7 symbolic details about Jesus’ birth
4. Shepherds weren’t the cozy characters we imagine
In many Christmas plays, shepherds appear as gentle, cozy characters, but in the first century their lives were far less romantic. Shepherds were typically poor, hard-working labourers who spent long hours outdoors, often at night, tending animals in rough conditions. Their work meant they were frequently ceremonially unclean and unable to participate regularly in the religious life of the community.
Although shepherding had honoured roots in Israel’s history — from King David (1 Samuel 16:11) to the imagery of God as a shepherd (Psalm 23:1) — everyday shepherds in Jesus’ time still lived on the edges of society, sometimes carrying stereotypes of being unreliable or rough around the edges.
Yet these were the people God chose as the first witnesses of Christ’s birth. The angel didn’t appear to priests, scholars, or rulers, but to ordinary labourers on a hillside (Luke 2:8-12). Luke’s Gospel emphasizes this on purpose: from the very beginning, God reveals that the Good News of Jesus is for the humble, the overlooked, and those who rarely find themselves at the center of society’s attention (Luke 4:18; 1 Corinthians 1:27-29).
