LEARNING DAILY

 

Luke 2:8, Now there were living in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock at night.

 

I have learned so much more about the shepherds from seeing the “traditional” place where the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus. This place has been named the Shepherd’s Fields. While there, Pastor Ed Newton taught us some things about the shepherd; his first sermon back from the trip was about the shepherds. Allow me to share what I learned. See if you are able to see the significance of the angels appearing to them.

 

The shepherds were considered unclean, thought to be lowlife and scavengers. They could not testify in a court of law nor could they even participate in the Passover celebration. The shepherds the angels appeared to were no ordinary shepherds. These shepherds were given the task to watch over and care for the lambs to be sacrificed in the temple. They would wrap the lamb’s leg joints in swaddling cloths to protect them when they knelt to lay down at night. Remember that no blemish could be on the lambs sacrificed. The announcement that the sign of the baby born, the Savior, would be that He was wrapped in “swaddling cloths”; the shepherds knew this baby was the sacrificial Lamb of God. Do not forget that the shepherds laid the “newborn” lamb wrapped in the swaddling cloths in a manger.

 

Permit me to include one other thing about the swaddling cloths. I was amazed to learn that the priests would cut into strips their linen garments worn in the sacrificing of the lambs. They would use these strips of linen (swaddling strips, if you will) as wicks for the menorahs. They were used to provide light where there was darkness. Jesus would proclaim in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Here we have one more indication of Scripture working together to reveal Jesus as not only the sacrificial Lamb but as the Light of Life in this dark world.

 

I have included a picture of the cave where “tradition” states these shepherds brought their sheep at night. It was in the limestone of the area – thus the need to wrap the legs joints in order to protect them from the limestone. It was touching to sit in the cave and sing Joy to the World.

 

Take the time to read Luke 2:8-20. When doing so, notice that the glory of the Lord shone above the shepherds. The shekinah glory of the Lord (1 kings 8:10) had been absent from Israel for 400 years, the time between the Old and New Testaments. It seems strange that it should appear over the place of the shepherds. Paster Ed would say this past weekend that instead of over the place of Jesus’ birth, it was over the shepherds. He said, “because of the birth of Jesus, the unclean (the shepherds) can now come to Him just a they are”. That translates to all who call upon His name to be saved. They were “greatly afraid”; they were told to “fear not’. It is an important message for all people today. “Jesus had come to reconcile humanity to Himself. People want to be saved from many things – bad marriages, debt, others’ sins – but He came to save individuals from their sins” (DJSB).

Notice one last thing about the shepherds. Remember what was thought about them at this time. With the announcement of the birth of the Savior by the angels, they had become the first group of people to hear the gospel message preached. They had the choice to respond to it or not. Yes, they responded positively by going to see this Savior. They left “glorifying and praising God for all things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” The shepherds now became evangelists who told all they had seen and heard.

 

Did you catch the significance of the shepherds? Our experience, our walk on the narrow way to eternity in God’s kingdom must continue to be fruitful and not become nonchalant or cooled because of time. Christians ought to be the happiest, most joyful people because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. We ought to be the evangelists God desires us to be every day. Let the shepherds be our example by “glorifying and praising God for all things that they [we] had heard and seen, as it was told them [us].”