The Shepherds’ story is a very familiar part of Christmas, being told through carols such as While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night. (The account is in Luke 2:8-20). The trouble is, when something is familiar we can overlook it’s significance. The shepherds are an example.

In ancient times, shepherds were not very high up the social scale. They had to look after sheep day and night. The job was hard, dirty and dangerous. Their lives were spent mostly outside amongst animals. They had to take their flocks to safe pasture and protect them from predators – wild animals or other shepherds – particularly at night. They would have been a fairly rough and tough group of men, considered ‘unclean’, and so tended to be shunned by others.

It was to this group of people that an angel appeared. Angels in the Bible often appear as terrifying beings. As in this case, when a single angel appeared to the shepherds they were ‘filled with great fear’. But he reassured them and brought them a message of ‘good news of great joy’. He then described the birth of a baby, but in an unusual way. Normally when a baby is born, we say ‘John and Mary have had a baby’. But here the angel says that a baby has been born ‘to you’ – and the message is to ‘all mankind’, so the baby was born for us also.

What followed then was possibly the greatest choral concert ever seen with a multitude of angels bursting on the scene. Interestingly, this happened in the sheep fields just outside Bethlehem, but not where Jesus was, the shepherds being the only witnesses.

Afterwards the shepherds went ‘with haste’ to see the newborn baby. Now, over the years, we’ve had many babies born in our church, and the proud parents will bring them to a Sunday service as soon as they can. My observation is that, in general, the ladies of the church will flock around the new baby, while the men … well they don’t.

But here we have a group of rough men rushing to see the baby! Maybe they felt special in some way as the angel’s message was directed at them, the baby was born for them, the angel choir was for them. In the history of the Jews, there had been no word from God for 400 years, but now here was a message from God announcing a long-awaited Saviour. Whatever the reason, it was enough to make them rush into the town to look for him.

When they got to where Jesus was, it was indeed as the angel had told them. They will have seen a baby amongst animals, in the dirt and roughness of hay and straw. Exactly the same as them. This was their world. He had come as one of them, amongst them. 

They spent some time with Mary and Joseph, relating what had happened, no doubt Mary and Joseph will have told of their stories. The reality of all this must have been mind-blowing. No wonder they left praising God!

In the Prologue to John’s Gospel (John1:1-18) verse 14 says ‘And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us’. That is, the Word – Jesus – who was both God and with God, had put on flesh – become a human being – and dwelt (the word is ‘tabernacled’ or ‘put up his tent’) among us. 

The message for the shepherds was that he was born for them and that he came amongst them in their world. He identified himself with them.

But the message was for ‘all mankind’. So Jesus came and identifies with us, even today. He was born for us, for you, for me. Truly Emmanuel – God with us.

Some years ago I heard it put this way – God entered into our ‘mess’ to bring ‘shalom’, peace and contentment that comes from a right relationship with God.

Have you ever looked at the lyrics for ‘God rest ye merry, gentlemen’? Notice where the comma is. It could be phrased: Gentlemen, God rest ye merry. That’s because, when the carol was written, ‘merry’ meant pretty much the same as ‘shalom’. So this is asking God to rest (keep) us in peace and contentment through knowing him through Jesus. (see John 17:3).

So, I wish you a Merry Christmas!