Words of Reflection
The shepherds of Bethlehem are definitely in the running for my favorite people in the Christmas story. I know…Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are the central figures, but I have a lot of affection for these simple caretakers who were suddenly thrust into salvation history on that first Christmas.
Think about it for a moment: this is the most significant event in human history up until that point. God has come to earth! The divine has stooped to dwell with his creation! As singer Michael Card puts it, eternity has “stepped into time.” There is no greater happening since the very creation of the cosmos! And who become the first to hear the news directly from the angels?
Lowly shepherds. The bottom rung of society.
As one Biblical commentator has written:
“That the message came to shepherds first, and not to the high and mighty, reminds us that God comes to the needy, the poor in spirit. Shepherds were despised by the ‘good,’ respectable people of that day. According to the Mishnah, shepherds were under a ban. They were regarded as thieves. The only people lower than shepherds at that particular time in Jewish history were lepers.” —R. K. Hughes
This is an image I need every Christmas. I need to be reminded that God comes to the outcast and rejected of our world. Jesus would go on to echo this truth in the Sermon on the Mount, where the usual standards of society are flipped completely on their head.
This is the same message the prophets proclaimed—God is for the “least of these.” Despite our efforts to claim him for ourselves and make him a mascot for the privileged, the God of the Bible always shows himself instead as the champion of the oppressed. That is a central part of the Christmas story, and it’s one we often forget.
As we meditate on the role of the shepherds, how might God be stirring us to pray for the marginalized of our world? And how might he be calling the church to echo the angels, going into the midst of those cast off by the “good, respectable people” of our day and proclaiming:
Do not be afraid, I've good news of great joy
Your Savior is come; He's Christ, the Lord!
Scripture for Meditation:
“Though the Lord is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees them from afar.”
—Psalm 138:6 (NIV)
“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 2:20 (NIV)
Song: Angels We Have Heard On High (lyrics here)
Questions for Contemplation:
How does this perspective on the shepherds impact the way you receive the Christmas story? What does it reveal to you about God’s heart, and how might he be calling you to respond even deeper to that revelation?
The heart of the shepherds’ praise is captured in the second verse of this carol. Read over these words again and consider your answer to the questions posed: what brings praise to your lips? What inspires your heavenly song?
Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavn'ly song?
Spend some time in prayer before God for those who feel like outcasts in our world today. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to your mind people in your own circle of influence who are needy and poor in spirit to whom you can be a bearer of glad tidings and good news.