He’s here! The redeemer has come. The One promised by the prophets. The One who would bring justice and set His people free. Who should be the first to know? The answer to this question speaks directly to the heart of God, a group of shepherds. Yep, shepherds. During Old Testament times, after the Babylonian exile, the job of being a shepherd became synonymous with being dishonest or untrustworthy. To the religious elite, they were considered unclean and not allowed to go to the temple to atone for their sins. These men could not approach the presence of God and had no means of their own to seek atonement for their sins.

Yet, shepherds were the men selected to go and share about the arrival of the Savior – who would believe them?

Although we see these things as reasons that exclude them from this special place in the Gospel, God sees these as perfect reasons of why they are qualified for the job. God did not need the elite or popular, He is sovereign and fully in control of how this story plays out. God allows us to be a part of His story not because He needs us, but because it brings us into His presence. God knows that we can’t atone for our sins (Romans 3:23) and we are in desperate need of His grace and redemption (Romans 3:24). Yet God sends His angels to this unclean, unreliable group of sinners and proclaims, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

• Do you feel qualified to share what you know about the Lord? Why or why not?
• Do you ever feel unworthy to enter the presence of God? Does that weight make you run to Him or hide from Him?