Shepherds

Shepherds

My dad was a physician and gentleman farmer. He loved to dabble in many areas of life. At one point he purchased a large home on a tract of land with a barn and out buildings. It wasn’t long before he acquired a menagerie of horses, chickens, pigs and sheep. Of all his animals, sheep needed the most attention. They could not care for themselves. Someone had to watch over them; make sure they were cared for, a shepherd.

Sheepherding is a lonely life. Often far from civilization with only animals for companions. I wonder why God would choose to announce the birth of his son to nomadic shepherds. You would think that such an important event would deserve heralding in the courts of kings, politicians and ecclesiastical authorities. If you were going to send a whole heavenly host, I don’t think shepherds had the pedigree to appreciate the theological implications of the event.

Reading about the birth of Jesus, how can one be impressed with a child born in a stable surrounded by farm animals and shepherds. Religious nativity sets don’t do justice to the understatement of God’s grand design. Within a few verses the angels disappear, and the shepherds are gone. It makes you wonder what all the fuss was about.

Then I remembered that the Bible is full of shepherds: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, Moses and David to name a few. God speaks of himself as the Shepherd of Israel. Kings were charged to care for people as a shepherd cares for his flock. There is a definite connection between God and sheep.

Why wouldn’t the angels announce Jesus’ birth to shepherds and direct them to the stable in Bethlehem. This child was destined to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is the one who said, “I am the Good Shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He is the best shepherd of all. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.”

Shepherds why this jubilee? Gloria in excelsis Deo!