The Untold Story

It was dark inside the bag so we moved close together. My friend Thorny and I wondered why we had been chosen to be a King´s crown. One of the other thorns said he had never heard of a crown of thorns. And another thorn said, “I always thought that a king´s crown was made of silver and gold!” And they all agreed this was so.

At last the soldier stopped and opened the leather bag. He wore heavy gloves as he pulled each of us out of the bag, then he laid us on a table. Sharpie looked at the soldier and said. “Just look how sharp we are! Those tiny points at the ends of our bodies can prick and cut, so why are you using us for a King´s crown?” The soldier´s face grew angry and he screamed at little Sharpie. “Shut up before I break you in half!” The cruel soldier laughed as he pushed Sharpie across the table.

The soldier twisted our thin branches into a circle, with our sharp points going downward. When it was completed the awful crown was placed on the head of a man named Jesus. He had been beaten and blood covered his back, and this made us all very sad. Jesus looked like such a nice man and none of us thorns wanted to hurt Him with our sharp edges. We sat real still on top of His head tried not to prick his scalp. Then suddenly, one of the soldiers noticed what we were doing. He picked up a big stick and hit us on the head real hard. It hurt us, but not nearly as bad as it hurt Jesus. Another soldier kept pushing us down against His head until we slashed through His scalp and forehead. We all cried and were so sad that these mean soldiers had used us to hurt this man Jesus.

Of course, you know we are nails. We heard the thorns telling you about Jesus and we wanted to tell you that we also knew Jesus. There were only three of us. Our names were Old Rusty, Spikey and my name was Dirty. We lived all our lives in a cobbler´s shop. Then one day a Roman Soldier walked into the shop. He told the old cobbler that he had an important job that required some large nails. The old cobbler had five huge nails and insisted that the Soldier buy all of them, even though the Soldier only needed three nails. Rusty had never been used for even the smallest of jobs, so he was really excited as he listened to the soldier. Spikey had been used once then put back on the rack to rust. So, he wasn´t the least impressed by the soldier´s words. But I sure was! I even thought that perhaps the old cobbler would give us a bath. And maybe even sand off our rust for this important job we were to do. But soon after we left the cobbler´s shop, we realized our important job was not something we would like.
What we saw when we arrived at our destination, made us all want to run away and hide from the soldiers. The man Jesus was laying on the ground with his arms stretched out on a rugged tree. The strong soldier picked up a big hammer then grabbed Rusty by the neck with his other hand. He grabbed Jesus left arm and stretched it out. Then he put Rusty between Jesus hand and wrist. Before Rusty knew what was happening, the soldier hit Rusty on the top of his head with the hammer. Then the soldier grabbed me by the throat and hammered my head into Jesus´ right hand. Some of the dirt on my body fell into the hole that I made in Jesus hand. I felt so bad that all I could do was cry. I hoped my tears would rinse out the dirt in his hand. Another soldier picked up Spikey and drove him through the feet of Jesus.

We were all so sorry that these soldiers had used us to hurt Jesus. He looked at us and His loving eyes made us know that Jesus did not blame us, for what the soldiers made us do. A lot of Jesus friends stood beside the cross. Some people were crying and others looked really sad. This was the worst day of our lives.

Sea Sponge

Shiny was there too. He was a very handsome sword. Most of the time the only thing Shiny did was lay in his sheath and sleep. But that day his owner decided to use Shiny. Jesus had been hanging on the Cross for a long time and suddenly He cried out, “It is Finished!” and then he hung His head and died. His friends and family all began to weep. One of the soldiers picked Shiny up and slashed a hole in Jesus side to make sure Jesus was really dead. Poor Shiny was so sad to see blood covering his blade that he too began to cry.

His Robe

I did not see her, but Rusty told me later that Velvet was near the Cross. Velvet´s sister was a beautiful robe that the soldiers made Jesus wear so He would look like a king. The mean soldiers had laughed at Jesus as they put the robe on Him, and mocked Him and called Him the King of the Jews. When they were through laughing and mocking Jesus, they took off the beautiful robe and put Velvet back on Him. Later, after Jesus died, they torn Velvet in pieces and gambled at the foot of the Cross to get pieces of poor Velvet. That was a very sad day for all of us.

Those soldiers were the meanest men I had ever known. They used each of us against our will to hurt and kill Jesus. They even spit on Him and slapped Him that day. They hated Jesus and said terrible things about Him. But through all that, Jesus never got mad at them. Jesus was in a great deal of pain, but even then He told those cruel men that He loved them. I even heard Jesus praying to His Father in heaven, asking Him to forgive the men and all their bad deeds. Jesus really was a kind, loving man. And I heard some people saying that Jesus was the Son of God, and I believe it too! Another friend of mine wants to talk with you. His name is Little Tree and I think you will like hearing from him.

Hi, everyone! I bet you are wondering why my name is Little Tree, when in fact I am a Cross. The fact is I was made from a tree, just like my great, great grandfather whose name was the Old Rugged Cross. He knew Jesus better than all of the rest of us did. Jesus hung on the Old Rugged Cross for several hours, and he discovered many things about the man called Jesus. Granddaddy was a rough cut cross full of splinters and not at all smooth. Those splinters rubbed against Jesus back and legs as He hung there on the cross and caused Jesus a lot of pain. My daddy told me that Granddaddy cried a lot as he watched Jesus suffer. He did not want to be used to hold Jesus there but he had no choice. He too, had heard that Jesus had never done anything wrong in His entire life. Many said that Jesus was born without sin because He was really the Son of God, and never once did he sin while He was on earth. Granddaddy said that there was one thing he knew about Jesus that he would never forget. He said that no one who had ever lived, had loved people more then Jesus did. That was why He so willingly died that horrible death on the Old Rugged Cross. He loved everyone in the world so much! He died to take our sins away, and He did it for you and anyone who will believe in Him.

After Jesus was taken off the Old Rugged Cross, my friend Rocky was rolled in front of the tomb where they had buried Jesus. He later told me that he saw with his own eyes, what happened three days after he was put in front of the tomb. Rocky never lies so I believed what he said. Rocky said that on the morning of the third day, an angel came and rolled Rocky away from the tomb. Then suddenly, Jesus walked out of the tomb. He was alive! Rocky said birds began to sweetly sing as the trees swayed in the wind and a beautiful light shone all around Jesus and the angels. Rocky told me that he knew without a doubt, that Jesus truly was the Son of God, and the Savior of the world!

Jesus walked the earth for several days after He arose from the dead. My friend Fluffy, who is a big white cloud, told me a wonderful secret. He said that the disciples of Jesus watched Jesus ascend up into the sky. Then Fluffy took Jesus back to heaven. Jesus now sits at His Father´s right hand on a beautiful throne. He came to earth as a baby and He left as the resurrected Savior of the world. And one last thing, Fluffy said that an angel told the men not to be sad that Jesus was leaving because one day they would see Him again.

The angel told them that one-day soon, Jesus would come back to earth and make a perfect world for us. Then He and His Father would live on earth on earth with us forever and ever! Fluffy and I both agreed that even though His death was sad to watch, everything worked out just fine. And the promise of Him coming again should make all of us very happy.