Magazine for December 2009
Only shepherds
“Did you hear the rumpus in town last night? I was down at the inn minding my own business and having a few cups of wine. Well, we were talking about the Romans and the census they’ve been running. I know it’s caused a lot of nuisance but I can’t complain as it’s been quite good for trade: the number of tents I’ve shifted has been quite amazing.
Anyway, this group of shepherds came in shouting and laughing and singing. Well, I reckoned they’d had a bit too much to drink. But they claimed they’d been visited by an angel and the whole heavenly host, and had been told to come to Bethlehem to see the Messiah who had just been born. Well, they said that’s just what they’d done and they’d found him in Reuben’s stable.
Let’s face it, it’s complete nonsense. Would God announce the birth of the Messiah to shepherds and would he be found in a stable? They’re pretty unreliable characters. If there’s any trouble or petty crime in town you can pretty well guarantee that there will be shepherds involved. You wouldn’t let your daughter marry one would you? If my son said he wanted to be a shepherd, I’d tell him to get back to studying the scriptures, and get a proper job as a scribe or Pharisee: something respectable that will give him a place in society.
Nevertheless, my friend Andrew said that his uncle Simeon who is priest in the Temple says the Messiah is due to be born – and in Bethlehem too. But let’s face it, they were only shepherds. Come next week we’ll all have forgotten about it, won’t we?”
David Bradshaw