Weary Sheep, Rejoice!
While Mary was giving birth to Jesus in Bethlehem, some shepherds were in fields nearby, watching over their sheep. But then, quite dramatically, the quiet darkness of the night was interrupted when God sent an angel, accompanied by a heavenly backup choir, to announce his Son’s birth to shepherds.
The facts of this Biblical story found in Luke 2 are all well-known and oft-repeated. However, I have often wondered why God chose to announce Christ’s entry into our world in that way to those particular people. He could have sent angels to proclaim the history-making news to anyone: kings, townspeople, or priests. He could have written it on the moon or spelled it in the stars. Instead, he chose to share the good news in a dark field full of sheep and a handful of shepherds. Why?
Maybe it should not be surprising that shepherds appear in the birth story of Jesus since the Bible references shepherds (and sheep) hundreds of times. Many important Biblical figures in history were shepherds, from Abel in Genesis to Abraham to Rachel, wife of Jacob (later renamed Israel). The popular “Shepherd’s Psalm,” aka Psalm 23, is recognized even by many who have not read the Bible. It is well known that Jesus is called the “Lamb of God” because he sacrificed himself for us. Throughout the Bible, God refers to himself as our Shepherd, as does Jesus in the New Testament.
But shepherd is just one of many metaphors God uses to help us understand him and our relationship with him. Of all the metaphors in the Bible that he could have referenced in the birth announcement, whether king, ruler, priest, bread, light, or even rock, why did he choose to highlight this one? Like everything God does, this unique proclamation about God incarnate contains layers of meaning. It is worth diving deeper into the metaphor.
Knowing why God refers to himself as our Shepherd and unpacking the importance of the angelic appearance in that field outside of Bethlehem means first understanding why he calls us sheep. It does not take much digging to see that the comparison is justified.
Like sheep, we are needy and high-maintenance. To survive and thrive, we require extensive care and attention from someone who knows us intimately and loves us.
Sheep can become so weighed down with wool that they risk rolling and becoming stuck on their backs when they step on uneven ground. Humans are born into this same condition – flipped upside down by inherent sin, utterly incapable of saving ourselves. A cast sheep will die without a shepherd to right it, and the same is true for us.
But even after a sheep is placed on its feet, it must be led to good pastures, safely past dangers. Likewise, even after salvation, we require constant guidance to know the right paths to walk. We also need protection to navigate life safely.
And like sheep, humans are made to live in community. When isolated, we suffer from loneliness, which can increase the risk of death.
But perhaps the most important similarity between sheep and people is that we are followers. Sheep have been known to follow other sheep over a cliff. Humans are prone to similar calamities. When we follow our hearts, we eventually find ourselves alone and empty. When we follow other people, we find ourselves disappointed (or worse), because human shepherds are fickle, fallible, and finite.
God is right (of course) to compare us to sheep – the similarities are striking, and he knows us so well. And he knows that the only way for a sheep or a person to flourish is under the care of a good shepherd.
Good shepherds know their sheep. They save, seek, protect, and comfort the creatures in their care. In stark contrast, bad shepherds seek their own gain. They lead their flocks astray and allow harm to come to their sheep. When we follow bad shepherds – whether false gods, our own hearts, or other people, it breaks God’s heart.
God expresses his anger toward all the bad shepherds harming his flock in Ezekiel 34. Then, he proceeds to passionately declare what he will do about it. He bares his heart and tells us he will come and shepherd us himself. He will search for his sheep and rescue us. He will make it safe to rest and feed us in rich pastures. He will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. He will send down showers of blessing on us, breaking the oppression of sin and rescuing us from enslavement to it. Under his care, we will live in safety and will not be afraid.
This passage in Ezekiel is the key to understanding the significance of Christ’s unique birth announcement in Luke 2.
When we look at the beautiful statement of God’s intentions in Ezekiel alongside the heavenly birth announcement in the New Testament, rich layers of meaning begin to unfold. In choosing shepherds as the first recipients of the good news of Christ’s coming, God was pointing us toward one of the most comforting metaphors used to describe him in the Bible. Yes, the King of Kings was born that night. But the first thing God wanted us to know after his Son entered the world is that he is the Good Shepherd, not a distant ruler. And he had come for his sheep.
In God through Christ, we have a shepherd who loves his sheep and cares for our every need - one who guards our souls and preserves our lives. Where we cannot see the way clearly, he shows the way. Being near him brings comfort and peace. God is the Good Shepherd who places us in a flock. He provides the rich pasture of his word in the Bible and gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us every step of the journey home.
With an angelic neon banner in the sky over the grazing fields that quiet night in Bethlehem, he harkened back to the promise he made regarding his sheep hundreds of years earlier.
The shepherds outside Bethlehem may have been the first to hear it, but this announcement is for the entire world. God loves us so much that he came to shepherd us back to himself. He is the Good Shepherd, and we are his beloved sheep. He knows each of us by name and has come for us. This is very good news. Weary sheep, rejoice!
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Cover photo: Original artwork by Hannah Van Essendelft on Instagram @hgve_art