Tonight’s post should get filed under the heading, “Unbelievable.” In fact, I have tried to find out if this is a hoax or not and to the best of my knowledge, the things I heard about and read about yesterday are absolutely true – certainly as far as I can tell.
It all started yesterday morning. A good friend of mine periodically sends me interesting articles to read and yesterday I found such an article in my inbox. It was a link from Fox News and had to do with a new limited edition product that went on sale October 8th and is already sold out. They are being billed as “Jesus Shoes” – that’s right, “Jesus Shoes.”
Now let me be clear that these aren’t sandals or anything that Jesus is reported to have worn, but the idea is the brainchild of a creative company in Brooklyn, New York. It turns out that they went out, bought pairs of white Nike Air Max 97’s (whatever they are) at retail prices and modified them.
For starters, they injected the base of the see through soles with 60cc of water, with a little food dye to bring out the color. But this wasn’t ordinary water; it was holy water – taken from the River Jordan and blessed by a priest. They also put a drop of blood in the water to signify the blood of Christ.
The shoes also have frankincense-scented soles, a crucifix threaded through the laces and red insoles, a loose reference to the red shoes traditionally worn by past popes. The box they come in also displays an angel, a seal that resembles the papal seal and a Bible verse.
The idea started when the company was intending to poke fun at some of the odd collaborations that exist in the corporate world. So they wondered what would happen if Nike worked with Jesus to develop a product. Of course, I find all of this way out of bounds and sacrilegious. Jesus and God are topics that I just don’t think should be joked about. But based on the reception that the product received, I must be in the minority.
Not only were the shoes a big hit with consumers, they completely sold out within minutes of their introduction on Tuesday. By the way, they are going for $3000 a pair. You saw that correctly – $3000 a pair. Supposedly the initial retail price was somewhere under $1500, but the available stock was bought up within minutes and many pairs are listed for resale at online bidding sites. There were only several dozen pairs of the shoes made and the leadership of the company indicates that there are no more being produced. The founder of the brand did indicate, however, that there may be a “second coming” in the future. How crass…
The verse for tonight is the verse that the marketing company chose to use with their shoes. In fact, it is the verse that speaks to Jesus walking on water. Of course, this would be the kind of tongue in cheek verse that they would pick – especially with the holy water injected into the soles of their shoes.
But… the truth of the matter is that Jesus walking on water is one of the most famous events in the Bible. And Peter, who went out to meet Jesus, had the faith to at least take a step out of the boat before he started to sink. Matthew tells us, in Matthew 14:25-26, “During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.”
This was the second time that the disciples had been in a storm with Jesus. The first time they questioned who this person was. But this second time, the disciples proclaimed that Jesus was, indeed, the “Son of God.” That’s not so different from us. Before we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, most of us questioned who this Jesus was. But after we have been in relationship with Jesus, and accepted His offer of eternal life, we also proclaim Him as the divine Son of God.
My encouragement tonight is that you don’t have to spend $3000 to “pretend” that you have Jesus shoes. In fact, you don’t have to spend anything. That’s because Jesus tells us that it is faith that allows us to do great things. Because nothing is impossible with God… My prayer is that we will all grow in our faith and profess our belief in the miracles of Jesus as we continue to grow closer to Him. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…