The Shepherds Series

Nothing quite says “Tis the Season” like your favorite Hallmark Christmas movie marathon! If you have never watched a Hallmark Christmas movie, then here are the essential ingredients:

• A small-town Christmas festival;

• Lots of Christmas decorations;

• PG level of romantic flirtation;

• Lots of snow!

• And an overworked woman who falls in love with a charming, handsome Christmas tree farmer

It’s been said that every Hallmark Christmas movie needs to feel like it could take place inside a snow globe. These things are enormously popular as nearly 70 million viewers watch the movies annually.

Kate is a 30-year old told from New Jersey who told her husband she wants to take dreamy Hallmark-themed vacations! It’s a feel-good time for almost everyone who watches the movies.

A husband or two may have questioned the plotline of the film by saying, “We all know how this movie is going to end, so why watch it?” And so many people watch it because all the movies end with a happy ending. We love happy endings! Yet, there are only so many Hallmark movies any man can take.

We want to peel the back onion to the real story of Christmas. Christmas is more than snow, tinsel trees, and romance under the mistletoe. What is the essence of Christmas? To discover the heart of Christmas, we are traveling back to the original stories of the first Christmas. We’re doing this little three-part series entitled The Characters of Christmas in order to see the magic of Christmas in the faces of those who first experience its warmth and joy. The story of Christmas has major characters and minor characters, who all play an important role in making the story of Christmas great theatre. To experience the fulness of Christmas, look at the faces and reactions of those who were first involved so many years ago. To prepare you for the upcoming Christmas season, I want to ask your minds and hearts to consider the Shepherds in the Christmas story. Interwoven in their story is the reason we experience so much joy around this time of year.

1. God Reaches Out

The shepherds were the first people to hear about Christ’s birth: “And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). The Messiah is finally here, and Heaven cannot wait another minute to get the word out. The Savior of the world is born, and who’s going to be the first people to know?

1.1 Who Are the First to Know?

Who are the first people you told when you had a baby? Family usually tell their family about the arrival of a new baby. Brand new parents usually tell their parents, now grandparents. In a day of social media, we still wait before announcing it to the world in order to tell our families first. “He’s here!” “She’s here!” Yet, here we have men who drop everything to chase after a baby. It’s the most unusual thing.

What do we make of the fact that these shepherds heard the news of Jesus’ birth first? We see a clue that will surprise us. We will be surprised as to who Jesus includes in His family. We have a clue that the Messiah’s family will not just be the religious insiders, but He will embrace those on the outside looking in.

1.2 The Shepherds

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8).

In verse 8, the Bible says the shepherds were “keeping watch over their flock.” The Bible is telling us that the shepherds were doing their job – they were shepherding! A shepherd would find grass and water for the sheep. He protected the sheep from wild animals as he gave them constant care. They would have rotated watch throughout the evening in order to guard against thieves and wild animals.

Take note that God didn’t first announce His Son’s birth to preachers, politicians, or the rich and the powerful. Instead, the angel came to ordinary, lunch-pail carrying shepherds. There’s white-collar, blue-collar, and then there is no collar. God chose to tell ordinary people – people who worked for a living.

Now, shepherding is one of the oldest occupations in our history that goes all the way back to Abel, who we are told was a shepherd (Genesis 4:2). Some of the greatest saints of the Old Testament were shepherds, including David, Joseph, and even Moses. Plus, the Bible often pictures God Himself as a shepherd as He cares for His people. Most importantly, Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). Around the time of Jesus’ birth, shepherds began to be seen as crooks. People were forbidden to buy sheep, wool, and milk from a shepherd because they likely stole them. Shepherds were not allowed to give testimony in the courts of law at the time. They really had a bad reputation at the time. These shepherds may have been devout men, but they came from a despised class. They were at the bottom of the scale of power and privilege.