Wonder Of Advent #30

People of the Land

Read: Luke 2:8-20

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them.

Luke 2:8-9

OF COURSE THERE WERE SHEPHERDS in the fields. Shepherds were always in the fields, far removed from power, money, and knowledge. They were the uneducated who had never studied the Torah, the commoners who eked out a living on subsistence farming, the am ha’aretz—the “people of the land.”

Shepherds were usually dirty and ragged, and though they performed a vital service—lambs were pretty important as sacrifices, after all—they were awfully low on the social ladder. Gone were the days of nomadic patriarchs and shepherd kings, though the prophetic pictures of God shepherding his people remained. As a poetic image, shepherds made wonderful symbols in Scripture. But as a profession, it was best that they stayed out in the fields and away from the places of real significance.

But shepherds knew their sheep and their sheep knew them. A shepherd’s sheep could recognize his unique voice out of all the others in the fields, and they would follow only that voice. The shepherds did not drive their sheep; they led them. And at night, they kept watch to guard them from all harm.

These are the people God chose to hear the first announcement of Christ’s birth. Not religious experts, not nobility, not landowners, but representatives of the masses—a significant sign of things to come. God does not show partiality to anyone; he wants all to come to him. But who are the most receptive? Those who know their need. Those whose hearts are already in search of a Savior. Those who might be minding their own business in the fields and hoping for better days to come.

The shepherds hurried to the village to see the Lamb of God. They told everyone how the fields had been lit up, what the angel had said, and how the vast armies of heaven sang praises. They became the first witnesses of the Incarnation and spread the word in the village. They are a resounding testimony that salvation is not a matter of education, wealth, power, status, or even getting cleaned up first. It’s a gift of glory and light to those who have been keeping watch in the darkness.

Prayer

Jesus, thank you that you came for real people, wherever and however we are. I’m certainly eligible on those terms. Shepherd me well. I need your leading and the sound of your voice. Amen.

REFLECTION

If you had been a villager in Bethlehem at the time of Christ’s birth, how do you think you would have responded to the shepherds’ story?

Further reading: John 10:1-18

The earliest moon of wintertime

is not so round and fair

as was the ring of glory

on the helpless infant there.

“HURON CAROL,” JEAN DE BRÉBEUF