Not the Usual Suspects

Not the Usual Suspects

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying,

‘Glory to God in the highest heaven,
   and on earth peace among those whom he favours!’

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.’ So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Luke 2:8-20

At some point, we sanitised our shepherds. 

I’m not sure if it was because of Sunday school, where kids acting out the Christmas play meant that shepherds became associated with cotton wool beards and sheets for robes. Or maybe because most of us (this city boy included) are detached from the animal herding of the past, and don’t have any encounter with sheep, much less shepherds, beyond the Easter show.

But in the time of Jesus, a shepherd wasn’t well-regarded by most of society. They were rough people, sleeping in the wilderness, and having to deal with the kind of things that would attack a flock of sheep. They were often itinerant, without much of a place to call home. And they were often side-eyed by other people, and had a societal reputation of acquiring sheep by stealing.

In short, they were the last people you’d expect to hear God’s birth announcement.

But of course, God has other priorities, and does not look at us like society looks upon a shepherd. 

Notice three things about this story.

First, in a book full of people who misbelieve the Word come upon them, these shepherds have a fear of the Lord (v9), hear and understand that it is the Lord (v15), and understand that this is something worth seeing for themselves. Their obedience outdoes many other people in Luke’s gospel who are more learned, more reputable, and more respectable. 

Second, notice how the message doesn’t stay with them. They must count amongst the earliest evangelists: they go to see baby Jesus and “made known what had been told them” (v15), such that Mary who already knew some of the story “treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (v19). And they didn’t stop there (v20).

Thirdly, even though they might be the last people you’d expect to hear God’s birth announcement - we have a hint that maybe this is the kind of story where the last will become first. 

And if that’s true, maybe that same message of love can break through, even to someone as sin-ridden as me. 

Guan Un is an Australian-Chinese freelance writer and editor based in Sydney's inner west. He studied at Moore Theological College, and is the author of Anxiety and Me (Matthias Media), a short book that reflects on what Psalm 131 teaches us about anxiety. In his spare time, he writes speculative fiction and thinks too much about the shape of stories. Find out more @thisisguan.bsky.social

This devotional is the nineteenth in a series of daily email devotionals for Advent 2025 reflecting on the realities of our broken world along with the unshakable hope that love still breaks through. It explores how God’s love disrupts, heals, and transforms - breaking through darkness, despair, and injustice to bring light, joy, and renewal.

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Common Grace is a diverse movement of individuals, churches and communities passionate about Jesus and justice. We have come together as those from different Christian traditions who stand in the continuity of the historic Christian faith, centred on the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ as witnessed to in holy scripture. This series highlights the diversity of followers of Jesus across these lands. These voices may not agree with one another (or with you), but they are each an expression of longing for the God whose love we see break through in Jesus.

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