12/03/2025
Have you ever wondered why God chose the shepherds to be the first to hear about Jesus' birth? They weren't religious leaders or powerful politicians. They were guys out in the fields doing what many considered a lowly job.
But here’s what absolutely amazes me: These weren’t just any shepherds. According to Jewish tradition, the shepherds near Bethlehem were raising lambs specifically for temple sacrifice in Jerusalem. These were Levitical shepherds — men from priestly families whose job was to ensure the Passover lambs remained perfect and without blemish for worship in God's house.
When the angels appeared to them that night, announcing the birth of a Savior “wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12), these shepherds would have immediately understood something we often miss. They knew exactly what to look for because this scene was familiar to them.
You see, when lambs were born in those fields, the shepherds would wrap them in strips of cloth to protect them from getting cut on rocky cave floors. They'd place the sheep in mangers to keep them safe. The swaddling cloth wasn’t just for warmth but also to prevent any blemishes that would disqualify the lambs from being acceptable sacrifices.
So when these shepherds found baby Jesus wrapped in similar cloth and lying in a manger, they would have recognized the profound symbolism. Here was the Lamb of God, born in the same manner as the sacrificial lambs they tended. This wasn’t coincidence; this was God’s story unfolding exactly as He planned.
I find such comfort in knowing that God chose ordinary people doing their everyday work to be the first witnesses of His greatest gift. These shepherds weren't perfect, and neither are we. But God saw them as worthy to receive and share the Good News.
The hope we find in the shepherds’ story is this: God meets us right where we are, in our ordinary moments, with His extraordinary love.
-Rabbi Jason Sobel
In what ordinary moments of your life have you experienced God's extraordinary presence breaking through?
