Why Shepherds?

The Christmas story found in Luke chapter two denotes the presence of shepherds at the birth of the Messiah. While they may have been present at some point, it is difficult to comprehend the mixture of Magi (wise ones of great authority) and shepherds at so monumental an event.

Why would shepherds be interested in such a prophetically denoted event that is clearly the type of subject relegated to scholars of Israel’s Sanhedrin, Rabbi’s and other scholarly interested parties such as the Magi?

Why would the heralding Angels appear to the shepherds rather than the princes of the people?

Unlike farmers, shepherds were often wage earners, being paid to watch the sheep of others. Shepherds also lived apart from society, being largely nomadic. It was mainly a job of solitary males without children, and new shepherds thus needed to be recruited externally. Shepherds were most often the younger sons of farming peasants who did not inherit any land. Still in other societies, each family would have a family member to shepherd its flock, often a child or youth or an elder who couldn't help much with harder work.

Shepherds would normally work in groups either looking after one large flock, or each bringing their own and merging their responsibilities. They would live in small cabins, often shared with their sheep and would buy food from local communities or the shepherds lived and traveled with their flocks.

Shepherding developed only in certain areas. In the lowlands and river valleys, it was far more efficient to grow grains and cereals than to allow sheep to graze, thus the raising of sheep was confined to rugged and mountainous areas.

So we have a group of socially displaced males who earn a living caring for the livestock of others and do so with so much care that they literally live with the animals. They have little outside interests available but were quite well equipped to live in the wilderness in solitude.

What kind of person is this?

The child: Responsibility often matures a young male quickly. These young men would be delegated to the role of shepherd for various reasons, no doubt, but in my personal experience responsibility will wake up the dreamer and quiet the rowdy spirit of a boy.

Seeing the destitution of a lost sheep, the painful neediness of the animal would stir up in these young fellows a driving need to protect the sheep form the outside influences that would destroy them. They might suddenly see how they were a responsibility to their families and feel the surge of desire to compensate for the drag they placed on their own family. Perhaps they were relegated to this duty as punishment or rejection.

The young man: This is the painful story of the poor. There is no inheritance, and no job opportunities in town. Very little was available to these poor landless men and so a life of solitude was about all they could hope for. This is indeed an oppressive experience that many people today suffer. Loneliness is as common as credit cards.

Hopelessness is not a modern issue but an issue that faces everyone. It does require some maturity to become aware of your own hopelessness, and this happened frequently to young men and women in the days of Christ.

The Adult male: Usually adult male shepherds had been at this job for many years. The right circumstances for becoming a shepherd left the market open for new recruits and often were filled by very young men.

The adult male has matured greatly in the wilderness and has adapted to the hardened life of the Bedouin-like lifestyle that a shepherd must lead. Hope for a fulfilling family life was gone for many of them. There was no money to speak of, no land, and no certain home. While it was not impossible for a shepherd to marry, the long absences and poor financial outlook were not conducive to happiness in family life.

Why then were these folks alerted to the presence of the Messiah?

Who had more time to ponder the meaning of prophecy, talk with God and find solace in the promises?

Who would recognize and empathize with the tender love and care of the Great Shepherd more readily than these folks?

The shepherd recognized themselves in the sheep they tended. The ones who understood the need to leave the many and search out the one that is lost because it would be destroyed; the ones who recognized the goodness of discipline and the need for changing the habits of the wayward.

The shepherd was possibly the only individual who could understand the mission of the Messiah to the poor and rejected clearly; the great hope they saw in this small newborn child would be of immense interest to them.

As we travel around town, we come in contact with several people. Are they candidates for the shepherds role? Are they rejected, poor, and lonely? If so they are the ones Jesus is still looking for.

Are any dissatisfied with modern religion that serves to build itself at the expense of a spiritual life? Do they know inside that what they have is not fulfilling the need to know God?

What will tell them that the Messiah is really here, seeking for them?

Mar 16:15,16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

There is no licensing requirement, no building requirement. Go and preach the gospel-in the wilderness, in the entire world and to every creature.

You go.