Christmas is one of my favorite holidays because I love all of the decorations and more importantly, all of the yummy cookies. However, it is really easy to get swept up in the holiday spirit and turn the meaning of this holiday into something that it's not. For me, Christmas is more than just time spent with family and gift exchanging; it is a celebration of the birth of Jesus. So, in honor of this, I wanted to share one of my favorite little Christmas stories that you may have or may not have heard before. This has stuck with me ever since I heard it back in elementary school and in my opinion, it embodies exactly what Christmas is about.
The candy cane was first created back in the 18th century during a time in which there was said to be a ban on public displays of Christianity in some areas of Europe. One man, a candy maker, was upset over this and prayed for a way to share the love of Jesus and the joy of Christmas with the world. His prayer led to the idea of the Candy Cane.
He made the candy in the shape of a shepherd's staff, symbolizing that Jesus is the shepherd to his followers and that the sheep would hear His voice and follow him (Psalm 23:1, John 10:11, John 10:27-30, Isaiah 40:11).
Also, when held upside down, the candy cane made a "J" standing for Jesus (Luke 1:31, Matthew 1:21).
The man chose to make the candy cane a hard candy in order to remind us that Jesus is our rock (Psalm 31:3).
The candy cane also features white and red stripes. The red symbolizing the crucifixion and the blood that Jesus shed for our sins and the white representing His holiness and purity.
Finally, the man chose peppermint as the flavor because it was similar to hyssop. Hyssop was used for sacrifice and purification in the Old Testament, which reminds us of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
