Day Twenty-five: Lambs, shepherds and messengers. Ezekiel 34:11-16

Day Twenty-five: Lambs, shepherds and messengers. Ezekiel 34:11-16

Ezekiel 34:11-16  "I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a [good] shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his scattered sheep, so I will seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a cloudy, dark day. I will bring them out from among the peoples and gather them from foreign countries; I will bring them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams and all the inhabited places of the land. In a good pasture I will feed them; the mountain heights of Israel will be their pasture. There they will lie down in a lush pasture, and they will feed on rich grass on the mountains of Israel. I myself will feed my sheep and I myself will make them lie down, declares the sovereign Lord. I will seek the lost and bring back the strays; I will bandage the injured and strengthen the sick, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them—with judgment!"

Yesterday we talked of stars and magi from Matthew 2. For the rest of the week we will look at some of the other threads and images that God weaves into the tapestry of His Nativity. These threads communicate richly the beauty of this Love Story we call salvation. So today we talk about Lambs, shepherds and messengers in Luke 2.

Shepherds are often preached as crude despised members of 1st century Israeli society. We need to be careful with this idea - it is not appropriate to this particular time and place. We note that when shepherds are mentioned in Scripture most often they are associated with "heroes of faith" - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and David. Peter calls God the Chief Shepherd. Christ Himself says "I am the good shepherd." If shepherds are not "worthy" in a particular instance, Scripture makes that clear. So there must be more to this notion of the Shepherds' witness to Christ's Nativity than that of Christ being born among the poor and marginalized!

The Mishnah, which forms the first part of the Jewish Talmud (Jewish thinking on God's Law) teaches that the Messiah would be revealed from the "Migdal Eder"; a tower that stood near Bethlehem (this name literally means "House of Bread") on the road to Jerusalem in the fields where the temple flocks were grazed. This Mishnah confirms then that the lambs at Bethlehem, tended by our "Christmas shepherds" were raised for temple sacrifice at the Passover; these lambs were the "Lambs of God." These shepherds would be called out by the Chief Shepherd to attend the lambing; yes they would assist distressed ewes, but largely they were there to surround and contain the lambing, record the births and report them accurately to the Temple authorities.

So at this point Christian minds are swirling with images and associations brought about by the weaving of these idea-laden threads together: Messiah, Bethlehem, Bread, Shepherd, Sacrifice, Jerusalem, Temple, Lambs, Blood Passover and Christ. Christ the Bread of Life. Christ the perfect Sacrifice. Christ the Bread of Heaven. Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Christ the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the other. Christ the Pascal Lamb whose blood brings life.

Look at what God is saying in the images of the Nativity: Christ's birth was attended by the men (shepherds) who were set apart to attend the birth of God's Lambs. These tenders of the sacrifice were called out that night by God's (the Chief Shepherd's) messengers ( ἄγγελος - angels - literally God's messengers) to this birth, to bear witness to the birth, and they (to the wonder of all who heard it) gave their report. These Shepherds, these tenders of the sacrifice witnessed the good news of great joy that the Sacrifice, the Saviour, who is Messiah and Lord is born. The people of Israel were very literate in Scripture. These reports by the tenders of the sacrificial flock would create in them a swirl of images and a certainty of understanding. God's Messiah is born. The full revelation of Christ the perfect sacrifice was yet to be understood, but in that moment Messiah was known.

Scripture is remarkably rich in the fabric it weaves for us. Truly we live not by bread alone, but by every Word breathed by God. The more we hunger the more we seek and the more that we learn of the magnificent Nativity teaching revealed in the Christ of Christmas.

Revelation 7:17 "the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life."