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Shepherds were considered second-class and
untrustworthy - officially labeled “sinners” — a technical term for a class of
despised people. Into this social context of religious snobbery and class
prejudice, Father God handpicked lowly, unpretentious shepherds to first hear
the joyous news: “It’s a boy, and He’s the Messiah!” Even from birth, Christ
moved among the lowly. It was the sinners, not the self-righteous, He came to
save. That figure was immortalized by the Lord Jesus when He said, “I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Christ is
also the Great Shepherd and the Chief Shepherd. As we gaze on nativity scenes
and smile at those gunnysack shepherds, let’s not lose sight of the striking
irony. A handful of shepherds, marginalized by the social and religious elite,
were chosen to break the silence of centuries, heralding Messiah’s birth.
BY RANDY ALCORN
“And in the same
region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by
night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and they were filled with fear.” - Luke 2:8-9
No
Christmas program is complete without its little band of gunnysack shepherds.
Frightened
by the angel’s sudden appearance, they marvel at the good news from the angel
and rush to Bethlehem to see the Savior-King.
As
they return to their flocks, they praise God and tell all who will listen about
the birth of the chosen Child.
They
finish spreading the good tidings, leave the stage, and we hardly give them
another thought.
But
why did the announcement come to them at all?
Why
not to priests and kings?
Who
were they that they should be eyewitnesses of God’s glory and receive history’s
greatest birth announcement?
In
Christ’s day, shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the Palestinian social
ladder. They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung
sweepers.
Only
Luke mentions them.
During
the time of the Patriarchs, shepherding was a noble occupation.
Shepherds
are mentioned early in Genesis 4:20 where Jabal is called the father of those
living in tents and raising livestock.
In
nomadic societies, everyone — whether sheikh or slave — was a shepherd.
The
wealthy sons of Isaac and Jacob tended flocks (Genesis 30:29; 37:12).
Jethro, the priest of Midian, employed his daughters as shepherdesses (Exodus 2:16).
When
the twelve tribes of Israel migrated to Egypt, they encountered a lifestyle
foreign to them.
The
Egyptians were agriculturalists.
As
farmers, they despised shepherding because sheep and goats meant death to
crops.
Battles
between farmers and shepherds are as old as they are fierce. The first murder
in history erupted from a farmer’s resentment of a shepherd (Genesis 4:1-8).
Egyptians
considered sheep wo rthless for food and sacrifice.
Egyptian
art forms and historical records portray shepherds negatively.
Neighboring
Arabs — their enemy — were shepherds, and Egyptian hatred climaxed when
shepherd kings seized Lower Egypt.
Pharaoh’s
clean-shaven court looked down on the rugged shepherd sons of Jacob.
Joseph
matter-of-factly informed his brothers, “Every shepherd is detestable to the
Egyptians” (Genesis
46:34).
In
the course of 400 years, the Egyptians prejudiced the Israelites’ attitude
toward shepherding.
Jacob’s
descendants became accustomed to a settled lifestyle and forgot their nomadic
roots.
When Israel later settled in Canaan (c.1400 BC), the few tribes still retaining a fondness for pastoral life chose to live in the Trans-Jordan (Numbers 32:1 ff).
After
the settling in Palestine, shepherding ceased to hold its prominent position.
As
the Israelites acquired more farmland, pasturing decreased. Shepherding became
a menial vocation for the laboring class.
Around
1000 BC, David’s emergence as king temporarily raised the shepherd’s image.
The
lowliness of this trade made David’s promotion striking (2 Samuel 7:8).
While
poetic sections of Scripture record positive allusions to shepherding, scholars
believe these references reflect a literary ideal, not reality.
In
the days of the Prophets, sheep-herders symbolized judgment and social
desolation (Zephaniah
2:6).
Amos
contrasted his high calling as prophet with his former role as a shepherd (Amos 7:14).
Dr. Joachim Jeremias
says shepherds were “despised in everyday life.”
In
general, they were considered second-class and untrustworthy.
Shepherding
had not just lost its widespread appeal; it eventually forfeited its social
acceptability.
Some
shepherds earned their poor reputations, but others became victims of a cruel
stereotype.
The
religious leaders maligned the shepherd’s good name; rabbis banned pasturing
sheep and goats in Israel, except on desert plains.
The
Mishnah, Judaism’s written record of the oral law, also reflects this
prejudice, referring to shepherds in belittling terms.
One
passage describes them as “incompetent”; another says no one should ever feel
obligated to rescue a shepherd who has fallen into a pit.
Jeremias
documents the fact that shepherds were deprived of all civil rights. They could
not fulfill judicial offices or be admitted in court as witnesses.
He wrote, “To buy
wool, milk or a kid from a shepherd was forbidden on the assumption that it
would be stolen property.”
In Jerusalem in the
Time of Jesus, Jeremias notes: “The rabbis ask with amazement how, in view
of the despicable nature of shepherds, one can explain why God was called ‘my
shepherd’ in Psalm 23:1.”
Smug
religious leaders maintained a strict caste system at the expense of shepherds
and other common folk.
Shepherds
were officially labeled “sinners” — a technical term for a class of despised
people.
Into
this social context of religious snobbery and class prejudice, God’s Son
stepped forth.
How surprising and
significant that Father God handpicked lowly, unpretentious shepherds to first
hear the joyous news: “It’s a boy, and He’s the Messiah!”
What
an affront to the religious leaders who were so conspicuously absent from the
divine mailing list.
Even
from birth, Christ moved among the lowly. It was the sinners, not the
self-righteous, He came to save (Mark 2:17).
The
proud religionists of Christ’s day have faded into obscurity, but the shepherd
figure is once again elevated in church life as pastors “shepherd their
flocks.”
That figure was
immortalized by the Lord Jesus when He said, “I am the good shepherd. The
good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
Christ
is also the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20) and the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4).
No
other illustration so vividly portrays His tender care and guiding hand.
As
we gaze on nativity scenes and smile at those gunnysack shepherds, let’s not
lose sight of the striking irony.
A handful of shepherds, marginalized by the social and religious elite, were chosen to break the silence of centuries, heralding Messiah’s birth.
“Shepherd Status,” by Randy Alcorn, in Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus, Nancy Guthrie, Editor (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2008), pp. 85-89.
Randy Alcorn, founder of EPM
Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of
fifty-some books and the founder and director of Eternal Perspective
Ministries.
http://www.epm.org/resources/2008/Mar/11/shepherds-status/
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