The Good-to-Great Shepherd

. . . our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep . . . (Hebrews 13:20)

Certainly we know less about the birth of Christ than we pretend to. There were no wise men who attended the birth, and we do not know whether there were three or thirty who came afterward. We don't know the date, and the birth site, in all probability, was not a rickety barn painted by Norman Rockwell. Most shocking of all to our sentiments, there is no command to celebrate the birth of Christ in Scripture. These are all traditions.

Even so, I don't want to be that guy: the guy bent on crashing your Christmas with more facts than wisdom. We had such a couple visit our home when I was young. They went into a long explanation as to why "Satan Claus" was not welcome in their home. I honestly thought my sweet Baptist mother was going to practice her best WWF headlock.

Yet, of all the things we get wrong about the birth of Christ, perhaps the most glaring misrepresentation is the event of the shepherds. This was not a conversation between one guy in a bathrobe and another, slightly taller guy in a bathrobe. Not at all.

When the shepherds were tending their flocks, out of nowhere an angel of God appeared. When the angel appeared, they were surrounded by glory, by light. The hills, the sheep, and the other shepherds where all hidden—nothing surrounded them but brilliance. The angels brought with them the very throne room of God, where His glory dwells. The shepherds were devastated by this awesome multi-sensory transport from heaven to earth that brought earthlings to heaven.

We do not know what he looked like, but the angel had a message.

The first part of the message, "Fear not," is this necessary but nonsensical statement. They had every right and responsibility to fear. This was an angel for heaven's sake. An angel for the sake of heaven. The rest of the message told the reason for their soon-to-be joy: A Savior had been born for them, Christ the Lord. After some instructions on where to find him, the heavens emptied with a "host" of angels. The word host often describes armies, but these angelic soldiers came to bring peace and not a sword.

We are not sure how many. We're just told "a multitude." But again, understand, this was not a barbershop quartet in bathrobes. This was thousands upon thousands of angels. This is not your school play. They were drenched in brilliant light, shocked by an angel that materialized before them while watching heaven empty with thousands upon thousands of angels.

So many questions come to mind, but the principle one is why shepherds? Shepherds were not the intellectual or cultural elite. And even if the angels wanted to make the point that Jesus came for the Everyman, he could have done it for the farmer, or ship builder, or carpenter just as easily.

Any attempt to explain it is speculation. We do know that God loved the shepherding metaphor. He referred to Himself as the Shepherd of Israel, and his strongest leaders—Moses, David, Joshua—all tended flocks. Shepherding was short hand for the dirty work of leadership.

Of course, Jesus uses the title for Himself in John 10. And Peter and the author of Hebrews follow suit. Perhaps the most fascinating time it is used as a title is Hebrews 13:20 where the writer describes Jesus as ". . . the great shepherd of the sheep." The title is as fascinating as it is mysterious. However, the title is a fitting and perfect ending to the book of Hebrews. A few thoughts about the title.

The Shepherd
The title is definite. He is the shepherd. There is a hint here of his Messianic role. In Ezekiel 34 God criticized the shepherd-leaders of Israel because they were neglecting the sheep. They were selfish, they did not protect the sheep and, worst of all, they were eating the sheep. It's hard to claim you are a good shepherd when your breath smells like roasted lamb. God decides He will be the shepherd of Israel, and He would do this by rising up King David to shepherd them. "And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them . . ." (34:23). What the shepherds of Israel would not do, David would.

David was a great leader, but the best man is a man at best. David showed at once how great a human king could be and how limited. He won and he failed. So Israel would have to wait for the ultimate shepherd to arrive. So in John 10, when Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, and in 10:16 where he says there will be "one sheep, one shepherd," it is no mystery that this was a reference to Jesus coming to be everything David was not. It's definitive. He is the shepherd and he would provide what others could not.