Luke 2:8-20
8 Now in that same region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for see, I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: 11 to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the child lying in the manger. 17 When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them, 19 and Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told them.
Sunday, December 14 – Week of Joy
I love the story of the Shepherds in Luke’s Gospel account. Their story is one of humility and radical inclusion in God’s Kingdom. While shepherds were common in Biblical times, we have lost some of the cultural context around that profession over the generations.
As it was, Shepherds were unfortunately in the lowest societal rungs of the proverbial ladder. Spending long days and hours roaming with and guiding flocks of livestock meant they lived a rough lifestyle. These unnamed shepherds just happened to be selected by God to bear witness to the new thing happening through the birth of Jesus the Christ.
For Jesus to be born as King of all creation, what better first audience than someone who literally lived within and tended to a portion of God’s creation? It is the image of the humble shepherd that we have from David’s earliest story. It is the name “Good Shepherd” we assign to Jesus as the one who will leave the 99 to seek out and find the 1. If anyone would get the salvatory work of Jesus for the world, it would be the shepherds.
Prayer: Christ, our Good Shepherd, help us to learn from the humble story of the shepherds how you intend to continue working through us to make your love known to the world. Amen.
