The View From the Shepherds' Field

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  Luke 2: 8

On March 28, 2008, my friend Jim Jordan and I were near Bethlehem in a place called the Shepherds' Field.   What a wonderful place to write about at Christmas time, the place where it all began. There we saw the remains of the shepherds’ tower. At the time of Jesus’ birth, the shepherds would have been manning the tower and watching for lambs to be born. The shepherds would leave the tower and inspect each one at birth to find lambs suitable for sacrifice. Once a lamb was found to be without blemish or spot, the shepherds wrapped the lamb in swaddling clothes and placed it in the manger for protection.

On the night of Jesus’ birth, the angel of the Lord came upon the shepherds in the Shepherds’ field and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were really afraid. But then the angel of the Lord spoke to them in terms only a shepherd could truly understand. The angel of the Lord said (New SW Virginia and East Tennessee paraphrase): “Calm down you guys, I got great and joyful news for you. The perfect Lamb of God has just been born, without blemish and spot in David’s home town just like God said it would happen. Now just to make sure you don’t miss this, you are going to find this Lamb wrapped in swaddling clothes and in a manger. What you shepherds have been doing, finding lambs without blemish or spot, is just foreshadowing, a picture of what this Baby will do for all mankind, once and for all.”

God always uses the unexpected things of this world to reflect His glory and point us to Him. Lowly shepherds were not even allowed to testify in court because they were not trusted. Yet, they were the Savior’s first witnesses. Jesus continued this practice into His ministry when a Samaritan woman, whose testimony before she met Jesus at a well was about as valuable as her empty bucket, became a witness. And He continues this practice today as He calls me and you to be His witnesses.

Are we willing to be His witness? A witness to what Christmas is really all about. The shepherds watching their flocks in the field got it right. They went and worshiped the baby Jesus. Let’s worship Jesus this year on Christmas day and every day.  Then, we can be His witnesses to a dark and lost world.

Jim Jordan