The Three Shepherds - Biblical Men & Women

In Luke 5:32, Jesus said, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” God chose to tell the shepherds about Christ's birth first because they were the least likely people to be inflated with their own importance and worthiness to hear such a message.

The shepherds represent the sinners, the humble, the lost, the “least among us”—the prime candidates for the gospel! If we are honest, we should see ourselves in the shepherds.

The shepherds “came with haste” to see the Christ child and then they went out with joy, making known to others what God had made known to them!  (Luke 2:16-18) This shows that, as He has since the beginning of time, God chooses the foolish things of this world to bring about His purposes. I Corinthians 1:26-27 says, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.” God chose the meek Jacob over the mighty Esau. He chose the stammering Moses over his charismatic brother Aaron to confront Pharaoh. He chose the foreigner Ruth to be in the line of Christ. He chose the shepherd boy David over his soldier brothers. And he chose the shepherds of Bethlehem to be the first witnesses of Christ’s birth. Before John the Baptist had made his first fiery sermon, these shepherds had awakened all their neighbors in Bethlehem to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ. The shepherds show us that those the world would discard are the ones God delights to use.

When it comes to our service for God, we must remember that it is not about what we have to offer. We have nothing to offer God. After all, anything good that we are or that we have came from God in the first place. The story of the shepherds reminds us that the sufficiency, whether of the gospel to save or of the witness to share, is in God Himself (II Corinthians 3:5).