Angels on High
As part of the Christmas story we are aware that angels appeared to shepherds who were tending their flocks by night in order to announce the birth of Jesus. That account is found in Luke 2:8-16 which reads as follows:
And there were shepherds, living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over
their flocks by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory
of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
But the angel of the Lord said to them, “Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you,
he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you:
You will find the baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the
angel, praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those
upon on whom his favor rests.”
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go Bethlehem and see
this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby,
who was lying in the manger.
One might ask why it was that angels would announce the birth to shepherds as opposed to announcing the birth of Jesus to a larger audience.
Jesus as the Great Shepherd
We have been studying Jesus as the Lamb of God. His role as the Lamb of God is pivotal in history. Yet even so, it is only a part of the story. Jesus is not only the Lamb of God but he is also the Great Shepherd of Israel and not only just Israel but all the people of God, both Jews and Gentiles. It is almost as if there are two sides of one coin. One side is the Lamb and the other side is The Shepherd. Jesus combines both of these functions just as he combines the roles of both priest and king.
It is easy for us to forget that the Jewish people were a nomadic, sheep-raising people. Abraham raised sheep. Isaac raised sheep. Jacob raised sheep and goats. Moses met the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The life of Moses was divided into three forty year periods. The first was being raised in the House of Pharaoh. The last forty years was as the leader of Israel. The middle forty years was tending sheep in the Land of Midian. Later, in the history of Israel would come a king whose name was David. David was from a sheep herding family in Bethlehem and he would learn his warrior skills while tending his father’s sheep. Later, David would become King of Israel and tend the sheep of God, the people of Israel. God promised that from the line of David would come a “branch” who would become a King forever. That Branch was Jesus Christ. David would later write the 23rd Psalm. That psalm is about the Lord who is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is Jesus Christ.
Therefore, it is not surprising that the angels would appear to shepherds, because not only was the Lamb of God being born who would save the world through his sinless blood sacrifice, but the Lamb of God was also the Good Shepherd of the Line of David and descendant of David.
It is not accidental that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem. Luke 2:1-7 talks about why Joseph and Mary had to go to Bethlehem. Caesar August thought that he was taking a census but in reality God was fulfilling his promises that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. Also he would be born in the town of the Great Shepherd of Israel, King David. Further, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem would satisfy the demands of prophecy where Jesus would be born. If you will recall, the wise men later would later come to King Herod looking for the baby who was to become the Messiah and King Herod called together the Chief Priest and the teachers of the Law to find out where the Messiah was to be born. Herod was advised that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:6). The prophecy of the birth was taken from Micah 5:2:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel.
Further the passage indicates that the Messiah will be a shepherd over his people Israel at Micah 5:4 where it says, “And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord….” (See also Micah 7:14).
Note the word “shepherd” in the prophecy. The Great Shepherd who was to come from the line of David was indeed born in David’s city, which was Bethlehem. Isaiah 53:6 describes the work of the Shepherd Messiah: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
Jesus identified with the role of a shepherd and referred to himself as the good shepherd and the one who would lay down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11-14) Jesus also saw himself as the one who left the ninety-nine safe sheep and looked for the lost sheep. (Luke 15:3-6).
The writers of Hebrews called Jesus the “great shepherd.” (Heb. 13:30). The Apostle Peter called Jesus “the shepherd and bishop of our souls.” (1 Pet. 2:25). In 1 Peter 5:4, Peter refers to Jesus as the “Chief Shepherd.”
God even caused circumstances to occur which aided the prophecy in being fulfilled. The Roman Empire ordered that a census be taken and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem according to the Roman edict because it was the city of his birth.
Not Your Ordinary Shepherds
Some scholars and students believe that the shepherds at Bethlehem were not your ordinary shepherds. The Roman General and author Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews estimated that more than more than 265,000 lambs were sacrificed at the Temple in Jerusalem annually in connection with the Passover. The raising of lambs for this festival was big business. A Jewish scholar, who became a Christian, Alfred Edersheim, in his book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, believed that most of these lambs came from the fields near Jerusalem which provided lambs for the Temple services. The normal raising of lambs took place in the “wilderness.” However, there was an exception allowing lambs to be raised in the vicinity of Jerusalem for purposes of the temple services. Bethlehem was close to Jerusalem and was about five miles away and it was here that the Passover lambs were raised. A few years ago, my wife and I had the opportunity to visit the fields of Bethlehem where these sheep were raised and where the inhabitants of Bethlehem believe the angel appeared to the shepherds. The place of Jesus’ birth is believed to be nearby at the spot where the Church of the Nativity is located in Bethlehem.
Also keep in mind that Jesus was killed in the Passover season. Further those Jewish priests who had charge of the Passover festivities were the same priests who opposed Jesus and arranged for his slaughter.
The important fact is that it is likely that the angels made their announcement of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds who were caring for the lambs which would be slaughtered in the future as Passover lambs. Jesus was the Lamb of God and he was also the Great Shepherd who would care for the people of God; therefore it was appropriate and wonderful that the announcement would be made to the shepherds who would care for the Passover lambs. Further, Jesus as the Lamb of God, was born at that place where the Passover lambs were birthed and raised. Further the birth was at the place prophesied by Scripture.
Dressed in Swaddling Clothes and Laying in a Manger
The baby Messiah could be recognized easily. He was a child who was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The star which we associate with Christmas was apparently the guide utilized by the wise men at a later time to locate Jesus. There is no indication that the shepherds had the advantage of the star but they did know that the child was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. He may have been outside in a temporary enclosure utilized by shepherds or he may have been in a cave utilized by shepherds. When we visited the fields where the shepherds tended the sheep there were caves where the shepherds could take cover in case of inclement weather and we visited some of these caves where locals believe Jesus may have been born. At any rate, the baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes. These are simply strips of cloth which were wrapped snugly around an infant to keep them safe and comfortable after coming out of the womb. Further the child was lying in a manger. A manger as used in the Bible can have a variety of meanings. It can be used as a stall or an enclosure of an animal. It can also be used as a trough where animals can get food. In our Nativities we often see both. When we were in Israel, most believed that it was a feeding trough where baby Jesus was lying. Interestingly, the feeding troughs used there were not the wooden troughs pictured in the Middle Ages and in paintings. Instead they were stone troughs.
In conclusion the disciples were given fairly precise directions on where to find the Messiah (and heir of King David from Bethlehem). The shepherds were to go to the town of Bethlehem and look for a newborn child who was wrapped in swaddling cloths and who was lying in a manger. The birth of the Messiah is “good news” and is “a great joy!”
The Angels Announced the Birth to the Humble
Not only did the message come to those who watched over the Passover Lambs but they came to the humble. Being a shepherd was hard work. My friends who work dairy farms tell me that it is hard to take a day off because the cows have to be milked regularly. The same was also true for the shepherd. Being a shepherd was an around the clock business because sheep had to be looked after twenty-four hours a day. You could put them in a pen but they still had to be looked after. One of the customs of shepherds was that when they died some of them were buried with a turf of wool clasped in their hand to remind God that they were shepherds and therefore were forced to miss many of the synagogue services.
We know from the time of David and from the parables of Jesus that it was not always a safe job. David had fought with bears and lions while tending sheep many years previously in the very area where Jesus was born. We also know from the accounts of Jesus that wolves would also attack the sheep. The care of sheep was probably not a popular job. David had seven brothers and he was the youngest. When it came to caring for the sheep, the other brothers pushed it down to the youngest which means to me that it was not a very popular job In fact, when Samuel the Prophet invited Jesse and his sons to a feast, David did not attend because he was busy tending the sheep.
God could have made the announcement by the angels of the birth of the Messiah to go to the Roman emperor or to Herod, or to the Chief Priests or to the Religious Leaders of the time. He did not do this. In fact God went out of the way to make sure that Herod did not know where the Messiah was born, instructing the wise men in a dream not to return to Herod.
The fact of the matter is that the Messiah was both King and Priest. He was viewed as a threat to the rulers in charge, both civil and religious. Instead, God favored the humble and those of a low station to know what He was doing and to know about the birth of the Messiah. We are reminded in the Bible that “Blessed are the poor in spirit” and that it is the rich who “oppress us and drag us into court”. (James 2:6). God loves those with a humble heart. Isaiah 66:2 says, “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” Also, Isaiah 57:17 says, “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
God was sending his son Jesus Christ to live among men and to be the Passover Lamb to save them from their sins and to redeem them from eternal death and separation from God. The announcement of the birth of the Messiah went to the humble and those who were shepherds. Phil. 2:5,6,8 says:
Have this attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus,
who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God
a thing to be grasped…
and being found in the appearance of a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
