The Advent story seems to follow a kind of logic that isn’t too hard to follow…
- All the world must be taxed (Caesar)
- Joseph and Mary go to their ancestral home (Bethlehem)
- It’s a popular place and no vacancy signs lead to a stable.
- Baby is born, must lie in a manger
Ok. To this point, it all makes sense, kind of. I mean you can follow along. One thing leads to another and it’s not too great a leap.
But then the angels perform for a bunch of smelly shepherds.
What???
Why shepherds?
Who were they to merit such a spectacular announcement?
It’s easy to make a list of why they weren’t the right people. They didn’t smell good. They didn’t bring anything that Jesus needed (compared to the wise men later). They didn’t have a great network or collection of friends that they could tell about their discovery…
So why?
Some would say that the shepherds were ordinary people and Jesus came for the poor, weak and downtrodden. The shepherds certainly could have represented them.
Some might say that because David was a shepherd before he was king, the shepherds represented that part of his life, and more closely related to what Jesus was doing in this particular trip to Earth.
I think John the Baptizer had it right when he said “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
Who else would attend the birth of the Lamb? Shepherds.
When we look at it that way, it all starts to make sense. The first person to know about the birth of a lamb is generally the shepherd who cares for the sheep.
But there is also another possibility which stacks nicely on top of the above. In Joshua 21, after giving out the territories of land to the 12 tribes, God gave territory to the tribe of Levi. God had selected this tribe to be dedicated to Him. They did not receive a contiguous territory. They received cities/villages and the lad around them.
Because, you see, the tribe of Levi was the tribe of the priests to God. He was their portion.
But it’s possible that the shepherds “in the region” were levite shepherds who were caring for the sheep that would used in temple sacrifices – such as the passover. There are indications that in Jesus’ day, sheep out in the wilderness were so designated – and their care was a priestly duty.
It makes even more sense that not only would the Lamb of God be visited upon His birth by shepherds, but that He would be visited by the shepherds who cared for the Passover lambs.
Granted, His time was not the same as that of the lambs that year. It would be 33 years yet before His offering was appointed.
But God, being the ultimate detail manager, would bring the right people to visit His Lamb, to commemorate His birth.
So today we celebrate the shepherds. But it seems even deeper when we think of them as the keepers of the passover sacrifice. So that even in His beginning, Jesus was being prepared for the end of HIs life and the sacrifice that He would make.
I hope this serves as a little detail that deepens your appreciation of Jesus’ birth, and heightens your anticipation for the Advent.
Dennis
