Hope and the Scandal of the Christmas Characters
So much of the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke speaks of scandal: Jesus' family tree, the circumstances surrounding his birth, King Herod's politics, Gentiles worshipping Jesus, and more. Today, we look at another scandal to some--the kind of people that Jesus invites and uses as part of His family. This scandal gives us tremendous hope and points to a God who delights to reach and use unexpected people. We worship an amazing God!
Sheep were not fenced in and left to fend for themselves. Instead they were totally dependent on shepherds for protection, grazing, watering, shelter and tending to injuries. In fact, sheep would not survive long without a shepherd. Sheep are not only dependent creatures; they are also singularly unintelligent, prone to wandering and unable to find their way to a sheepfold even when it is within sight.
The helplessness of sheep helps to explain the actions and qualities of a good shepherd, who in the Bible is a case study in care and compassion. It was the task of a shepherd to lead sheep from nighttime protection in a sheepfold on safe paths to places of grazing and watering. After morning grazing and watering, sheep typically lie down for several hours at midday in a shady or cool place (Song 1:7), returning at night to the sheepfold, where the shepherd would attend to fevered or scratched sheep. To protect sheep against predators, shepherds would carry two pieces of equipment, the *“rod and staff” of Psalm 23:4, one of them a clublike weapon and the other the familiar crook used for protection, rescue and placing across the backs of sheep to count them as they entered the sheepfold (a process known as “the rodding of the sheep”; see Lev 27:32). Psalm 23, built around a typical day in the life of a shepherd, is a virtual handbook of these shepherding practices.
Shepherds were thus providers, guides, protectors and constant companions of sheep. They were also figures of authority and leadership to the animals under their care. So close is the connection between shepherd and sheep that to this day Middle Eastern shepherds can divide flocks that have mingled at a well or during the night simply by calling their sheep, who follow their shepherd’s voice. Shepherds are inseparable from their flocks, and their work is demanding, solitary and sometimes dangerous (Gen 31:38–40; 1 Sam 17:34–35). Shepherds were aided by their sons or daughters (Gen 37:12; 1 Sam 16:11) or hired help (Jn 10:12–13), again placing them in a position of authority and responsibility.