Today, we continue in our theme of Immanuel—God with us in celebration. We’ve looked at Joseph, King Herod, and now, today, we’ll look at some more familiar characters in the story—the shepherds.

Imagine for a moment that you’re a shepherd back in the B.C. days. It’s just another cold, lonely, pitch-dark night, sitting by the fire, watching the sheep. Suddenly, a blinding light pierces through the blackness and you’re face to face with an angel. He sees the terror in your eyes, knows you are thinking that he has come to kill you because of your sin and low position, so then he declares, “Don’t be scared. I have good news of great joy for all people.” … Safe to say these guys would not have seen that coming.

Then the angel gives specific instructions as to where to find a baby, born in a manger, wrapped in strips of cloth from mom’s wrap. “He’s the Redeemer, the Messiah,” the angel announces. Disbelief overwhelms reality as you think, “Why me? And why here? … Aren’t there some important people somewhere to do this? After all, we’re just shepherds.”

Here’s the back-story with some important details: Shepherds, as a stereotype, had a reputation for being low-lifes, men of bad reputation. They didn’t observe the ceremonial law and were not religious men. They were so known for stealing and dishonesty that their testimony would not be considered reliable enough for them to testify in court. Now, of course, you have to be careful with stereotypes in any culture, so we can’t know if these particular shepherds were like this. Maybe they were good men in a despised position? Regardless, God made his birth announcement to the least of these, setting a pattern for His Son’s ministry.

Another amazing possibility is this group of shepherds may have been watching the flock that would be used as the sacrificial lambs at the temple. God may have been saying, “The Lamb has come that will die once and for all for the sins of the world. None of your animals will have to die ever again, once this Baby offers the final sacrifice.” God was coming down to man. Religion was being replaced by a relationship. The irreligious were given a shot at righteousness.

So, how did these shepherds respond to God’s invitation? With immediate obedience. No questions. No debate. No doubts. In fact, their response was to run to find this Child. We should not miss the fact that God trusted the most despised and irreligious bunch in the entire nation with telling His story. But He knew that's who He could count on to "go and tell."

(Luke 2:15-20 NLT)

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Let’s pray: “Heavenly Father, what a cool story. The fact that You chose the last people anyone would suspect to be the first people to see the Savior is so encouraging. Help me to have faith like the shepherds—to hear You and run in response. As above, so below.”