Have you ever wondered why it was shepherds that first got the news of Jesus’ birth? Honestly, until Karl (my husband) made an off-hand observation about it to me recently, I never really questioned it. I just assumed that shepherds were pretty lowly and had no great status in society, and since God wanted to be sure everyone understood He was sending Salvation to the whole world, they were a convenient choice.
Karl’s observation is this: who else would you announce the coming of the Lamb of God to but shepherds? Huh. Lamb of God. Shepherds. Oh, I get it!
Shepherds would understand better than anyone else. They had lots of experience with lambs. In the early spring, they’d be up all night checking on the ewes, counting and caring for the new babies on the ground, keeping them warm and protected. They’d be vigilant and determined with the ones that had been rejected while keeping their eyes out for needy ones as well as the healthy ones. As the babies grew, the shepherds would be entertained by the awkward and gangly frolicking of the lambs through the summer. (Watch a couple of Youtubes and you’ll see how endearing their jumping and bumping and kicking and running is.) Always, the shepherds would be observing, protecting, nurturing those lambs along with the rest of the flock. It was their job, their livelihood depended on doing it well.
Perhaps, though their hands were rough and the skin on their noses tanned and leathered by their lifestyle, just perhaps the hearts of these tough men stayed especially soft for those perfect lambs in the herd. Maybe, while they stroked and fed them as they grew, and as they watched them carefully to make sure they didn’t get into the brambles or take any risk with their perfection, maybe they fell a little in love with them precisely because they were highly aware what these little guys were destined for. Jerusalem is only twenty miles north of Bethlehem. Sacrificing a perfect, year-old lamb was required for each family under the law. Without doubt, these shepherds knew the future of the perfect lambs they fostered.
Who better, then, to hear the Good News of God’s Grace than men who already understood the deeper context of a perfect sacrificial Lamb’s arrival to the people? Who better to welcome Him than them? Well, I’ve not lived that life, but because I have the gift of perspective and can see the whole story, from the Lamb’s birth – to His Crucifixion – to His saving Resurrection – and because I have the Hope of Jesus’ return, then I can put myself in those shepherd’s shoes and welcome the birth of the Perfect Lamb, come for me! (and you, too!)
