December 10, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday, December 10.
Thanks for joining us in our holiday series that will lead to Christmas Eve. At the center of this special season is the Nativity Story found in the Gospel of Luke. That word “gospel” means “good news,” and today we take a look at the Bible characters who were the first to hear the good news from Bethlehem - the shepherds.
When we read commentary about the shepherds, writers usually choose to insert the adjective “lowly.” And certainly, in the First Century, shepherds were low on the list of individuals with wealth and power. But some writers, and many historians, go further to portray shepherds as outcasts of society, as individuals who were considered lazy, shiftless, untrustworthy - the assumptions that some make about the homeless in today’s world. This narrative is often employed to support the idea that God uses unlikely people.
The Bible certainly teaches that God uses unlikely people, but God’s Word does not, as a whole, paint shepherds in a negative light. The Old Testament list of great men of God would have to include Abraham, Moses, and David. What one characteristic connects these three characters? They were all shepherds. And God, Himself, in the 23rd Psalm is portrayed as our Shepherd. In the New Testament, Christ is called the Good Shepherd. And, as the early Church began, its leaders were referred to as pastors, a word that literally means shepherd.
When the Bethlehem shepherds heard the message from the angel, and after they had seen the baby in the manger, they spread the good news. The Bible tells us that people “were amazed” when they heard this news. It does not suggest that they were amazed that it was shepherds who brought it. The high place that the Bible gives to lowly shepherds, before and after Bethlehem, makes them worthy characters in the Christmas story. No, they weren’t gifted with wealth and power, but they were blessed with good character and good reputation. Maybe the shepherds weren’t such an unlikely choice after all.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
