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This site is inspired by the belief that the truth of Christmas is Eternal. "Christmas Eternal" is a web ministry of Rev. Alex Stevenson pastor of Central United Methodist Church and is dedicated to the Christian observance of the Christmas season. "Christmas" is the Celebration of the
birth of Jesus of Nazareth whom Christians believe to be the Son of God
born to be Savior of the world. According to legend there was a candy maker in Indiana around the turn of the century who wanted to invent a candy that was a witness to Christ. The result was the candy cane. First of all he used a hard candy because Christ is the rock of ages. This hard candy was shaped so that it would resemble either a "J" for Jesus or a shepherd's staff. He made it white to represent the purity of Christ. Finally a red stripe was added to represent the blood Christ shed for the sins of the world and three thinner red stripes for the stripes he received on our behalf when the Roman soldiers whipped him. Sometimes a green stripe is added as reminder that Jesus is a gift from God. The flavor of the cane is peppermint which is similar to hyssop. Hyssop is in the mint family and was used in the Old Testament for purification and sacrifice. Jesus is the pure lamb of God come to be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. So the next time you see a candy cane hear the sermon it preaches: Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, is the sinless rock of ages who suffered and died for our sins. The ancestor of the modern candy cane was born in the 1670's when the choirmaster of Cologne Cathedral in Cologne Germany bent sticks of white sugar candy into canes to represent a shepherd's staff. these candy canes became a popular Christmas time treat and decoration. They also became the canvas for a legendary Indiana candy maker.
It's only half a verse "and they laid him in a manger because there was no rood for them in the Inn," but based on it centuries of character assassination have hung. The unnamed innkeeper of the Inn of Bethlehem is assumed by most to be some heartless man who left the holy family out in the cold. The Bible tells us that there was no room for them in the Inn. But is a crowded Inn any place for a woman to give birth to a baby. And would it be right for the Innkeeper to send someone else out into the cold to accommodate these latecomers? One line of interpretation is that the word translated "Inn" may mean "upper room" which would be the place for guests and that the holy family had to spend the night in the lower room. It doesn't say they stayed in a barn just that Jesus was laid in a manger. Often family animals were brought into the lower room at night so a manger might have been handy. Maybe instead of maligning the Innkeeper as a heartless man we should commend him as a resourceful person who tried to use what he had to help this refugee family in a difficult situation. Maybe we should also find creative ways to use our resources to help those in need.
You should be hearing "Silent Night." |
