What the Shepherds Can Teach Us About Building the Kingdom of God

This article has some great insights about the shepherds in Luke 2. Really makes you think!

The shepherds and the wise men, these are well-known scripture figures.  Thousands of children will dress up this Christmas and be them, say scripted lines, and act out the nativity.  In fact, one popular story in my husband’s family was when he, with a towel draped over his head, was an unwilling shepherd.   With his arms crossed, crouching in the corner, he proclaimed, “I don’t want to be a stupid shepherd!”.  If it hadn’t been caught on video, that memory may have faded – but it was, so it lives on, and on, and on.

Have you ever wondered if these faithful men, these skilled shepherds from centuries ago, could look upon us now and see us acting out that night? I am sure they would love seeing children in their bath robes, holding a stick and a stuffed lamb, acting afraid when the angel comes and then dutifully walking over and seeing the baby in the manger.  But they may also, in good humor, say, “it wasn’t exactly like that….”.

From Luke’s short record we only know a few details, but there is a lot more we can know. One thing we know is that these were shepherds, and that tells us a lot.  Shepherds are hard-working skilled men.  They work all hours of the day and night.  They must know how to raise sheep, tend to them, help them be born, and be with them when they die.  They must know the dangers that threaten their flocks, what the different seasons of the year bring, and a miriad of things we don’t even know they know, because we aren’t shepherds.

But this night they were in the fields with their flocks and it was probably a regular day for them.  Their wives had likely packed them the food they would need and the proper clothing they would need as the temperatures changed throughout the day.  This was springtime which was birthing season for their flocks.  It is not unlikely that they were keeping an eye out and assisting  in births as the need arose.  What’s more is that it was Passover season, and it is very likely that these very shepherds were raising sheep that would be used in the Passover in similitude of the coming Messiah.  If so, these shepherds knew the laws surrounding the requirements of the sheep that could be used for such a reason.  They understood exactly what kind of a lamb could symbolize the man who would come and redeem them.  These men had reflected, maybe more than most, on The Lamb of God, that would one day be born.

These weren’t just lowly shepherds.  They were skilled men at their craft.  They were righteous men that God chose to fulfill this specific role.  He expected them to respond faithfully and then act on what they witnessed.  These needed to be men of faith, courage and reliability.

When the shepherds were directed to the scene of Christ’s birth, they entered a stable.  This was likely a familiar place to them.  When they set out to find a babe “lying in a manger” they would, in “haste” begin searching all of the stables in the area.  Can you imagine being with them during this time?  What kind of conversations do you think they were having?  What kind of urgency were they feeling after just witnessing the proclamation by the angels?  As they checked stable after stable, what kind of thoughts would they have had realizing that now was the time, the exact time, the Messiah was finally coming, and they were chosen to be witnesses?

Once they found the stable, did they stay awhile?  Did they fetch Mary and Joseph anything that they needed?  Did they tell Mary and Joseph about the angels?  Were there others there helping, perhaps some midwives that also listened to the shepherds and realized that they had just assisted in an unordinary birth – and stood in awe that shepherds had suddenly appeared telling that angels had directed them to find them?

When they left the stable, now their responsibility would really begin.  “And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning the child.  And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds” (Luke 2:17-18).  Their testimony was convincing enough that all who heard it “wondered”.  Can you imagine how much certainty was in their voices as they shared?  Can you see them sharing out of love rather than fear of what others might think of them?   Perhaps some instantly believed, while others needed more time.

We also know that Mary and Joseph stayed in Bethlehem awhile, perhaps two years.  Did many approach them to see this child for themselves after hearing the testimony of the shepherds, or perhaps the testimony of someone else who had believed the shepherds?  What kind of ripple effect had these shepherds started?

And, how would this message have effected the community of Bethlehem?  Did the entire society become a little more holy, a little more righteous, a little more focused?

Over thirty years later, will these shepherds still be alive when they hear about the crucifixion?  What feelings they must have had.  Can you imagine witnessing them hear that the Lord had been crucified?

These shepherds would have had names, they would have had mothers, fathers, wives, children, grandparents and neighbors.  The first time they had stepped onto a field of Bethlehem, likely as very young children, little did they know what those fields would one day bring into their lives.  As they continually made righteous decisions in their lives, unknowingly qualifying for this great assignment,  becoming witnesses of the Messiah’s birth likely never crossed their minds.  As they raised and  prepared Passover lambs, they probably never thought they would actually witness the birth of The Lamb of God.  If someone would have told them that some men would be chosen by God to go out and make known that the Messiah was born, they probably would not think it was them.

But it was them.  And now every Christmas children all over the world reenact that night, when their lives would have changed.

————————

 

You will learn so much from this nativity book! You can just print it from home!

 

Check out our new NATIVITY FLIP BOOK.  Kids and adults love this!  We have received RAVING reviews from those who have this book and have told us that everyone in their family learned something new about the nativity.

You can read a more detailed article about this book HERE, or you can find the book HERE.

If you want to give a powerful Christmas lesson - HERE YOU GO!

 

And if you want to give a powerful Christmas lesson – here you go!  Check out THIS ARTICLE to see a great lesson plan and a more detailed description about this package!

Or you can find the Christmas Lesson HERE.

Or you can find a combo package with BOTH the Christmas Lesson and Nativity Book HERE.

 

Leave a Reply