Real Hope: Christmas StoryНамуна

The Shepherds. Who Were They Really?

What are we to learn from the shepherds’ role in the nativity story? Another example of the ‘last shall be first’ principle? Doubtless these men were not of the highest social standing; however, they may not have been the outcasts they are often portrayed as being. Abraham, Moses and David were all shepherds. Genesis 13 describes Abraham as having livestock herds, and flocks of sheep. Moses was shepherd to his father-in-law’s flock (Exodus 3:1). David was a shepherd taking care of his father’s flocks (1 Samuel 17). In Psalm 23, David portrays God as the ultimate shepherd.

So, what of these shepherds? The Mishnah – documents recording Jewish oral traditions of the Pharisees – suggest these men may well have been lowly ranked priests. Orders of the time directed that only flocks of blemish free sheep designated for Temple sacrifice were permitted near built-up communities like Bethlehem. All other flocks were to be raised in ‘the wilderness’.

If these men were indeed of the religious class, the angelic host’s choral announcement carried added weight. While they did not know it, the Saviour born in Bethlehem would end the need for the very animals they were tending (Luke 2:11). In God’s divine plan of salvation, the baby now wrapped in cloth was putting them out of a job! They now had a new job. To be the first evangelists of Christianity. Even though they did not know it at the time.

This Christmas let’s celebrate God’s plan being bigger than we can ever comprehend, and at times revealed only through life’s rear-view mirror. And from people and places we may never expect.

Written by DWAYNE JEFFRIES