The Story of the
CANDY
CANE
A candy maker in Indiana wanted to make a candy that would be a witness,
so he made the Christmas Candy Cane. He incorporated several symbols
for the birth, ministry, and death of Jesus Christ.
He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the
Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Jesus, and hard to symbolize the
Solid Rock, the foundation of the church, and firmness of the promises
of God.
The candymaker made the candy in the form of a “J” to represent the
precious name of Jesus, who came to earth as our savior. It also
represents the staff of the “Good Shepherd” with which He reaches down
into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like all
sheep, have gone astray.
Thinking that the candy was somewhat plain, the candymaker stained it
with red stripes. He used the tree small stripes to show the stripes of
the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed. The large red
stripe was for the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross so that we could
have the promise of eternal life, if only we put our faith and trust in Him.
Unfortunately, the candy became known as a Candy
Cane - a meaningless
decoration seen at Christmas time. But the meaning is still there for
those who “have eyes to see and ears to hear”.
I pray that this symbol will again be used to witness to the Wonder of
Jesus and His Great Love that came down at Christmas and remains the
ultimate and dominant force in the universe today.