrong (he never 'sinned') in the entire time he lived on earth, he never did before that, and never will. Only one person has ever been sinless – Jesus. And only a sinless person could take our place and be punished for the things we've done wrong.
The red stripe on the candy cane represents the blood of Jesus that was spilled when he died on the cross. And three thinner stripes are often present, representing the whipping that Jesus got from the merciless Roman soldiers.
All this is great news - because it means that you and me can have a friendship with Jesus, if we will just say to him that we're sorry for the stuff we've done wrong in our lives, ask for his forgiveness, and a brand new start. Ask him to be your best friend, and begin a new life, living for him. It's that simple! Jesus gives us a clean slate, a slate that keeps getting cleaned because when Jesus died he died for the sins that we've done not only now, but in the future as well.
I reckon that's a pretty cool message for a piece of candy.
posted by Rachel @ 2:06 pm
5 comments
5 Comments:
mmmm, forgive me, but I'm a little sckeptical about the story - I've heard it heaps but...
that is very cool...now i wont feel guilty bout eating all the suga...'we're the boys from the bush and we're back in town!' - guess what i brought!!!!! XD XD XD
There's an article here on the validity of the story.
I'm not sure about that article, it seems pretty biased against Christianity.
But even if the legend about the origin of the candy isn't true, the message still remains.
There are a lot of things about Christmas which detract from its true meaning, but why don't we turn it all back around again and use those things to communicate the Reason for the season?
"This is charming folklore at best, and though there's nothing wrong with finding (and celebrating) symbolism where there wasn't any before, the story of the candy cane's origins is, like Santa Claus, a myth and not a "true story."" [from previously mentioned artical]
Yep Rach, ur right in saying that the message still remains, it's ok to derive symbolism from the things around us. The Irish-Celtic people were excelent at doing that [even Jesus did it in his culture, not to mention Paul]which is what made Patrick's mission [1600 yrd ago] to bring them the gospel so successful.
I still think it is good to check out the veracity of stories and to tell them as they are, ie, truth or legend, because we don't want to be accused of dodgy salesmanship when it comes to the message of God's Kingdom. God is better than that.
AS far as "the reason for teh season" well, the christians stole Christmas too. You can read about my cynical approach to Christmas here
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