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The night our Savior was fully born into the world will never lack fascinating things to discuss. Of all of them, the familiar picture (or song lyrics) of an angel appearing to those lonely shepherds in Luke 2:8-20 is fairly straightforward. However, even a familiar part of the story can hold things we may have missed over the years. Let’s look at just a few of them.
#1 No ordinary shepherds (or sheep)
When we talk about the shepherds, we often picture a group of poor and dirty men. Tradition often assumes the angels appeared to these men merely as a picture of Christ coming to love the poor and outcasts. However, as David Croteau points out, this may not be the case.
Instead, consider the setting this takes place in. Bethlehem was the birthplace of King David, and even at the birth of Christ, it was a Jewish area. Understanding that people at that time were still obeying the Old Testament law, we also know that shepherds would have likely worked for the temple in Jerusalem, tending and protecting the sheep the priests used as a sacrifice for sin.
So while we assume shepherds were a bunch of outcasts, it’s far more likely that these men had a serious responsibility. So the sheep they were tending were to be used in a ritual that was always pointing Israel toward the coming Messiah, who would be the final, perfect sacrifice for sin.
The very men responsible for ensuring the Jews could make a sacrifice for sin were the first ones told about the birth of the spotless lamb, born as a sacrifice for the sins of the entire world.
#2 Keeping watch and fulfilling prophecy
The picture we often have of the shepherds (who we now know weren’t dirty outcasts) is that they’re sitting in an open field when an entire army joins a lone angel. However, in the late 1800s, a Jewish convert named Alfred Edersheim made an incredible connection. He noted a nearby landmark that may have not only been a fulfillment of an Old Testament prophecy but may shed more light on what it means that the shepherds were “keeping watch.”
In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.
And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:6-8)
As the New Testament clarifies the Old, this “tower of the flock” takes on a new meaning. This was a tower near Bethlehem called Migdal Eder and is the same tower of Eder where Jacob buried Rachel in Genesis 35:19-21. Shepherds would use this like any tower – as an elevated position that would allow them to keep watch for any predators.
If Edersheim’s understanding is accurate, then the proclamation of the Messiah’s birth came to the men standing on this “tower of the flock,” properly named Migdal Eder, just as God revealed through Micah.
#3 More than a baby blanket?
I haven’t been able to track down a reliable/historical source on this, but it’s noteworthy enough to mention while cautioning readers not to read too much into it.
When the shepherds went to the Messiah, they found Him wrapped in “swaddling clothes.” We often picture this in a desperate setting – Mary and Joseph kicked out of an inn and trying to find a way to make Mary’s labor as pleasant and sanitary as possible. With no other options left, we picture the Messiah wrapped in a dirty blanket and laid in a feeding trough.
However, a popular theory suggests that these swaddling clothes would have been familiar to these Jewish shepherds.
All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the LORD your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. (Deuteronomy 15:19)
This theory suggests that Mary used a special cloth made explicitly for swaddling the firstborn lambs that would grow up to be sacrificed for sin. Thus the significance of seeing Jesus in these “swaddling clothes” after the angels’ proclamation would have stood out to them as this Messiah truly being the promised lamb Israel had been waiting for.
#4 The context of “peace”
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. (Luke 2:1)
A fascinating piece of history to study is the Pax Romana, or the Roman Peace. Rome created an incredible level of peace and safety as it dominated the world. Pax Romana began with Caesar Augustus, the same one responsible for a very pregnant Mary traveling to Bethlehem to be counted. It would also last throughout the early church years, ending around 180 AD.
People in this day had a unique understanding of peace. It was a global blessing given and maintained by Rome and upheld through strict laws and military dominance. But despite the steps required to get there, the world certainly knew a peace like never before.
And yet, with the birth of Christ, the angels are singing a different tune.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:13-14)
The world thought it knew peace, but God promised peace that no mighty government could deliver. Christ was coming to make peace between God and His people. Not through might or threats of imprisonment, but through His sacrifice on the cross. Rome was willing to kill for peace, but Christ was born with the single purpose of dying to take God’s wrath in our place, making peace between a holy God and a sinful people.
#5 The shepherds visit the Good Shepherd
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. (John 10:11-16)
This one is an easy connection, but one we often miss if we get swept up in Christ being a baby at this time. The shepherds weren’t just visiting a newborn baby but were gazing upon their own shepherd.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)
The shepherds, like us, were lost. They needed a perfect Savior to pay the penalty for their sin. And like a good shepherd, He would lay down His life to save His sheep. While they may not have understood it then, they would eventually find out that this baby would one day die to save them from their sin, just as a good shepherd would do.
Lamb, Shepherd, Savior
God reveals an interesting set of sheep-centered pictures for our Savior. On the one hand, He’s portrayed as a perfect lamb who can do what no other sacrifice ever could – through His sacrifice, He would make a final and complete payment for our sin. On the other hand, He’s also a shepherd who’s in charge of a bunch of stray sheep who love to wander away.
Yet, both of these pictures show Christ’s goodness and perfection. He was born to die, living a perfect life and submitting Himself to God’s wrath as though He was guilty of our sin. Today, He is a good shepherd who never stops seeking and saving His lost and wandering sheep.
Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29b)
Praise God for the message the shepherds heard and the peace Jesus Christ has brought between the Heavenly Father and a herd of wandering sheep.
