CRUCIFIXION NAILS FOR SALE
J. Grant Swank, Jr.
They wear crosses in their ears, around their necks, dangling from ankles and on the wrists. But what do those crosses mean? Anything? And if so, anything biblical?
What does the magnetism of the cross as jewelry actually signify? Does it hark back two thousands years ago to the Calvary tree where the Sacrifice was offered heaven to satisfy eternity’s justice for humanity’s sins? What?
Does the cross atop a building mean anything important, special, worth noting? In the front of a church sanctuary there are crosses — some grotesque pieces of art, others simplistic in design, then the traditional crucifixes in the Roman Catholic churches.
The other day I watched a movie in which a Catholic family was highlighted.
There on the living room wall was the crucifix — just what a viewer would expect as part of the scenery — props for a movie take.
So crosses vied for nails for sale. According to the New York Post’s William Neuman, nails were selling like hotcakes. They could hardly wrap them up fast enough for mailing. Nails nails and still more nails — enough to stock a hardware store.
With Mel Gibson’s PASSION OF THE CHRIST then making news, nails became the symbolic hold-on attached to the movie. If one went to the movie, one hung onto the nail. It was part and parcel of the New Testament message. It was something a human being could put into the palm of a hand to remind him of something.
But the crucial question was this: What was that something? Was the something worth anything earthly? Did it represent anything for eternity? Or was all that just another fad, come and gone, willy nilly. A few pennies spent on the nail and then laid in the dresser drawer so the next generation could ask grandma why the nail was there.
Nails though were selling for more than a few pennies. They went for $16.99 apiece if bought from the Christian Publications Bookstore on West 43rd Street in Manhattan.
They were pewter fixtures. They measured 2 l/2 inches long. Some referred to them as "pendants."
Other souvenirs of the movie included "books, pins, key chains, coffee mugs and T-shirts," according to the New York Post. Why, it was like going to the ball game. Or coming home from the Fourth of July parade.
However, nails were the most catchy item going. Nails nails and some more nails. Each hung from a leather strap.
So what did the nail say? It had on its side this passage from the Bible: Isaiah 53:5: "He was pierced for our transgressions. . ."
"’The response so far has been overwhelming . . . They want to buy this product,’ a store manager, Tina Weldon, said of the nail pendants. ‘It's very symbolic for a lot of people.’"
Fine. That was all well and good. I was happy for the manufacturers. And I was happy with the buyers. My prayer simply was this:
"God, help us not only to hold the nail in our hands,
fondling it against our skin, feeling its clean cold impress,
but may we hold it next to our lives.
"May our lives show the death to self and
the resurrection to Jesus as Lord of life.
"May the nail pierce into our own hearts so as to strip away all that is sinful
in order for the holiness of your Spirit to control everything about us.
"In Jesus’ name —
the one whose body was laid low by the nasty nails —
"Amen—so be it, Lord. Amen and amen."
For more: http://conservativeposts.us/ <http://conservativeposts.us/>
They wear crosses in their ears, around their necks, dangling from ankles and on the wrists. But what do those crosses mean? Anything? And if so, anything biblical?
What does the magnetism of the cross as jewelry actually signify? Does it hark back two thousands years ago to the Calvary tree where the Sacrifice was offered heaven to satisfy eternity’s justice for humanity’s sins? What?
Does the cross atop a building mean anything important, special, worth noting? In the front of a church sanctuary there are crosses — some grotesque pieces of art, others simplistic in design, then the traditional crucifixes in the Roman Catholic churches.
The other day I watched a movie in which a Catholic family was highlighted.
There on the living room wall was the crucifix — just what a viewer would expect as part of the scenery — props for a movie take.
So crosses vied for nails for sale. According to the New York Post’s William Neuman, nails were selling like hotcakes. They could hardly wrap them up fast enough for mailing. Nails nails and still more nails — enough to stock a hardware store.
With Mel Gibson’s PASSION OF THE CHRIST then making news, nails became the symbolic hold-on attached to the movie. If one went to the movie, one hung onto the nail. It was part and parcel of the New Testament message. It was something a human being could put into the palm of a hand to remind him of something.
But the crucial question was this: What was that something? Was the something worth anything earthly? Did it represent anything for eternity? Or was all that just another fad, come and gone, willy nilly. A few pennies spent on the nail and then laid in the dresser drawer so the next generation could ask grandma why the nail was there.
Nails though were selling for more than a few pennies. They went for $16.99 apiece if bought from the Christian Publications Bookstore on West 43rd Street in Manhattan.
They were pewter fixtures. They measured 2 l/2 inches long. Some referred to them as "pendants."
Other souvenirs of the movie included "books, pins, key chains, coffee mugs and T-shirts," according to the New York Post. Why, it was like going to the ball game. Or coming home from the Fourth of July parade.
However, nails were the most catchy item going. Nails nails and some more nails. Each hung from a leather strap.
So what did the nail say? It had on its side this passage from the Bible: Isaiah 53:5: "He was pierced for our transgressions. . ."
"’The response so far has been overwhelming . . . They want to buy this product,’ a store manager, Tina Weldon, said of the nail pendants. ‘It's very symbolic for a lot of people.’"
Fine. That was all well and good. I was happy for the manufacturers. And I was happy with the buyers. My prayer simply was this:
"God, help us not only to hold the nail in our hands,
fondling it against our skin, feeling its clean cold impress,
but may we hold it next to our lives.
"May our lives show the death to self and
the resurrection to Jesus as Lord of life.
"May the nail pierce into our own hearts so as to strip away all that is sinful
in order for the holiness of your Spirit to control everything about us.
"In Jesus’ name —
the one whose body was laid low by the nasty nails —
"Amen—so be it, Lord. Amen and amen."
For more: http://conservativeposts.us/ <http://conservativeposts.us/>
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