The Shepherds and the Temple - Luke 2:8-38

I had always imagined the shepherd in the field as coincidental bystanders but the more I read about their experience and how they reacted, the more I feel like they were handpicked and arranged to be there for that announcement. It was not a small occurrence about an unimportant event, an angel appeared to these shepherds “and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and said, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” We learn in JTC that “tidings of such import had never before been delivered by angel or received by man- good tidings of great joy, given to but few and those among the humblest of earth, but destined to spread to all people. There is sublime grandeur in the scene, as there is divine authorship in the message, and the climax is such as the mind of man could never have conceived- the sudden appearance of a multitude of the heavenly host, singing audibly to human ears the briefest, most consistent and most truly complete of all the songs of peace even attuned by mortal or spirit choir.” These shepherds didn’t ask for the angel to come, and as far as I know angelic visitations are for very specific purposes to very specific people. And we know that angelic visitations are not meant to convert or convince anyone of any kind of truth, Laman and Lemuel saw angels and look how they turned out.

These shepherds had a responsibility to the sheep, they were doing their job, and I usually don’t support job abandonment but in this case, they “said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.” They left the sheep and went to see this incredible thing. JTC says, “the trustful and unsophisticated keepers of sheep had not asked for sign or confirmation; their faith was in unison with the heavenly communication; nevertheless the angel had given them what he called a sign, to guide them in their search. They waited not, but went in haste, for in their hearts their believed, yea, more than believed, they knew, and this was the tenor of their resolve… They found the Babe in the manger, with the mother and Joseph near by; and, having seen, they went out and testified to the truth concerning the Child. They returned to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.” They believed what they heard and saw, and another interesting aspect of the shepherds is that they were not rich, they worked at night, in a field, with animals, doing manual labor. These were not prestigious guys by any means, and I find it interesting that the angel didn’t go to the Jewish leaders, he didn’t go to the Roman leaders, he went to the most social unacceptable people because they had more faith. I think that this is an excellent illustration of the principle of wealthy being a deterrent to faith, not always but much of the time. People tend to be more open to faith and the gospel when they are in modest circumstances than when they are doing well, and this is certainly an example of that. And they took their testimonies and ran with it, spread it abroad like the angel said, “and all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.”

Like so many other cultures a woman was considered unclean for a period of time after giving birth, and I think I’ve talked about this before, but I used to think that this was such an archaic practice and an absolutely disgusting way to treat the mothers. I took a Hawaiian Studies class in college and one of the topics that my teacher brought up was the “uncleanness” of women while they were on their periods. She initially had had a similar opinion to mine, but after more study and thought, she determined that it was actually a blessing. She illustrated this point by saying, “I could only imagine my grandma staying in her “unclean” house with her friends resting and relaxing, having food brought to her, and telling her children ‘tell your father I just need one more day.’” She asked “what do you feel like doing when you’re on your period? Cook for the family? No. Clean the house? No. Work in the fields? No. You feel like laying down and resting and if you can do that in a place of your own with your friends as long as you’re labeled as “unclean” then I would do it in a second.” This is the attitude that I’ve adopted when it comes to a woman being “unclean” after childbirth or on her period of something like that. And when giving the Law of Moses, the Lord knew that the men of Israel, or the men of any culture wouldn’t be like “you just had a baby, lay down and nurse the baby while I cook and clean and care for the other children for the next 6 weeks.” He knew the only way to make the men leave their women alone was to tell them that they were “unclean” and couldn’t touch them or eat any of the food they prepared. Pretty ingenious if you ask me.

Mary and Joseph were strict adherents of the Law of Moses and then Jesus was eight days old he was circumcised and officially given the name of Jesus. I wonder if that was a common or unusual name for people at the time. Then when her time of “uncleanness” was over, they took Jesus to Jerusalem “to present him to the Lord,” as was the custom, to present the male children to the Lord’s service, especially the first born male, if it was at all possible. The woman was also to present an animal offering to become “clean” again, a bird and a lamb, but if it’s not possible because of the cost, then two birds. Mary brought two birds, which indicates that they were of modest means. Very interesting happenings when Joseph and Mary go to present Jesus at the temple, “there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout… and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And when he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus… then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, ‘Lord now, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel… Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Anna, “a prophetess” who came “in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” The IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as commenting, “In obedience to the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary brought the infant Jesus to the temple at Jerusalem after forty days, to present him to the Lord. There, two aged and spiritual temple workers received a witness of his identity and testified of him… Anna and Simeon were eyewitnesses to the infant, but, just like the (Savior’s) Apostles, their knowledge of his divine mission came through the witness of the Holy Ghost. ‘The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ Therefore, we can properly say that when each received this witness, Simeon was a prophet and Anna was a prophetess. Each then fulfilled the prophetic duty to testify to those around them. As Peter said, ‘To (Christ) give all the prophets witness.’ This was what Moses meant when he expressed the wish ‘that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the lord would put his spirit upon them!’” Within the space of a year Mary had been bombarded with spiritual experiences showing her over and over again that her baby was special, the Christ. The angel appeared to her, the angel appeared the Joseph, Elizabeth’s miraculous conception and subsequent speech about the connection between their two babies. It just occurred to me that when Mary was staying with Elizabeth the first 3 months she was pregnant, Zacharias still couldn’t speak. That must have been a powerful witness for her. She had her own miraculous conception, the shepherds, Anna and Simeon’s testimonies, “but Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”