The Shepherds at Bethlehem

Their Important Roles in Jesus' Birth...

This is part four of the serialization of Celebration of the Birth of Christ, which is Chapter 7 of the book Friends With God. Your comments and questions are, as always, welcome.

Not Your Average Shepherds

While the date of the birth of Jesus is important, as discussed in the Third Post, the events surrounding his birth also have significant meaning, but have been obscured by the pagan trappings added to the wrong time for celebration of his birth. One of the most distorted elements is the importance of the other main witnesses of his birth- the shepherds.

It was shepherds, rather than a King or Priest, who were given the announcement by the Angels that the Son of God had been born. Who were these shepherds, and why did God specifically reveal it to them?

Shepherds and sheep hold an important place in the scriptures. While being a shepherd was seen as a humble and lowly job, it was also a very responsible position. Bethlehem is the home town of King David, who, as a child, was a shepherd caring for sheep in the very fields where the Angels announced the birth of Christ. The calling of these shepherds, in the fields of David, to be witnesses to the birth of the eternal King of Israel, is therefore a striking parallel, as Jesus is to also take over the throne of David. (Luke 1:30-33)

As a shepherd, David had shown great courage, and trust in God, in fighting off a bear and a lion. (1Sam 17:34-37) Moses also was a shepherd for 40 years, before he was called by God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. (Exo 3:1) Jesus himself used the shepherd’s responsibilities as a role model, calling himself the good shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep. (John 10:11-16) In this context, the Church is the spiritual flock whom Jesus protects.

Sheep were an integral element within Israelite society, in particular providing sacrifices for the Temple, and food for rejoicing at the festivals.

In this context Jesus is identified as the Passover sacrificial lamb (1Cor 5:7-8), being the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Given all this, it’s therefore appropriate that sheep and shepherds play such an integral role in the events surrounding the birth of Christ.

The Shepherds At Bethlehem

The shepherds are introduced just after the birth of Jesus:

…in the same country there were shepherds living in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them. And they were grievously afraid. (who wouldn’t be!)
And the angel said to them, Do not fear. For behold, I give to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people (both Jew and Gentile).
For unto you is born today, in the city of David (Bethlehem), a Saviour (a deliverer), who is Christ (the Messiah the anointed of God) the Lord (supreme in authority).
And this is a sign (a miracle).
You will find the babe wrapped (in swaddling clothes), lying in a manger. (Luke 2:8-15) 

If Jesus was born at the Feast of Tabernacles, then, because Bethlehem is only about 5 miles from Jerusalem, these shepherds would no doubt have been keeping sheep for the offerings and food for the festival.

Even today Bethlehem is known as a town where sheep are kept, and historical records show that there was an important sheep tower from which shepherds watched their flocks. The Feast of Tabernacles attracted hundreds of thousands of people, and would have been by far the year’s biggest sheep market, making it very valuable for the shepherds. See the Second Post in this series for more detail on these Festivals of God, of which the Feast of Tabernacles is one.

Given both the spiritual and economic significance, it’s clear that these particular shepherds, at this particular time, were not the traditionally envisaged group of 5 or 6 bumpkins from the backwoods living it rough in the fields. Rather they would have been a large number (perhaps 100’s?) of very responsible men, many of whom would have owned the many thousands of sheep that were with them.

Not Just A Few Shepherds

Therefore, instead of a few meek shepherds, gingerly poking their heads into the stable, to quietly view the sleeping new-born, the scene would certainly have been very different.

More likely, the entire town of Bethlehem was rudely woken, at about midnight, when hundreds of noisy shepherds descended en masse, loudly proclaiming the vision and prophecy of the Angels!

• Nobody in Bethlehem was going to be unaware of this momentous birth! 

After the shepherds had come and seen the baby Jesus “they publicly told about the word spoken to them (by the Angel) concerning this child. And all those who heard marvelled about the things spoken to them by the shepherds.”

If this were just a few bedraggled shepherds, telling of some vision of angels, nobody would have taken them seriously. But how could you ignore the testimony of hundreds of shepherds, particularly given their critical role in every Feast of Tabernacles?

If priest or pauper wanted sheep to eat, or for a holy sacrifice, they would be obliged to listen to the shepherds’ dramatic and inspiring testimony!

So, far from being a few obscure individuals from the lowest rank of society, who lived in a field far away from most people- these were highly responsible shepherds that God had strategically chosen, at this particular time of year, to provide a powerful message to every sector of society.

“…exalted lowly ones”

God could not have chosen a more relevant, and suitable group of people, to reveal this singularly important event to- except perhaps the religious leaders? Yet, unlike the proud and mighty of the Priests and the Sanhedrin, these shepherds were chosen to have this revelation given to them because they were considered unimportant people by the rulers.

As Mary had previously proclaimed:

“He scattered the proud ones in the thought of their heart. He put down powerful ones from thrones, and exalted lowly ones.” (Luke 1:52-3) 

God told the shepherds about Jesus’ birth, but he kept the religious leaders in the dark. Yet, no doubt they heard the rumours, or were told directly by the shepherds themselves. However, it seems they simply didn’t believe it, for when the Wise Men from the East later came to Jerusalem looking for the baby Jesus, the Priests were apparently unaware (or unwilling to admit) that the birth of the new King of Israel had already taken place.

Even so, the Priests were able to understand from the scriptures that the birth was to be in Bethlehem, but they did not admit to hearing any rumours that it had occurred. (Matt 2:1-12)

Remember, these events also happened in the context of the birth of John, only six months before Jesus’ birth. Given that John was known to be the forerunner of the Messiah, Jerusalem would have been at fever pitch wondering when the Messiah was to appear!

Yet, the religious leaders did not seem to be willing to admit to the fact that Angels had already appeared to shepherds some time earlier, to announce the birth of the new King of Israel.

Why were these religious leaders so blind, that they were unaware of the most important event in all history- particularly as they had no doubt been informed of the shepherds’ angelic visitation at the time of his birth? Perhaps their embarrassment that they were snubbed by God, in favour of a group of lowly shepherds, simply rankled them, so they would not believe?

Some 30 years later, Jesus bluntly pointed out these same religious leaders’ blindness, hypocrisy and foolishness. (Matt 23:16-26) It seems that due to their obvious lack of faith and their disobedience, they were not in favour with God, or they would have been the obvious other group to whom the inside information about the birth of the Messiah would logically have been provided.

However, by giving this marvellous vision exclusively to lowly shepherds, God determined to put down the powerful ones from thrones, and exalt the lowly ones. 

Bethlehem: House Of The Bread Of Life

Despite the Christmas Carol “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, Bethlehem was actually a very important and meaningful place for the Son of God to be born.

Bethlehem is the birth place of King David. Also, Mary’s husband, Joseph, was born there, and was a direct descendent of King David. (Matt 1:1-17, Luke 2:4) Bethlehem is therefore a royal city, not some ‘little town’. The fact that Jesus was born in this royal city was also significant, as he was to take over the throne of King David. (Luke 1:30-33)

Jesus called himself the Bread of Life. (John 6:35-51) Bethlehem also means “House of Bread”. For Jesus to be born here was therefore most appropriate, and raises the status of Bethlehem to being The House Of The Bread of Life.

Why was Bethlehem so crowded at the time of the birth of Christ, such that there was nowhere for Joseph and Mary to stay? Bethlehem is about five miles from Jerusalem, and thus provided convenient accommodation for the hundreds of thousands of people attending the Feast of Tabernacles. In addition, Luke tells us that there was a great tax, or census, conducted at the time. Consequently, the pressure on accommodation in Bethlehem surpassed even a normal Feast of Tabernacles.

The commonly told story is that, lodging being scarce, Joseph (and a very pregnant Mary) were not able to get a room in a public inn, and had to lodge in a stable. (Luke 2:7) Yet the truth is even more humiliating.

The “inn” referred to in Luke 2:7 was not a public motel. The word for “public lodging place” is used in the parable of the good Samaritan, where the wounded man is taken to an ‘inn’, where the landlord is paid to look after him. (Luke 10:34)

However, the word used in Luke 2:7 means ‘private guest-chamber’, such as a guest bedroom in a private home. The word for ‘private guest-chamber’ is used when Jesus tells the apostles to ask Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the Passover. (Luke 22:11-12) Such a ‘private guest-chamber’ is a specific room, in a private house, designated for guests and special events.

As Bethlehem was Joseph’s home town, he no doubt had relatives with whom they could stay. Yet when they arrived, they were not provided with the guest chamber, because other people (obviously deemed more important) were lodged in it.

As a secondary consideration the young family was lodged in the stables, where the animals would be kept in winter. In Autumn, at the Feast of Tabernacles, this stable would be empty and clean- animals not having been in it for over six months. So, Joseph’s relatives put them in these somewhat humiliating lodgings. 

The convenience of the feeding trough to lay the baby in, was therefore not so much symbolic of the poverty of the circumstances of the parents, but because of the unimportance of Mary in the eyes of Joseph’s relatives.

They would certainly have been aware that Mary was pregnant before wedlock. From this action of putting them in the stable, they obviously did not believe her claim of a miraculous conception, or the supporting testimony of Joseph’s dream.

They would also have known that Mary and Joseph were coming to stay at Bethlehem very close to the time of her confinement. So, they put Mary and Joseph in the stable, as the second-class relatives they were obviously considered to be.

One wonders, however, how surprised these same relatives would have been when many hundreds of noisy shepherds woke all Bethlehem, loudly proclaiming Mary’s new born child as the Messiah?! Perhaps the important relatives were swiftly moved out of the guest chamber, and the young family graciously welcomed in?  

This use of the stable and the manger also provides more evidence that Christ’s birth was not on December 25^th, as it would have been full of sheep and cattle in the middle of winter, yet no animals are mentioned in the scriptural accounts.

In the next post we will look at the other issues, raised in the First Post in this series, about the apparent contradictions between Matthew’s and Luke’s accounts of the birth of Christ.

Your comments and questions are, as always, welcome.