Who Were the Shepherds?

 ⁸And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Luke chapter 2

Why did God choose shepherds to be the first to know about the birth of his son?  From a marketing standpoint, it doesn't make much sense.  Bethlehem was filled with throngs of people at that time, gathering for the census.  There were a lot of high and mighty people gathered!  Jesus was the Messiah - why not tell the Jewish leaders, who had waited for so long?  Jesus was the King - why not send a warning to political leaders?  Jesus was, at the very least, the grandchild for Mary and Joseph's families - why not send an angelic messenger to them?

Isn't it just like God to not be concerned with sending political, religious or social messages?  Isn't it just like God to be certain that even the lowliest of society would know the Good News?  Shepherds, far from being the cute little romanticized caretakers we may think of, were on the outskirts of Jewish society.   At that time, many shepherds were either slaves of wealthy families who hired them to care for their herds of sheep or they were gypsy-like vagabonds traveling from region to region selling their sheep. There was a common stereotype that shepherds were thieves and should not be trusted. That is why, most often, shepherds rarely ventured into town.

Doesn't this knowledge just amaze you?  Knowing who shepherds were, God chose them.  Knowing what society - including the "religious" folks - thought about shepherds didn't stop God from using them in His most powerful plan.  And it certainly didn't stop Jesus from referring to Himself as our shepherd in John 10:11: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  

Perhaps, if Jesus walked among us today, He would be a janitor or custodian.  And perhaps, if Jesus were to be born in today's society, God's equivalent of announcing his birth to the shepherds would be to tell . . . I don't know, the homeless men staying warm under an overpass.  Do you understand my point?  God had a plan that night, and His plan didn't include making the high and mighty - both religious and non-religious - feel good about themselves!  

No, His plan was to use the least of these.  The one thing we can say about these men and boys is that as shepherds, they would have been consistently looking to the sky.  They knew how to read the stars, they could predict weather by what they saw in the clouds and by the wind, and move their sheep to safer ground.  Perhaps that is why God chose them.  Perhaps it is because the movers and shakers in Bethlehem never looked up, and wouldn't have noticed an angel in the sky.  Shepherds were always watching and listening.  Was anyone else watching and listening that night?

How about you?  Are you watching for God?  Are you listening to His voice?  Are you living in an expectant manner, open and available to hear from Him?  What good news does He have to share with you, that you are perhaps missing because your eyes are focused on something else?

That's all for today.  Tomorrow we will talk about what the shepherds did with once the angels left them.  I'm enjoying learning about all of this and sharing it with you!