Christmas Character Study: The Shepherds
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During the “I Am” statements of Jesus, He emphasizes, “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11-18). We remember in Psalm 23, King David (a former shepherd) writes “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” Throughout Scripture we are provided with a picture of our God as the tender, loving, protective and strong Shepherd. It is only fitting that the very first witnesses of the Savior’s birth, after Mary and Joseph, were local shepherds in the field on night shift.
Today we are going to study and be in awe of Christ’s beautiful intention and purpose in using shepherds to be His first missionaries of the good news that He had come.
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger’” (Luke 2:8-12).
“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told" (Luke 2:16-20).
Why Did Jesus Choose Shepherds?
The Good Shepherd had a plan when revealing His birth to nearby shepherds. First, this reminds us of who God is and how He cares for our souls enough to come to us and save us. Second, I believe that it continually affirms that He is the Messiah in the line of King David, a shepherd from Bethlehem. As we learned in previous studies, Mary and Joseph both were from the family line of David. This further adds evidence to His fulfillment of the prophecies.
Lastly, shepherds were unexpected. Jesus’ whole birth story was probably not what any of the Jews imagined. The Savior of the world was born in a smelly stable, placed in a manger, and His first visitors were poor shepherds on night duty. Jesus was showing that He came for all of us; all are poor in spirit, sinful humans, in need of a Savior. Shepherds were not high class, wealthy, or well educated, but these shepherds were faith-filled, eager, and humble to receive this message from God through the angels. They went immediately to see the Savior Jesus.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
Do we realize our own depravity and desperation in our sin? We are spiritually poor and in debt to God our Creator. Jesus came to us who are poor to make us rich in Him. He came to provide us with an eternal crown that lasts forever through His own sacrifice. His victory becomes our own and we glorify and give Him all the praise. These shepherds were likely chosen because they were humble and willing to receive this news with great joy to celebrate it and share it with others.
Through this news and this baby, the Messiah led these shepherds to personal worship of God and evangelism; they spread the word of the good news to others. They were the ones given the honor to tell people about Jesus. We are not deserving of this free gift of salvation, however we too have been selected to glorify God our Savior and to go and tell others about His gift to them. The shepherds remind us to recognize our sinfulness and depravity, to have great joy in the good news of Jesus, and to spread the word to others.
3 Things to Know about the Shepherds
1. The Shepherds Were Connected to Their Community
Logos shares, “Likely they were shepherds connected to the village of Bethlehem, like David. If so, they likely would have known everyone in Bethlehem and been familiar with the community.”
God did this intentionally. He told a group that was well-connected to the entire town of Bethlehem about Jesus’ birth. He knew they would not only be awake in the fields at the time of Jesus’ birth announcement, but they would get the good news out.
Danielle Bernock from Christianity shares, “They were the first evangelists. They saw Jesus long before the wise men. He was less than a week old in the manger.”
Jesus used the unexpected to share His good news. This reminds us of His plan to use people like fishermen, a tax collector, a Samaritan woman, and even those who had been demon possessed to tell of Him. Our God does not show favoritism, and He is capable of transforming any life for His glory.
2. The Shepherds Saw the Final Sacrifice, the Lamb of God
Logos continues, “John the Baptist called Jesus ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’ and while it may be theologically tempting to associate his birth with shepherds who were already connected to the ritual of temple sacrifice, this can in no way be proven.”
Although we can’t prove that these shepherds provided temple sacrifices, we know that shepherds cared for sheep. They were the first ones invited to gaze upon the unblemished Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world for all who believe.
3. The Shepherds Might Have Been Young
Fred H. Wight from Ancient Hebrew Research Center shares, “The youngest boy in the family becomes shepherd of the sheep.”
Remember, David was the youngest boy in his family. Following this tradition for shepherds to be the youngest, these shepherds who saw the angels announcing Jesus’ birth could have been young too.
Lessons We Can Learn from the Shepherds
Jesus deserves our total praise and He is the only one worthy of glory.
Immediate obedience is valuable to God and His timing. We see the shepherds respond with haste when told about the birth of Jesus. We too are invited to respond in obedience as the Holy Spirit leads us.
Jesus chooses who He wants to use for His purposes. The Shepherds might have been young, poor, and living mundane lives, but God looked down and had a plan for them. He is working in our everyday lives too.
The shepherds remind us to share the good news of Jesus with our communities.
More from this series
The Angels
The Animals
Baby Jesus
Joseph
Mary
The Inn Keeper
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Andry Djumantara
