Why the Shepherds?

Luke 2:8–15

I wonder, why the shepherds?  Why were the shepherds the audience for God’s heavenly birth announcement?  Why were they the first recorded visitors of the baby Jesus?  Shepherds occupied one of the lowest rungs on the ladder of Jewish society when Jesus was born.  Most were not well educated, not well spoken, and in many cases, not well spoken of.  


Why not the priests, or scholars, or even the leading businessmen of Jerusalem?  These people would have been almost everything that the shepherds were not.  Wouldn’t they have been a more fitting audience for the angel’s message?  Wouldn’t they have been more appropriate visitors of the new born king?  Why the shepherds?


I wonder if God wanted to make a special invitation to a group of people leading simple lives and capable of a simple faith.  People who took time to witness the beauty and majesty of His creation every day (and night!).  People who weren’t consumed by a sports team or the latest news delivered by the latest technology from the capital city of Jerusalem.  People who weren’t blinded by so called “success”.  I wonder if that is at least partly why God made a special announcement to the shepherds.   

As we celebrate Christmas it seems good to wonder, why the shepherds?  It seems good to think about their lives and make some comparisons to our own.  It seems good to examine our faith and think about the One we celebrate on Christmas day – and every day.

Dear God, thank you for extending a special invitation to each of us to know and be known by your Son.  Thank you for loving us just like the shepherds, as we are and where we are.  Thank you for Christmas. Thank you for the shepherds.  Thank you for Jesus!